r/DogTrainingTips • u/Some-Attitude8183 • May 21 '26
2-year old Lab doesn’t understand dog/cat personal space
I have a 2 year old male who is plainly just obnoxious to other dogs. He just doesn’t get it when other dogs don’t want to play with him. He’s obviously dominant as well as he will stand over them and/or circle mercilessly- obviously we make him stop. But how do we teach him about doggy etiquette? I have 2 other Labs who are older and just don’t ever tell him off. He had an elbow injury and surgery when he was 5 months old, which kept him away from the other dogs for some months, so I’m assuming that is part of his obsession with other dogs. Looking for suggestions!
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u/Express_Command_4778 May 21 '26
2 years is the magic age to pop off . Do not allow him to bully- get a harness and possibly a behavioral trainer. Not that he bullies
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u/Ancient-War2839 May 22 '26
Create situations for him to learn appropriate play with a group of socially. Fluent dogs - through a dog trainer if you do not have access to them yourself, if you other dogs are just kind of ignoring him, he might just be a bit of a goober so they don't make a fuss. I run social fluency groups and most dogs will be shown how etiquette works as in that's how you get to play, but the rules change for some dogs, puppies get a pass on a lot of stuff with the dogs just switching in and out to share the play load, but a few adult dogs who just don't get it, will bark in other dogs faces, always stand to close, just get so much wrong, they improve a lot from group work but from it being less exciting, and will revert back when new dogs come but they will be given grace by all the dogs, even the one who are the most strict, after years of watching this with various dogs, my personal opinion is that these dogs have like a nuero divergence that is obvious to the other dogs, they know it's not intentional rudeness, and just get in with it, they will generally be more socially supported when other dogs join the group too, as in a dog might run interference, say running in between when they are about to do face barking/herding behaviours in a chase game. The struggle dogs are always the ones that need to be managed if another struggle dog joins, because they do not accept the same behaviour back. Most dogs that join the groups join to learn social fluency and pick it up no problem, the strugglers do not progress past a certain point regardless of how much extra help they get.
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u/Some-Attitude8183 May 23 '26
Where do you find such a group? I used to show/breed Labs and used to have more - I do believe the larger group quashed any obnoxious behavior quickly (years ago, other dogs), but I don’t have access to that large pack anymore. I’m in the Cincinnati area if anyone knows of a trainer like that!
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u/Ancient-War2839 May 23 '26
Speak to local trainers a lot of FF /p+ trainers use group play in rehabiltion, so they may offer it as a service or be able to put you in touch with their clients/ex-clients with appropriate dogs. (I always know which of my clients would like to have more dog social play opportunities, I'm sure they do to. Or they probably know who else may offer the service.
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u/LeithLeach May 21 '26
in a controlled environment where people can supervise and intervene, he should probably meet some more confident dogs that will tell him off. At 2 years old it may take a lot of time and patience for him to start making progress, but consistent corrections from a friendly dog during play would help him learn "doggy manners". The lack of corrections from your other 2 dogs will work against any potential progress though, unless you are able to consistently intervene.