Dog park question

[Cathy and Daisy and Harper]

I am not really a fan of dog parks but I am on Spring Break from teaching so I decided to take my girl who just turned 1 to get a little exercise. I am not a dog expert but I thought if your dog was spayed that male dogs would leave your dog alone. Well, I was wrong....I know she is cute but...she seemed to be the girl all the boy dogs wanted to be with! I got so frustrated I left after dog number 4 was after her. Only 1 dog owner yelled at his dog to leave her alone. Is this normal? What do I do when this happens?  thanks!

[Becka]

The humping isn't a reproductive issue--it's a dominance issue. If your dog is generally submissive, and also new to the park, she might be a target for humping (my dog humps other dogs sometimes, and she's a girl). At my dog park, the dogs generally work it out themselves, but it's understood that you should discourage your from humping other dogs, because some dogs don't react well to it. I don't think anyone needs to "yell" at their dog, but they can certainly discourage the behavior. 

[Cathy and Daisy and Harper]

Yes, she is a more submissive girl and she was new to the park. That makes sense! I think I am an overprotective doodle mom :)!   Thanks!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with this, and I would calmly intervene if you see this happening to your dog.  My guys go to Daycare and every now and then a dog will try this...the staff always stops it.  They just walk up to the dogs and give a verbal correction...and it always seems to work.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Some dogs are chase magnets - not necessarily in a good way. They seem to invite other dogs to run after them, but they don't enjoy it.  Sometimes being the 'magnet' is a temporary thing.  You might try taking her again simply to see if this happens again - with different dogs. If it doesn't, then it was those particular dogs.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I love dog parks and it is a great place to let the dogs run and play (if it is clean).  We always pick up after our dogs and encourage others to do that also.  Yes, dogs do hump as a dominance thing, and it is an activity for both female and male dogs.  All of our dogs are neutered, but they hump each other anyway.  Corrections do seem to work if you want them to stop this activity but it is usually a short-time activity.  The problem that I find is if there is an intact male in the yard, the other boys do not want him sniffing around.  My males do not like sniffing males after our female, but a dry hump is no problem for them.

[Leslie J]

The same thing happened to Cocoa. I’ve taken her to a dog park twice and both times the dogs kept humping her. She didn’t like it at all- after the third one humped her she came and hid behind me.  

Cocoa loves meeting other dogs when we’re on walks, but I think she does not have the right temperament for dog parks- it’s too intense for her.

[Stacy]

I don't think all dog parks are created equally. It depends on the people and the dogs who frequent the park, and the park itself. I don't like the parks that are just a large fenced in yard and there's really nothing for the dogs to do except play with other strange dogs. I take my dogs to the dog parks to let them run, and play with them in a different environment. If they meet another friendly dog while we are on a trail or at the beach it's a bonus. But the focus is really me with the dogs. I'm not sure that dogs really need to have meet and greets with a ton of new and strange dogs. But I do think it's good for them to be able to explore different places. And I love the opportunity to play and hike with them without having to manage their leash manners.

That said, our favorite times at the park are the off-peak times, when I don't have to worry so much about everyone who decided that the dog park was the place to be that day. There are dogs who have no business at the dog park and they always seem to show up on Saturday afternoon when it's sunny and 70 degrees. A random Tuesday morning when it's partly cloudy and still a little cool is when I find the dog people who I want to associate with and whose dogs I feel comfortable playing with mine. I also parent my dogs at the park. I call them away from big rowdy looking groups and away from dogs that make me uncomfortable.

I love our dog park. It's one of my favorite places in the world. But I think it takes careful management to make sure that it is a fun, safe place for everyone.