Breeder Meet-Ups: Fun or Harmful for Puppies?
A single puppy hit shattered a mother's confidence. But it wasn't her fault. Not at all. It was the puppy hit.
This is what a puppy meeting can look like
Puppy reunions are often cozy. The little ones tumble around and reunite with their siblings, lying in a big pile; wrestling, bickering, cuddling, and playing. And the dog mom gets to watch and participate with pleasure, greeting her little ones only to miss them again when they leave. Such is life as a breeding dog. The breeder gets to review the breeding results, and puppy parents get to see the apple of their eye from a new perspective and have their thoughts and questions answered. Coffee, cake, sunshine, and super cute puppies.
Conflicts at sexual maturity
Sometimes it is like that. But sometimes it's not like that at all. Invitations to puppy reunions usually stop coming after a while. And so they should, preferably before puberty… Because hormonal adolescent dogs don’t always get along well, especially if they have similar genetic makeup. In nature, this should! lead to friction. It is the law of nature, a way to reduce the risk of inbreeding.
How hormones affected the puppy meeting
So maybe a litter reunion wasn't the best idea, even though it sounded nice. A nice time was what Jane expected that day she took Pax to meet his siblings at the breeder. The atmosphere was a little harsh among the dogs from the start. Racing around, bumping into each other with force, tails held high and smiles and sparkly eyes a rarity. Most dogs handled it okay, but not Pax. First, he was curious. Then he wanted to move everyone out of the way. And then he started something that looked very much like an argument with his brother, and at one point he tried to hump another dog and got told off. Thereafter he mostly wanted to go home. It wasn't his fault, mostly his hormones. And it really wasn't Jane's fault. But unfortunately, she got to hear that. Over and over again. Until the key pushed into the ignition was wet with tears.
A bad experience with a dog coach
She came back home with a crushed self-confidence and a stressed out Pax. Her leadership was wrong, and she had trained him poorly, socialized him too little, and was even offered to return him to the breeder. Leave him behind?? She loved him! Couldn’t they at least see that. The breeder recommended that she’d see a dog trainer. So she did. But this trainer was just as "nice" as the breeder. So everything got worse. Then a good friend told her that everyone except her and Pax was probably stupid. And that was the only thing Jane's gut feeling agreed with.
The dog psychologist provided clarity
There was nothing wrong with either Jane or Pax. Just the circumstances that day. However, her shattered self-confidence led her to call a certified behavior consultant to evaluate the matter. The three of them met to assess Pax's social skills and "aggression." It didn't take long for the behaviorist to declare that there was nothing wrong with Pax. At all! He was just like any other adolescent dog of his breed. He didn't need to be neutered, dominated, or judged. He just needed to be understood. And no one could do a better job of that than Jane. And so it was… To understand how to socialize your dog properly, we recommend reading Socializing Your Dog the Right Way. When it comes to dogs' emotional lives, you can also read more in the article Dogs' emotional lives - not unlike ours.
Written by: Caroline Alupo
Caroline Alupo is Petli's co-founder. She has a master's degree in ethology and is also a trained dog trainer and dog psychologist. She has 19 years of experience as a professional dog trainer. Read more about Caroline here.
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