Dog Park Behavior

[bonnie Sullivan]

Louie will be 1 year old in a few weeks. Recently at the dog park he seems to pick on a particular dog and barks and barks at it, chases it, and sometimes even nips at his legs. The dogs he selects seem a bit submissive, but we don't like this behavior. Has anyone experienced this?

[Kyoko]

Charlie is 4 1/2 months, and she shows some concerning behavior at the dog park as well.
She seems to get possesive over a stick, a toy, a ball and even water bowl. If someone else comes to drink out of the bowl, she tries to nip at them, bark at them, etc.... She is not possesive over these items at home with my other dog, who is clearly the alpha, nor with us humans. I don't like this behavior either......
It makes her look like a mean bully..... :(
I try putting her on time out, keep her with me for awhile, etc... But I don't know if I am doing the right thing....

[Lynne B]

I have had so many bad experiences in dog parks with people bringing dogs there that are not socialized and start fights. I take my puppy to a really nice doggy day care once a week, he plays with 20-25 dogs there all day and it's constantly supervised so I feel much better about that than I do taking him to the dog park.

[Mommy2Max]

I do the same with Max. He just started going to the daycare this week and he loves it. I haven't taken him to the off leash dog park because one, he isn't six months yet and two, I don't fully trust them.

Interesting topic. It will be nice to read the responses.

~Danielle

[Kim]

We take our Allie to Doggy Daycare as well. She LOVES it! I just wish it was a playgroup where "parents" can stay (lol), instead of work! I think that is what people get out of the dog park, it's fun for people to watch their dogs play together. I haven't taken Allie to a dog park yet, I don't think she is ready (or maybe it's me)!

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

Yankee does the same thing at the dog park as Charlie, getting possessive over things. He snaps at them, I scold him and he seems to be OK for a few days but then he does it again. I wonder if this is normal! He is normally a submissive dog. He does exactly what you described.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Hi Bonnie,
We have been doing doggy parks for almost 2 years with Hannah. Hannah is that submissive dog like you talk about at your dog park. When another dog seems bossy or is aggressive they tend to pick on her right away. Last year she was jumped 3xs, and the last time was the worse when this boxer chewed on her back for absolutely no reason. She would not fight back, was on the ground in a crouched postion crying. Hannah wound up okay, but shaken up. This past week we ran into the Husky who also downed her last year, and when you tell this woman to call off her dog, she does nothing. After another gentleman at the dog park pulled her dog off of mine, this dog took off for it's next victim and chewed up the back of that dog, all the time the owner denied her dog was aggressive. The same gentleman who came to our aide helped pull this Husky off the other couples dogs back. I told this person next time I would contact the police and have her dog removed, play is one thing, but aggressiveness is another. I would love to send Hannah and Honey to doggy day care if it was in our budget, the doggy park is their best release. So we try and watch out for the aggressive dogs, most at our park know each other and look out for each others dogs. I almost hate having the chicken dogs as much as someone who has the aggressive dog.
My advice is if you feel Louie is doing this as a dominance behaviour and you are worried it would turn into aggression, maybe try the doggy day care if you can for a little, and they should also know how to correct this behaviour before it would turn to aggression, or consult a behaviourist and see what they advise. I notice most on here talk about their dogs being possive with sticks and toys while at the dog park, that is not our problem , our problem really is the aggressive attacking dog we run into. I try and do everything so this does not happen, but occassionally it will, and if I can get my dogs out of there in time, I always do.

[Tammy & Gracie]

Gracie does the same thing except with people! Sometime she will target a person at the dogpark. And will circle them barking loudly. If the person tries to reach for her she will run. I don't know how to treat this either. The people are not alike. I can't see a common denominater that spikes her fear like size, clothing, etc. I try to get to her and tell her that they are normal people and then have the offending person offer a hand to smell while I am holding her collar. At that point Gracie will usually move back to doggie playing...Any other ways I should handle this?

[GBK]

My Konna used to do this, I purchased a cintronella collar and it has woked wonders. Her behavior has improved so much. It was never agressive, just pushy and who knows what goes on in those heads of thiers???
I only have to show it to her know or tell her "do you want your collar?" and she gets it quick.

[Kyoko]

What does the cintronella collar do?

[bonnie Sullivan]

This also caught my interest. It is apparently a collar that gives the dog a spray of citronella when he barks. I found this on the web: http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001b/citronella.htm

When Louie was little, we "spritzed" him with water when he barked and he stopped. Same principal, but now he is older and I'm not sure how much the water would surprise him. I'll try it again.

[GBK]

We did the water bottle too, but when she would run off from me barking at someone or something, there was no way to follow her fast enough to spritz her :) Besides the fact of bringing that darn water bottle everywhere was a big pain. The collar works anywhere as it is on them, and it does not come from you, they are shocked at first looking all over to see where that lemon stuff came from LOL The first time I used it we were in the back yard, she stopped, looked around, ran to me and sat real close, like "did you see what happened mom??? Where do you think that came from????" These doodles are so smart, I doubt I had to put that collar on more than a dozen times and she got the idea.

[bonnie Sullivan]

Well, I did try the water yesterday at the dog park to no avail. I ordered a citronella collar, so I am anxious to see how it works.