GROWL!! (Long)

[TanBoxer]

Growl!!!

Its great that the instructor is understanding. My dogs get vocal when they play also. I have even had one nosey neighbor call Animal Control about me allowing my dogs to fight, fortunately when the officer got here he saw immediately that it was all bark and no bite (so to speak). When there are 4 boxers playing together they can get loud, but its hilarious to watch them play. They are such clowns. I do feel bad for that lady's pup though, because it will never know the joy of playing with another dog, that is such a shame.

 

[Mama_Zookeeper]

I do ok with Rocky most everywhere we go, but it is hard sometimes to explain his noise. One neighbor across the street had grandchildren visiting who yelled he's trying to eat me! We all laughed and showed him that Rocky is just a noisy kind of guy. Mia the boston is the same, but there is some bite behind her growls, not a very sociable girl.

In defense of the golden owner maybe they have been burned in the past. If any other dog of theirs has been hurt by another dog, they may be scared of letting playtime get too rough. I know if a trainer told me everything was fine and I still did not feel comfortable I might react in an unfavorable way. That night you had a boxer baby full of energy...maybe next time you go the weather will be better and you can wear Zuzu out a bit before class.
Please let us know how the next class goes and how your trainer's boxer and Zuzu do. Good Luck.

Dora

 

[RVsBoxer]

That really sucks. My philosophy on puppy playtime is that unless one of them yelps or looks hurt you should just let them be. Wilson used to play with a giant schnauzer puppy and although it looked like he was biting at Wilson and being too rough, he was actually a great playmate and had a very soft mouth. He never hurt Wilson once. Wilson loved playing with him too.

When other owners feel nervous about rough play I tell them not to worry, it may be scary for us to look at but it's just the way they play and nobody is getting hurt. Some owners relax, others remain nervous. There's nothing you can do about some people, they just don't know any better and are too stubborn to get it through their ignorant heads. Lucky for me Wilson doesn't maky any noises when playing so everyone is usually fine with him. He has this thing for fluffy dogs though, he tries to bite their fur (I think he thinks they're big stuffed squeaky toys!) so a couple owners don't like him playing with their pups too much.

The only time I had to break up play when he hadn't yelped was when he was playing with a neighbours Boxer puppy. She is not only very vocal (which doesn't bother me), but like mama_zookeepers Boston, she also has bites behind the growls. She kept trying to exert a lot of dominance over Wilson, getting all the way on top of him and eventually just worked herself up into a frenzy, biting hard at him. Although Wilson wasn't yelping I could tell he was not happy. He gave me this look as if to say "help" so I just pulled her away from him.

Good luck with the rest of the class. Maybe you should try and find some kind of article/book on puppy play for that lady to read, so she can understand Zuzu is just playing and being very normal.

 

[Shanz]

i know exactlyhow you feel. Cinnamon is very vocal too. She plays with my 5 y/o german shepherd all day, but i want her to be able to socialize with other dogs. And in another post i did i was talking about how all theother people around here with puppies will literally run when they see me with cinnamon.. and she gets so upset because she wants to play. But hopefully i dont run into the same problem as you when she goes to obediance classes. If that lady is so protective of her dog.. I could imagine her dog being very spoiled when its older and not being a veryobediant dog.. she'll probably be the dominant one.

 

[NuBoxer Fan]

I thought I would share that I told my father about the lady that made me angry and his response was, "Oh my, you better not have any kids! What will you do if someone is critical of your child?!" We laughed so hard at that thought that I almost peed my pants LOL!!! He does have a point though. I would be so SAD if someone did not want their child playing with mine. Well, guess I will cross that bridge when (if) I get to it.

PS: Zuzu plays a lot quieter with older and more dominant dogs. Even though this "incident" made me angry for the rest of class, it is a good experience for me as a dog owner. Must look at the positive side of everything...

