My dad's girlfriend has a pomchi who is super unsocialized (she never leaves the house and probably doesn't even know she's a dog) and when Caper comes over and tries to initiate play with her, she growls and barks her little head off, but he won't relent. It's funny to watch but I'm just worried that if it was with a bigger dog who knew how to use its fangs, he would get hurt. Someone in the family ends up intervening and picking her up to put her in another room. I know it might be a puppy thing, but will Caper ever learn to take a hint with/without my intervention?

I think so. I mean, dogs have very elaborate ways of communicating with each other when they want to play. i know whne i got my second dog she kept trying to get thor to play non-stop. she didn't understand boundaries or anything of the sort, and then as time went on she began to realize that he wouldn't always play and stopped being so relentless. She still wants to play more than him, and will try and get him to play, but after a few passes, if he doesn't respond, then she chills out and does something else.  The novelty idea also makes them more stubborn and wanting to play. i would say try and distract caper when he gets in one of those moods, and have him in a down stay, or give him a toy to play wtih so you can refocus his attention.

I think it's a puppy thing how is he with other dogs. London is 9 weeks and when a chihuahua came up barking angrily at her she just saw him as something to play with, but with Stryker who is 100lbs he'll snap at her and let her know when he's had enough play time for now, I would just always monitor how he plays with other dogs and if they start to get anxious with all his puppy energy.

Bigger dogs will have an easier time putting him in his place than smaller dogs. The problem with smaller dogs is that they really aren't big enough to say no effectively. Trust me, Karli is obnoxious when it comes to playing and big dogs handle her just fine.

Kenzi's about 4 yrs and always wants to play with my old dog when I take her to my parents house. He's not as tall as she is but he's a pitbull mix with a hella lotta teeth and nearly no outside dog socialization similar to you gf's dad's dog. He takes her pawing at him wanting to play for a little bit until she jumps at him then he lays her out and she leaves him alone. He usually has to do this once every time she comes over but she leaves him be afterwards and he's never hurt her. It has done her some good in dealing with other dogs too which is nice to see that even an adult dog can learn some manners. Now if him saying no made her mad and she tried to fight him over it it would be a different story. Kenzi thinks she's a badass but she's really just a spoiled brat.

Dizzy was like this too, and still is to an extent. I started sending him to daycare and that has helped a lot. I was actually more worried he would hurt a small dog rather than the other way around. He's gotten corrected and sometimes over-corrected by older dogs, so he's a little more careful with bigger dogs, and is getting better with small dogs, but if he's wound up, I won't let him approach a small dog I don't know, because he has that over the top puppy energy.

Thanks everyone for your input

I hope that he soon learns that "no means no" from other dogs. A neighbor and I got together and let our dogs play. He has an ultra friendly 3 yo pittie and they played for a while until the pittie got tired of playing so he left Caper to by our legs for pets. Caper wouldn't leave him alone and at this point I would usually restrain him but I thought if I always intervene and don't let him get corrected he will never learn. He pounced on the pittie and the pittie snapped/nipped him, causing him to yelp. I pulled him away so that things wouldn't escalate but when I let him go again he ran straight over to pounce again like nothing happened. Is this normal?? Having been the victim of a dog attack once already I would like to be extremely cautious about preventing things from escalating to a fight.

Also I am not sure whether trying to hump/wrestle to hump other dogs is considered playing or rude. That's what he does, lol...

Lol, the hump/wrestle is just juvenile male puppy behavior, and yes him continuing to go back even after corrected is normal for an unsocialized puppy. I am a little surprised he didn't learn his lesson from the attack, but on the other hand, at least he's not traumatized. I would suggest doggie daycare if you have one nearby. It has made all the difference for Dizzy, it wears him out while also helping with his social skills. He was a take no prisoners and wouldn't take no for an answer kind of dog too. After a couple weeks 2-3 days a week in daycare, when we go to the dog park, I see a lot more normal behavior in terms of his approach to other dogs and his response to them if they want to be left alone. The nice thing about daycare is that they allow the other dogs to correct, but will intervene if the intensity level is too high. Dizzy still needs work and reverts to that behavior if he is too wound up, but is getting better overall.

The humping can also be a dominance thing, there's a female husky at the dog park that does that to all the boys. Karli reacts that way too, there was a pittie with bad manners at the dog park, Karli would submit to her but she wouldn't let Karli up after she had submitted, she'd keep going. We'd pull them apart and Karli would go right back for more, like it was the most fun she's ever had. Lola has gotten better and now chases more than pins her and Karli is learning no means no, but she gets in that zone of "I want to play" and its hard to resist her apparently lol. Even the older husky mix has started chasing her.

Kenzi humped my husband the other night. She's never done that to anyone or anything until then. He and I were wrestling on the floor and he started getting a little rough with me so she grabbed him and tried to hump him. We were both a little shocked at first. I think she just got too excited and had to vent. lol. My husband wasn't very happy about it. I think he felt a little violated by it.

I have signed up for a daycare nearby - our meet & greet is this Sunday. So excited! I am sure that besides learning social skills and becoming less dog-desperate he will have tons of fun. Also, I have budding ideas of skimping out on one of our walks if he gets tired out at daycare on one of my busier days.. :X

Lol Jenn, has she tried to do it again since? Caper has tried to hump my brother when he came down to visit. It's all the men in the home that he goes after, strangely!

NewComer wrote:

Lol Jenn, has she tried to do it again since? Caper has tried to hump my brother when he came down to visit. It's all the men in the home that he goes after, strangely!

Not lately but she had a mild episode a few days ago where she truly thought about it, but my husband watches her like a hawk now anytime she walks up behind him if he's sitting on the floor so she hasn't had as much opportunity. She's never tried it with me. Usually if she's going to jump on me it's going to be to bite my hair.