[MarkAndGeorgina]

Morning all

Bruno loves to play with Molly and he'd probably spend all his waking hours playing with her if he could.

Is there a limit of playtime we should impose though?
I remember reading that too much doggy playtime may result in a very dog oriented dog rather than a people oriented dog.

We're doing about 4x (sometimes 5x) 5mins training sessions with him just now (before every meal, mainly) throughout the day. And we try to have some alone time with Bruno through the day also.

Molly gets her alone time with us when she gets walked so there's no worries there.

I believe Dobe's are very people oriented anyway, but we're wondering if maybe we should limit doggy play time so he gets more time with us.

BTW...he always seems to play a lot more "playfully" with Molly than he does with us

 

[Amelia_]

As long as they're both getting time alone with you, I wouldnt worry about it too much

My dogs have always been allowed to play as much as they liked together and are still very people orientated. If I felt they were getting too dog orientated, I'd probably start to split them up more, but I think its just best to play it by ear.

 

[LindaH]

I agree, as long as Bruno isnt totally blowing you off to be with Molly, everything is fine.

 

[Toby'shuman]

I found my boy decided when he wanted to play with my other dogs and when he wanted to play with us. He has always made a point of seeking us out and spending time with us rather than my 2 Terriers so in my opinion, I would just see how it goes and play it by ear as Amelia recommends.

By the way, I don't know how old your Bruno is but I strongly recommend you let him meet tons and tons of people as well as other dogs (well behaved ones only). Socialisation cannot begin too early and will make life a whole lot easier for you when he is a big boy.

 

[Norman]

Great sharing.
I would suggest smaller breeds of dogs.
They seem to attach themselves to their owners more effectively than larger breeds.

 

[longshot4me]

Great sharing.
I would suggest smaller breeds of dogs.
They seem to attach themselves to their owners more effectively than larger breeds.

This is just ridiculous. Just a bit of a blanket statement. For what its worth, I've never seen a more attached dog than a doberman.. and BOTH of the small dogs in my life are very aloof.

 

[brw1982]

Great sharing.
I would suggest smaller breeds of dogs.
They seem to attach themselves to their owners more effectively than larger breeds.

I think it's just big creatures in general. Ever see an elephant or a giraffe following anyone around a park? I didn't think so. But dogs and children are constantly following people around parks! It must be their size.

:lol2:

 

[Adara]

It is a perfect time to teach recall with distractions  Use the play to your advantage. Make it easy at first. Right next to puppy say NAME COME give treat. Then say release word the puppy cannot fail. Repeat repeat repeat. When you see the puppy turning his/her head to you, you know you can move to the next step…move an entire inch away repeat.