I don't remember who posted that we would have another Boxer in 9 months, funny thing is that we may have an opportunity to get another puppy this summer. Right now we are not sure we will want to go through puppyhood all over again, but I do keep thinking that it would be nice for Zuzu to have a playmate of her very own. Soon it will be all Boxers and no kids for us! We will run out of room!!!! Ha ha!

 

[Daisys_rjm]

The same thing almost unfolded at my kindergarden puppy class...
The other mom's and dad's looked at my baby suspiciously, (even though she was among the smallest), however we had TWO very GOOD instructors.

The structure of the hour class was 10 minutes free time, 20 minutes obidience, and the class ended with 30 minute off leash puppy playtime.

Both trainers monitored the free play and did not allow the owners to intervene. They consistently explained everything was normal (natural) and none of our little treasures would get hurt. A couple of times I overheard one of instructors explaining that my dog was a boxer ( not a pitbull ), and was playing normally.

It is a darn shame that all Dog trainers don't have the expertise that me and Daisy enjoyed.

 

[owen's mum]

I'm sure my opinion will be less than popular, but I choose to present it. My Owen is an 18 month old rescue, and we are trying to socialize him. When we go to the dog park, he is not allowed to jump on other dogs' backs or growl meanly. If he does so, they are seperated. If it continues, we leave.

I do understand that boxers have a more combative/active play style and can be very vocal while playing. However, most dogs don't do either. Therefore, when in Rome, Owen is expected to act more like a Roman. And when he gets to go to his boxer friend Spooky's house for pet sitting, he can be ALL boxer!!! He doen't have that boxer thing about acting/playing acording to who he is playing with (dog or human) so we are teaching him.

I am NOT saying that all people should do this. I am saying that this is what I choose. When Owen is two or three (or maybe 5 or 6 ) I want to be able to take him everywhere with me and have no one have any LOGICAL cause to fear him.

Just my two cents (OK more like a buck fifty :o )

 

[Gypsy'sMom]

Gypsy's in an advanced class with the same trainer as ZuZu (different night). I wish that golden owner could come observe the beginner class that is before our class. There are alot of dogs, but the key players are 2 goldens and 3 boxers. One of the goldens runs around trying to hump several of the other dogs while the 3 boxers run around playing with everyone. If I was the owner of any of the other dogs in this class I'd much rather have a boxer in my dogs face, than a humpy golden!

As a previous golden owner, I personally don't understand this owners logic. It would take alot more than playing with a boxer puppy to make a golden become aggressive. But I think we have already determined that this owner is pretty ignorant. Maybe when the trainer brings her boxer in, she can bring it in and let it play with the golden puppy also

Maybe we can be evil and arrange to get a whole bunch of boxers to show up for one of ZuZu's classes and really freak out the golden owner!!! (sorry just my evil side sneaking out!)

 

[Daisys_rjm]

When we go to the dog park, he is not allowed to jump on other dogs' backs or growl meanly. If he does so, they are seperated. If it continues, we leave.

Yes, of course you're absolutely correct. We must be responsible for our dogs and take actions before anything may get out of hand.

However, I believe the purpose of this thread is to discuss the ignorance of people who interpret normal dog behaviour as aggresive.

 

[RVsBoxer]

You know what, here's a reversal of your problem. There is a Boxer that comes to puppy playtime in the morning and he too is very vocal and growls like he's gonna kill someone. He hasn't bitten anybody or anything and I'm quite sure he wouldn't. However, it is his owner that is very uncomfortable with him doing this and is always intervening. Today he joined our advanced class just for the day (in this new class there are only 2 students - my Wilson and Bruno, another Boxer. It's almost like having private training!). I tried to tell his owner today it's a Boxer thing and I really don't mind him playing with my Wilson, and Bruno's owner also didn't mind, but she still kept pulling him away. I can understand that she's worried but....poor lil guy he's only trying to play. :(

Btw megan313 you are soooo right. Wilson is only 4 months old and we're already planning for the next one!! Once he's about a year old and we have our new house, we are getting him a little sister :p Can't wait!!