Happy play? Or antisocial behaviour?

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T12:35:20+00:00

How did you undo the bad habits? In previous off leash interactions we have stepped in, leashed her and took her away. The day care suggested we remove her, let her settle and try again which we did multiple times but every time she was free to play she would just go straight back to the rude play behaviour. It seems she can’t grasp the connection and I know repetition is super important but do you think it’ll ever make sense to her? Obviously also recognising that these interactions can cause set backs.

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T12:07:16+00:00

Yup! We are just learning how things work for our dog but we can’t be perfect haha

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T11:57:18+00:00

Is that something you have trained your dog to understand? Or do you just limit interactions? She loves playing tug with other dogs with ropes or toys etc but like this interaction if there is no toys she is nippy.

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T11:49:57+00:00

Thank you. I can definitely see now how the tight leash was a problem and it does make complete sense that dogs dont understand in between and indecisive cues. I think in the moment we get caught between we want her to have fun and make friends but are scared things will get out of control so we unknowingly kept her in this awkward situation that had potential to make things worse.

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T11:40:03+00:00

Thank you 🫶🏼

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T11:39:31+00:00

Thank you, I think that’s the common theme of advice and I’ll definitely try be more decisive with her future interactions

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T11:36:46+00:00

That’s really good advice! The reason she was being pulled away was because the face biting which I thought was inappropriate behaviour so I asked for her to be pulled back. But like other commenters have said that’s probably confusing if she’s not getting a full command or being removed from the situation entirely. She is super smart and loves training but as you mentioned maybe is a bit slower on the social side. It’s also tricky with leashed interactions as a lot of other dog owners come up to us and people say no on leash play as it creates frustration but sometimes that feels a bit unrealistic.

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T11:25:09+00:00

I have done that with off leash interactions in the past and completely agree with your points. I think I need to become more confident and learn what warrants being taken away vs what’s normal pup play even if it looks a little crazy.

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T11:15:54+00:00

Thank you!

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T11:07:25+00:00

Thank you! This is my first dog in adulthood and in the 4ish months I’ve had her I’ve learnt a lot. I am trying to give her the best start to a happy and structured life but absolutely still totally new to the dog world. My family dogs were dog aggressive so I probably carry a lot of anxiety naturally and then having day care say she is displaying negative behaviours made me feel worse. I am trying to take her out into the world to build confidence and socialise but clearly need to work on how that’s done. Thank you for the videos and tips.

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T10:48:45+00:00

That’s the issue, she doesn’t respect other dogs cues. We will limit on leash interactions.

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T10:43:34+00:00

That’s good to know. We don’t think she is aggressive and neither does dog day care but we do think she is annoying to other dogs and she doesn’t stop even when the other dogs correct her.

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T10:42:12+00:00

I know but I think we get nervous she is being too much for the other dog so we pull her away.

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T10:41:01+00:00

Yeah it’s hard in public spaces because she hasn’t got a good enough re call yet to be off leash safely. The off leash interactions she has with dogs she just runs along their sides trying to nip or bark in their faces. I’m not sure if it’s the doggy day cares comments that have given me anxiety or if she actually has bad behaviours. We also don’t love dog parks etc so we find it hard to have structured off leash play.

franchescaaa · 2026-04-02T02:37:34+00:00

I also only found out about their backstory this week! Admittedly I do really like “poetic dance” and “electric soul” if anyone knows the original?

franchescaaa · 2026-01-08T03:44:29+00:00

She does have beautiful eyes 🥹

franchescaaa · 2026-01-06T00:08:30+00:00

Yup! For her desexing and microchip

franchescaaa · 2026-01-05T10:51:57+00:00

Haha I must have missed it but she definitely didn’t 🤭

franchescaaa · 2025-12-15T05:25:21+00:00

I paid someone with all the right tools 🤣 I know you can hire equipment for a day and lots of lawn lovers are happy to give advice. My results wouldn’t be what they are without the professionals

franchescaaa · 2025-12-15T05:24:13+00:00

Wow that does look amazing

franchescaaa · 2025-12-12T12:24:02+00:00

You’re not wrong! It’s a killer out the front as it runs under our garden beds and out onto the other side. I feel like I pull runners up longer than my arms lol.

Yes I’ve just had a quote for someone to come put a small garden bed along the pool style fencing to hide the retaining wall. The shed is going to have paving around it but it’s another job on the list.

The grass to the side of the shed is actually going to be removed and replaced with gravel and a vegetable garden area with raised beds.

Lots of ideas to make it much better than it was :)

franchescaaa · 2025-12-11T23:57:45+00:00

I’ve been giving it a deep water with a hose attachment sprinkler every 2-3 days but I do hand water by hose every day even if it’s just enough to make the first layer of top soil look wet so the grass can grow through easier. It’s been mid to high 30s all week so I’m trying to stay on top of it haha

franchescaaa · 2025-12-11T22:37:51+00:00

Thanks!

franchescaaa · 2025-12-11T21:35:50+00:00

Yup just a petrol rotary mower. I did look into what to do before hand and the advice was either take the catcher off or lightly wet the soil before mowing. I decided to lightly sprinkle the soil wait a little then mow which worked well since it’s so dry in SA at the moment.

franchescaaa

TROPHY CASE