So i am having a hard time getting my puppy the play time he needs and craves with other dogs. I dont have any friends with dogs besides my sister, and she lives far away and her dog only sometimes likes to play with my 6 month old. Last time she just didnt care and didnt want anything to do with him and i think that really upset him. He was so ready to play with his friend, but she was just not having it that day.
We take him to puppy play classes, but thats once a week for like 45 min. and its almost $30. and the issue is he is a big dog already. and there are only 6 puppies per class. so even in the "larger" puppy class if there is not a personality match for him, he might not get much play time anyways. And he will often be the biggest puppy in that class by sometimes double the weight if the other 5 puppies are only 20ish pounds. Which i can see is intimidating to other puppies who are also building their confidence and play skills.
The only advice i see is puppy classes, which we do, and play dates with a friends dog, which we try, but only have my sister with a dog. And any of my neighbors have elder dogs who we will sniff and say hi to on our walk, but the moment my puppy tries to play, they dont like the puppy energy he has and get annoyed at him.
He is pretty good with other dogs, he does have some confidence issues but we are working very hard on that every day. And getting his play time with dogs has been one of the biggest helps so far. So we want to give him a better social outlet. He did struggle with communicating to other dogs at first, or really just understanding they want to play and he would get scared, but has been doing so much better and craves play now.
i know the mixed feelings on dog parks. And i have them too. But we do have this AMAZING 40-acre farmland dog park near me that is totally off leash with trails, field, forest, and water front access. its dubbed "doggy Disney land" for a reason.
i have taken my sisters dog there plenty of times before, its truly amazing. and never once have i encountered a bad dog (i know the chance is there). i swear something about just the layout of the park and the massive size really breaks down any territorial or bad feelings.
His recall isnt great as he is just a puppy but he does exist sometimes. we have done walks off leash in safe, secluded areas before and he is never more than 30 feet away from me max if there is a really good smell he wants to check out. and if i turn, he turns, he doesnt like to break line of sight to me. He is a rough collie so very people focused and he has zero prey drive, couldnt care less about a rabbit or squirrel.
Would that big dog park be something to try for him? I was thinking maybe early in the day, maybe not on a super nice day, just so there are less dogs. I know i know nice summer days this park can be very busy, but less of a worry right now.
or does anyone have any ideas on getting a puppy more play time besides just classes? I dont have a yard so i cant host any play dates either.
submitted by /u/HEXXIIN
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