Dog Park Aggression or Exuberant Play?

[Linda]

Hi there

My labradoodle is 14 months old and has been thru 3 obedience classes. She has been a well behaved and wonderful dog. In the last month, she has begun to bark more and bare her teeth at other dogs while playing. I am not sure if she is becoming aggressive or she just needs to calm down, or she is just really into the game. Any thoughts?

We go to a local dog park and  she will happily roll over and be submissive to start a game. When it is chase time, she will chase or be chased. She started barking about a month ago at dogs and it looked like she was trying to get them to play. Attention seeking stuff. She would play bow and bark, and then bark as they ran. It didn't concern me as I thought/think she was vocalizing her excitement and trying to instigate a chase game. 

In the last 4 weeks or so the barking has increased along with some neck grabbing ( not biting) when chasing.  Is that fair play?  Sometimes,when she wrestles she is baring her teeth getting a tad snarky.  When she does this I call her and leash her to calm down. This usually works and she is back in the game happily chasing and wrestling. Yesterday, she ignored my "come" twice. I had to go after her and grab harness to calm her down. We left as I felt that her barking and teeth baring was too much for the other dogs and ruining the game.

I read about spraying water on a barking dog but not sure how I feel about that. In general, people are happy to see her when we arrive at the park . Do you think she is becoming aggressive? Could this be a stage given she is just 14 months? I don't want to let this slide and have a problem on my hands.  

Any advice or insight is much appreciated! 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Is she neutered? If not that might account for the change in behavior but it actually sounds like she is maturing and changing her behavior from puppy-loves-everyone.

[Ann Kurtzman]

I've has a similar issue with my 3 year old labradoodle. I went to a wonderful behavior specialist at the Humane society here. She recommended a pheromone collar to calm him in general, and a pheromone spray (which is applied to a bandanna, not the dog), for when we go to the dogpark.  What a difference! The collar emits the same scent that a mother dog does when she is nursing. This might be a valuable tool, if not a solution. It couldn't hurt. 

PS: the spray is pricey, but it will last months!

[Linda]

Hmmm. Will look into that.  Thank you!

[Linda]

Yes she is !

[Becka]

Hi Linda,

My doodle is a year and a half and we go to the dog park every day. She has definitely gotten more vocal and more mouthy in her play, but I wouldn't call it aggressive, and she does very well one-on-one with other dogs, taking turns chasing and being the chaser. But I always put a stop to it when she "packs up" with another dog and they start to gang up on someone. My solution, if you can call it that, is to walk away--she's very good about staying fairly close to me at the park, and if I start walking laps (we have a circular track around the park's perimeter), she sticks by me--either a few yards in front or behind. Distraction seems to work better than correction in the heat of the moment.

[Linda]

 Thank you Becka, That is a great point. I think she gets more riled up when there is more than one dog rather than one  on one. 

I will try walking away, but given she disregarded 2 commands last night and refused to come I don't feel confident that will work. It's like she is so caught up in the play that she lost her senses.  I think I will bring out the clicker and the cheese and see if that helps. 

[Becka]

The clicker is a good idea if you've been doing clicker training, but be very careful of bringing treats to the dog park--at our park it is absolutely forbidden as it can cause some resource guarding and other unwanted behaviors among the dogs. And dogs with food sensitivity issues can actually get sick if they get hold of another dog's treats at the park. 

[Ginny Nightingale]

Some dogs look like they are going to bite each other's heads off, but are really just playing--baring the teeth is a normal part of that--if her tail is up and she looks happy, it is probably just play--growling in an aggressive way has a whole different appearance. I would have a small squirt bottle handy if it ever gets beyond what you would want--it does solve things quickly and sometimes they just have to know you have it and they behave better. You just squirt a gentle stream of water  onto their heads and they usually all get distracted by it. No harm done.

Also, one of my doodles "herds" other dogs by mouthing the neck and trying to contain them as they run away--other dogs do not appreciate it and she is not popular at the dog park--I really don't take her any more--too many dogs were ending up herded into the corners of the park! 

[Linda]

 Thanks Ginny.

Our dog used to be the charmer of the park and now the barking and herding/neck grabbing seem out of character. I think she is having a great time, but sometimes the dog she is playing with does not return to her when they break. 

I feel like I am vigilant all the time and have to verbally acknowledge the barking to the dog parents so they know I am on it.  It's especially annoying as last night I had to chase her down. Some control huh? My tail was down! 

Some might understand but not all do. It's uncomfortable because I want to believe it is all in fun, but it is new and I cannot be sure. I hope this is a phase as she is just 14 months.  Or maybe this is a new learned behavior and we have to re-train. 

[Theodore Roosevelt]

I agree with Ginny. As long as her tail is up and wagging, she's probably playing. Teddy, our 6 mo pup, does the same thing like 'biting' other dog's neck and baring his teeth. And we let him play with all types of dogs and various sizes- from big dobermans to tiny fiesty toy dogs who is too 'ahgressive' to play with his own kind. And from what I've read, they have soft bites, or bite inhibition, something they would've learnt by playing with other dogs. IMO as long as they are not drawing blood, they are playing and she just got a tad too excited ;-)

[Michele, Biscuit & Mo]

I'm with Ann - would also recommend the pheromone collar.  We use one with Biscuit (for her anxiety and barking) and it has made a definite difference.  I also use the "Natural Calm" treats recommended by my vet, and Biscuit loves them.  Do they help?  I'm not sure.  But she definitely begs for them every day.  LOL

[Joe R.]

Michele, do you think this collar would help when out in public where there are other dogs? Ever since we got Lilly, Gus barks and starts to growl at any other dog when he sees them. He's great around people, just not other dogs. Also where do you get the "Natural Calm" treats>?