Hi Sophie is a good girl when she meets other dogs but she does seem to want to put exuberate puppies in their place.  She will take so much and then she gives a snap.  No contact is made but some puppies owners whip up their dogs and look at Sophie as if she is really nasty.  Do I tell Sophie off for this or do I ignore it as dog behaviour and risk Sophie getting a bad name?

CarolW

Personally I would just walk on and not leave them to play for so long that she feels she needs to tell the puppy off. I wouldn't give her a row, but I would try to make sure she isn't in that position again. It's perfectly natural for an older dog to tell off a puppy, but at the same time you can see why the owners don't like it - they're not to know that your girl isn't going to eat the puppy :D

That's the best way for puppies to learn manners around older dogs. :) A quick ticking-off from an adult teaches them more than any amount of human teaching. As long as no contact is made then absoutely no harm, and only good, can come of it, and the puppies' owners should be very pleased that their youngsters are being taught manners by a well-mannered dog like Sophie and not being seriously beaten up by a dog that hasn't learned correct canine social graces. :)

I totally agree.  I woudl smile and say to the pups owner that theier pup was pushing it's luck and was lucky sophie knows how to tell them off without harm.

I agree with JG too. It's like an adult telling off a child that has got over excited and is pushing the boundaries too far. So I would say don't tell Sophie off if she does it, but if you're not happy with it happening you'll need to look for the signs she's getting fed up and ask the other owner to take their pup away at that point, but if the pup owner's happy for it she'll probably be quite useful in helping the pup to learn their canine manners! :)

One of mine is very similar and I always explain to the puppy's owner before they start to play that she may tell thier pup off if they get too boisterous but that it is only teaching manners and she just warns. I find telling them this before it happens give them the chance to take their pups away if they don't like the idea or not panic if it happens.

Just an idea

With Mitz when she was young being SBT she was crazy!
When she got too 'in the face' of other dogs and they had a grumble or 'snap' at her we would always say thats what you get! The owners of the other dog would look worried thinking we were going to have a go, but we would always say to them, she has to learn how far she can push! :)

As long as the dog telling off the puppy isnt just aggressive anyway and being horrible to every dog it meets then its all good graces and no different from what the pups mother or litter mates would have done!