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Oh, the dog park. I should say, our dog park is TINY and we go there at least once a day. I'm there every morning and I know most of the other owners I see. Dog toys are forbidden (except tennis balls at off-peak times...at the times we're there, the rules say "no toys of any kind). Biscuit is a female, spayed, 14 months old. Generally extremely well tempered and loving of all dogs and people, and we've never had any kind of resource guarding issue with her before at all. We've had her since last July.
This morning, someone had one of those fabric frisbees, and Biscuit got a hold of it. When I went to take it away from her (holding a treat in front of her nose), she REALLY did not want to give it up, and three other dogs came over and crowded around and barked, making Biscuit even MORE unwilling to give it up.
Eventually she let go in order to start a fight with one of the dogs that had been barking at her, an intact Lab male that Biscuit sees every morning and is never a fan of. She ended up cutting the Lab a tiny bit on his cheek. The Lab ran off and Biscuit ignored him thereafter. The Lab's owner (who didn't see any of this happen or help prevent it even though the dog park is TINY because he was wandering around on his cell phone the whole time...) seemed understanding and not angry, and said this had happened to his dog before, and the damage was really minimal, but I feel TERRIBLE.
What should I have done differently? Obviously this is why toys are banned, but they do show up at the dog park regardless of the rules. When we're at home (or anywhere other than at the dog park), Biscuit is fine with giving up her toys. She'll bring them back to me so I can throw them again. How do I convince her that it's OK to let go of things around other dogs too? Should I have somehow gotten rid of the other dogs, or left the park before trying to take the toy away?
Thanks!
This morning, someone had one of those fabric frisbees, and Biscuit got a hold of it. When I went to take it away from her (holding a treat in front of her nose), she REALLY did not want to give it up, and three other dogs came over and crowded around and barked, making Biscuit even MORE unwilling to give it up.
Eventually she let go in order to start a fight with one of the dogs that had been barking at her, an intact Lab male that Biscuit sees every morning and is never a fan of. She ended up cutting the Lab a tiny bit on his cheek. The Lab ran off and Biscuit ignored him thereafter. The Lab's owner (who didn't see any of this happen or help prevent it even though the dog park is TINY because he was wandering around on his cell phone the whole time...) seemed understanding and not angry, and said this had happened to his dog before, and the damage was really minimal, but I feel TERRIBLE.
What should I have done differently? Obviously this is why toys are banned, but they do show up at the dog park regardless of the rules. When we're at home (or anywhere other than at the dog park), Biscuit is fine with giving up her toys. She'll bring them back to me so I can throw them again. How do I convince her that it's OK to let go of things around other dogs too? Should I have somehow gotten rid of the other dogs, or left the park before trying to take the toy away?
Thanks!