Don't Get Mad at Your Dog for Simply Talking 'Dog'

I was walking my puppy, Cooper, this morning when we came upon a nice dog who wanted to say "Hi."

After the usual parent niceties, and observations (is the other dog friendly, okay, looks alright), both dogs made their approaches. Yhey were calm, sweet and well mannered.

But after 15 seconds, Cooper's new friend let out a very subtle "grumble" -- not even a growl, just a quiet little grumble under her breath.  

Cooper immediately backed away and came to me, no harm no foul -- his tail still wagging. He got the message.

Sadly, the other dog's mom reprimanded her, and said "No" in a harsh tone.

The poor pup slinked away, head down, tail tucked.  

I immediately chimed in and did my best to stick up for the other dog, saying "It's okay, she was just telling Cooper to back off. He listened, no big deal."

Cooper is a puppy, and many dogs can only tolerate the bouncy nature of puppies for so long. When they're done, they are done, and they tell the puppies to go away.

This is exactly what happened. The nice adult dog was simply saying, "Okay, we said, 'Hi,' now go away."

Cooper didn't do anything wrong (he never jumped, or acted inappropriately).  His only crime was being a puppy. The other dog didn't do anything wrong either. Her only crime was being an adult dog talking dog.

I can only hope that the other dog's mom took note of the interaction and won't be so hard on her sweet girl next time. After all, if dogs can't communicate using their own language, how can they? They have to talk dog.