I'm very worried about my Beardie puppies behaviour!  After me moaning on here the other day about him being attacked in the park by a Sibe, I'm now worried hes turning into the park bully himself!  It's very strange though, he seems ok with adult dogs, looking a bit wary at first, but then his tail wags and he lets them sniff him etc. but when we went to a Puppy Party at the vets last night he was snapping, barking and snarling at the very friendly puppies who tried to get to know him!  I felt very embarrased as I felt people were looking at him as if to say 'horrible snappy dog!' This morning a lovely labrador puppy came bounding over to us in the park and was being very friendly but my puppy suddenly snarled and barked at him angrily and the owner looked shocked! (I don't blame her) I pulled him away and he continued to bark, but I noticed his tail was wagging then.  I apologised but I don't think they will be coming near us again, I felt awful!  But then two adult dogs came over and he let them sniff him and he was fine, (though I was dreading he would suddenly snap, but tried to not show my nervousness!!) I know a lot of adult dogs don't like puppies but is this normal for a 13 week old puppy?  The Beardie we used to own was very docile and loved everyone, so this has come as a bit of a shock, though you can't expect them all to be the same I suppose! He's going to Puppy School classes next week, so hopefully that will help.  Any advice in the meantime would be very welcome.

I don't think you have a problem here so don't worry. However, I do think you need help to show you how to read your dogs reaction and how to handle your reactions to him when he behaves in a certain manner :) When you were at the puppy party, did anyone talk to you about your puppies reaction? Did anyone tell you how to react to what he does?

No they didnt.  Its all a bit rushed as they have to fit it all into 1 hour and its run by vet nurses who are very nice, but I feel like we are disrupting the class!  You are right, I do need to know how to react, is it best to tell him off, reasure him? I feel I have to tell him off as I'm embarrased in front of the other puppies owner? 

Do you have a local dog training / obedience classes near you that run the Kennel Clubs good citizen scheme ?  If so, contact them about getting onto their puppy assessment class and they should them be able to help you with this.  One thing to remember is that your pup 'will' pick up on your actions as you do (probably without realising) act differently when other puppies are around, he will then pick up on your actions and will take it as re-assurance that his actions are right :(   It is a vicious circle but one that can be helped and cured with a little help.

HTH, Tara x

Thanks Tara, Hes going to the (Gwen Bailey) Puppy School classes next week for 6 weeks, but I will find out if there are any KC Good Citizen Scheme classes nearby that he could attend.  The more training for him and ME! the better I think?

Out of interest how was this puppy class ran, were the puppies on leads or were they all running loose together.

Sounds to me as if your boy is just feeling insecure and threatened after his experience in the park with the Sibe, and if they were running loose he had no escapte route, same with the Labrador Puppy who bounded up to him, loose puppies can be very overpowering when a youngster has had one bad experience.

Hopefully your puppy classes will be run correctly with experienced trainers who will understand both your puppy's body language and also help to settle your apprehension, as someone esle has said you may well be tensing up after the first bad experience and therefore making your puppy apprehensive as well.

Thanks for your advice Lady Dazzle,

The puppy party was in a small vets room with 7 puppies.  They were kept on leads up until the end when they were all let off the lead apart from mine(!) but because the room was so small they were all very close together anyway, and I think it made my puppies bark seem even louder in the small room!  Yes you are right, I'm sure I'm tensing up now when we meet other dogs, I will have to take some Bach Rescue Remedy before I venture out!

I spoke to the trainer in the Puppy School we are going to next week, and he was very helpful, so hopefully we will get things sorted out before our picture is put up on the park notice board with a warning about Dangerous Snappy Puppy and Nervous Owner!!

Maybe a small measure of Brandy would calm you down :-)

Your nervousness is understandable in the circumstances, when something like that happens we are always aware of the same thing happening so tense up.  Like a lot of things it will improve with time.

A small vets room with 7 puppies in close proximity is not the best place to have  started his socialisation, I have never been in favour of this type of puppy party.  Its like putting a group of pre-schoolers together and expecting them all to have the same characters and get on together, they don't and all youngsters need gentling into socialisation, not pushing into it.

You don't have a dangerous snappy puppy he has just been taught at the wrong time that he needs to defend himself, as a dog has hurt him, and because he is still a baby doesn't know how to give off the right body language to other dogs yet, so it comes out as bark and snarl first, think later.

Best of luck with your puppy classes, you will probably find that they will sort out all of the problems very quickly and yours and his confidence will return, and he will soon turn back to being a normal bouncy happy Beardie.