Hello All,
I have to Husky/GS mixes, King and Reyna. King is 3 and Reyna is 2. Same parents, just different litter. King and Reyna are friendly dogs, love people, love attention, and love each other.
King and Reyna play very rough together. Lots of "talking/growling", grabbing at each others legs, neck, face, and whatever else they can get their mouth on. Neither of them seem to mind it but its definitely different from what I am used to seeing dogs do.
When we take them to the dog park King tends to ignore other dogs besides the usual introductory smelling. Reyna tends to play with a few dogs that she finds interesting and have fun with her play style. Never had any problems there.
The problem comes in two forms:
1) Pack Mentality (?): if King or Reyna notices the other one playing they will tend to butt in and stop the outside dog from playing with my other dog. Sometimes this turns in to a 2 on 1 situation with my dogs beating up the other one which is not good. Because of this I started taking my dogs individually to the dog park.
2) Aggressive Chasing: The local dog park is a large 200m x 200m square. A lot of dogs get their energy out by running around. If either of my dogs see that, they will take off chasing the dog. If (when) they catch the dog they usually nip at it the scruff while running. Bigger dogs don't mind, smaller dogs do. My dogs do it to each other when they are off leash out in the forest and don't mind it. However last time I went to the dog park Reyna crossed the line and the dog she was chasing yelped when she caught him. I apologized to the owner, put Reyna on the leash, took her aside and gave her 5 minutes to calm down. As soon as I let her of the leash she did the same thing. I promptly put her on the leash and have not been back to the dog park since.
Other things to note:
If the dog they are chasing just stops running my dogs stop also and they all just stand around looking at each other panting. The problem is if my dog catches while they are still chasing each other.
I have noticed this behavior is normally happens in dogs smaller than King and Reyna. They will chase larger dogs that are running but they never have crossed the line with them.
They have no problem playing with dogs in enclosed areas. They go to doggie day camp with dogs of all sizes (obviously they are separate from the tiny dogs) and have had no issues at all. My neighbor brings over his dog to our back yard and they have no issues chasing each other and playing.
I do not want to keep my dogs from socializing with other dogs but I also do not want them to be aggressive with other dogs enjoying their time at the park also.
Do you all have any suggestions on Training/Behavioral Modification techniques that I can work with my dogs to help them respect other dogs boundaries when playing?
Thanks!
I have to Husky/GS mixes, King and Reyna. King is 3 and Reyna is 2. Same parents, just different litter. King and Reyna are friendly dogs, love people, love attention, and love each other.
King and Reyna play very rough together. Lots of "talking/growling", grabbing at each others legs, neck, face, and whatever else they can get their mouth on. Neither of them seem to mind it but its definitely different from what I am used to seeing dogs do.
When we take them to the dog park King tends to ignore other dogs besides the usual introductory smelling. Reyna tends to play with a few dogs that she finds interesting and have fun with her play style. Never had any problems there.
The problem comes in two forms:
1) Pack Mentality (?): if King or Reyna notices the other one playing they will tend to butt in and stop the outside dog from playing with my other dog. Sometimes this turns in to a 2 on 1 situation with my dogs beating up the other one which is not good. Because of this I started taking my dogs individually to the dog park.
2) Aggressive Chasing: The local dog park is a large 200m x 200m square. A lot of dogs get their energy out by running around. If either of my dogs see that, they will take off chasing the dog. If (when) they catch the dog they usually nip at it the scruff while running. Bigger dogs don't mind, smaller dogs do. My dogs do it to each other when they are off leash out in the forest and don't mind it. However last time I went to the dog park Reyna crossed the line and the dog she was chasing yelped when she caught him. I apologized to the owner, put Reyna on the leash, took her aside and gave her 5 minutes to calm down. As soon as I let her of the leash she did the same thing. I promptly put her on the leash and have not been back to the dog park since.
Other things to note:
If the dog they are chasing just stops running my dogs stop also and they all just stand around looking at each other panting. The problem is if my dog catches while they are still chasing each other.
I have noticed this behavior is normally happens in dogs smaller than King and Reyna. They will chase larger dogs that are running but they never have crossed the line with them.
They have no problem playing with dogs in enclosed areas. They go to doggie day camp with dogs of all sizes (obviously they are separate from the tiny dogs) and have had no issues at all. My neighbor brings over his dog to our back yard and they have no issues chasing each other and playing.
I do not want to keep my dogs from socializing with other dogs but I also do not want them to be aggressive with other dogs enjoying their time at the park also.
Do you all have any suggestions on Training/Behavioral Modification techniques that I can work with my dogs to help them respect other dogs boundaries when playing?
Thanks!