Max and Jack - Part 1

When I took Prince to the vet for the first time, she told me the most important thing I could do to make sure he turned out to be a well-adjusted dog was to socialize him.  According to her, and to various articles that I read, this meant introducing him, at a young age, to as many unfamiliar people, places and animals as possible.  Since the last large male dog I had owned had absolutely hated other dogs (except for those that he lived with) I considered it crucially important that Prince meet as many other dogs as possible.  I also wanted him to have other dogs to play with, and since my other dogs were too small...and too afraid of him...I solicited the help of a neighbor.

The young man who lived three houses away from me had two large, young dogs...a Westie/Labrador mix named Max, and a Siberian Husky named Jack.  One day when I was talking to him, I asked him if he would like to bring them by to play with Prince, and he immediately agreed.

Unfortunately, Max and Jack's idea of playing was not the same as Prince's.  He thought they were there to run around the yard, chase the ball, sniff each other and maybe wrestle a bit.  Max thought he was there to dominate Prince by constantly mounting him, and Jack thought he was there to help Max get Prince.  After a couple of rounds of this, I decided Prince would be better off inside...but I continued to walk Prince by the yard where they were on a fairly regular basis, and allow them all to sniff each other.

Max and Jack's owner would tie them to the front of his bike and let them pull him through the park while he pedaled ( he said it took about 15 minutes to go a mile) and each time they would go by, Prince would go into hysterics and try to follow them.  I think he almost saw them as his pack and wanted to join in the fun.  Nothing excited him as much as seeing Max and Jack, at any time, in spite of their almost off-handed acknowledgement of him.  Unfortunately, they didn't feel quite the same way.