Another good reason to stay away from dog parks in general.
At a dog park?To be honest, I automatically recall my dogs if they're off leash whenever we see another dog or person. It just seems polite.
Not every one can afford to send their dog to day care. ?I wouldnt beable to send Blaze to a day care even if i wanted too, as he is intact and none I have ever seen accept intact dogs. And I would much rather monitor my dog, then have a stranger monitor 20+ dogs in a small room alone.You may want to consider different options for socializing your dog like a reputable doggie day care where the dogs are evaluated or even going to the park and not entering the dog park.
That all has the ring of common sense to it.What was the other dog's body language like before your dog got there? Body position, tail position etc. What was your dog's greeting like? Did he rush right up to the other dog's face and THEN stop? Rushing at a dog you don't know can be seen by some dogs as rude and confrontational. A butt sniff and then a face sniff (no proctology exams) is a good greeting.
If the other dog turned his head away when he was being sniffed I would have called my dog then. He's saying that's enough. If it escalated to the stiffen and growl it probably was too late to call him (which you found out) as the movement triggered the other dog to react in chase and bite as opposed to just a corrective snap and get out of my face.
Are the dogs "equal match" in body size? Is your boy neutered? (as this can trigger aggression in other males..not always, but sometimes)
A lot depends on your dog and his dog skills. What I mean by dog skills is does he have the communication skills necessary to know when to turn away if a dog is giving him the "you're in my space" signals? If he DOES I would watch carefully but NOT call him, while walking over to get closer in case things escalate.
I walk dogs professionally and each one has different levels of skills, one of my goldens has terrible greeting skills so I call him BEFORE he gets to the other dog as I know he tends to rush the greeting, gets told off and then reacts. Once I have him we walk over and have controlled greetings and we're good to go.
I know Cracker ONLY tries to rush dogs that are insecure (bullying) so I don't allow her (thank god for good recall) to rush dogs either. If everyone is calm they get to say hi, play or whatever. If there is an exchange that is slightly tense but I can see from body language that it is CONTROLLED intensity I watch carefully but let it unfold. Some of my other dogs NEVER have issues as they approach calmly, give a "how do you do sniff" and then either play bow or walk away to greet someone else. That is the ideal..lol.
There are many more subtle signals going on in a ten second greeting than we think. Some LOOK bad to us and arent', some look fine to us and are actually precursors to aggression. Knowing YOUR dog and having a pretty good background in dog communication and body language can help prevent things from happening in the first place. Eight years and only three biting incidents (none serious)..by being watchful and knowing the dogs.
That all has the ring of common sense to it.
My dog is about 65 lbs, unneutered and still has the 'everybody loves me' attitude towards him. His greetings have improved from say a D- to a C+. His saving grace is that he is more or less fearless but also quite submissive, he never responds to a challenge, even from tiny dogs. So far he has met hundreds (no exaggeration) of dogs and will play nice, play rough, whatever. No bites or fights yet. If I'm unsure of a dog I'll usually make sure I'm a lot closer than I was yesterday but sometimes things don't go according to plan. Thanks for the advice.
If your dog was behaving and you had no control of your dog in our dog park I would report you without a problem. I have also seen other dogs who were un-neutered in our dog park. I made it known to them that I was keeping an eye on their dog as well as mine and if there dog misbehaved or caused problems I would report them also. The reason I reported the guy with the dane was not the fact that he was un-neutered it was because of the dogs behavior and the owners inability to recall his dog.Our dog park has no such rules against unneutered dogs.
I believe the rules of your dog park are ridiculous, and if you would 'rat out' on somebody for having a well behaved well supervised un-neutered dog in the park then that's pretty pathetic.
I'm afraid to ask and this is off topic but...why wouldn't you let someone, who maybe doesn't have great control of their dog, come to your dog park with their dog on leash for some socialization?I will also report anyone whose dog is on leash inside our off leash dog park
A lot of reporting seems to go on...If your dog was behaving and you had no control of your dog in our dog park I would report you without a problem. I have also seen other dogs who were un-neutered in our dog park. I made it known to them that I was keeping an eye on their dog as well as mine and if there dog misbehaved or caused problems I would report them also. The reason I reported the guy with the dane was not the fact that he was un-neutered it was because of the dogs behavior and the owners inability to recall his dog.
I will also report anyone whose dog is on leash inside our off leash dog park if they don't take them off leash and have done that also, again they were removed from the dog park. Perhaps your dog park allows un-neutered dogs but ours doesn't and if anyone wants to have their dogs in our dog park they are expected to follow the rules. If they don't they are removed and banned.
Because it makes the dogs that are off leash aggressive to the dog that is on leash. I socialized Lola to other dogs in the dog park by taking her for a walk along the fence outside the dog park. Recently I went to a dog park seminar that was lead by a professional dog trainer and the dog trainer was also a K9 police officer. When it came to socialization of dogs I had told him the way I had doe it with Lola and he said that it was the proper way.Yeah my dog has been "herded" a bunch of times, usually by border collies or GSDs. Great exercise! But yesterday was not herding it was an attack, no mistaking it.
I'm afraid to ask and this is off topic but...why wouldn't you let someone, who maybe doesn't have great control of their dog, come to your dog park with their dog on leash for some socialization?
And who gets to make the rules at your park? It sounds like you all need to chill out a bit.
The above and more can be found at: http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/sample/a_bark_in_the_park.htmlAppropriate dog behavior
Not all dogs are good candidates for dog-park play. A dog park is not the appropriate place for dogs who have serious behavior problems in relation to other dogs or humans. Dogs with these kinds of “issues” should be carefully socialized in environments that are far more controlled than a dog park while their owners do behavior modification work.
If anything, I think the leashed dog is likely to become more reactive/ aggressive than the unleashed. Regardless, prohibiting leashed dogs is bizarre IMHO. Dogs should be socialized to be non-aggressive leashed, unleashed and otherwise. If your dog attacks a leashed dog, its your dog's fault, not the leash, and its your dog that should be banned from the park.Because it makes the dogs that are off leash aggressive to the dog that is on leash.
Why would you bring your leashed dog inside an off leash dog park?. What sense does it make to do that. As I said before the other unleashed dogs can become aggressive and it really does not matter which become aggressive first, the leashed or unleashed dog the simple fact is that all dogs should be off leash in an off leash dog park.If anything, I think the leashed dog is likely to become more reactive/ aggressive than the unleashed. Regardless, prohibiting leashed dogs is bizarre IMHO. Dogs should be socialized to be non-aggressive leashed, unleashed and otherwise. If your dog attacks a leashed dog, its your dog's fault, not the leash, and its your dog that should be banned from the park.
I've walked my dog on leash at heel countless times thru a dog park just as distraction training. He finally learned that he does not have a god given right to play with every dog he sees. It also allowed him to meet many dogs in a very safe way when he was a small pup (as I was right there). What harm were we doing? Why would you prohibit us?
To me the biggest problem at dog parks is not leashes or lack of neutering, etc but owners who do not accept responsibility for their dogs. If your dog gets aggressive its YOUR fault.
We have one submissive dog who will come back when we call (though often not right away >.<) so we let her off leash at the dog park. Our other dog is somewhat dog selective (she likes to hear herself barkWhy would you bring your leashed dog inside an off leash dog park?.