Dog Park Scuffles

[jameswelle]

Hello,

I have a 6mo old unaltered Great Dane female. She is a timid dog, but enjoys going to the dog park to run and play with other dogs. However, on the last two visits to the dog parks she has been bullied by other dogs.

On one visit, a professional dog walker had a pack of 20 dogs in the park. One of the dogs in the pack tried to mount my female. She struggled to get him off and then ran away and three or four dogs from the pack chased after her, barking, growling, and attempting to knock her down. The dog walker broke things up any she wasn't hurt.

On the next visit, one man's two pitbulls ganged up on my female. They repeatedly chased her and knocked her to the grown and then it looked like one of the pitbulls was attempting to mount her while she was on the ground. I tried to break them up, but the pitbulls kept coming back and their owner just shrugged and said "this always happens", so I left the park.

My questions are. Is this acceptable behavior at a dog park? What should I do in these situations?

Thanks,
James

[Giselle]

I don't go to dog parks anymore. This is one of the many reasons.

At the most, mounting is a very blatant display of dominance. At the least, it is an annoying and rude behavior, and your puppy should not be subjected to that by completely strange dogs. Would you let a *complete* stranger smother you with a bear hug? Maybe if you knew the person better and were familiar with him/her, you would tolerate and submit to a smothering bear hug. It's the same with your girl. If she knew the other dog well, that kind of behavior would probably elicit play from her. But she doesn't know them and they could be dominating, or they could be playing. The uncertainty alone is enough to dissuade me from dog parks.

I also don't like bringing young puppies to parks because it gets extremely rough and puppies can often turn into prey - especially when you have a pack of dogs in the vicinity. I've seen *many* puppies ganged up on simply because they were small, yelping little packages of fur. In those instances, it was a matter of: the puppy was playing, the puppy got hurt and yelped, and a pack formed to chase the puppy down.

When you're at the dog park, you constantly have to gauge the arousal level. In the case of the pitties and your girl, if you got a hand on the dog's collar but he was still vehemently itching to go after your pup, I would leave the park. Playing dogs will stop and take a break if you restrain them. Dogs whose arousal levels are too high are unable to control themselves. I don't want to be in any situation where any dog is so overaroused that he can't control himself - especially when almost all dogs in that situation are strange to me.

For socialization, find doggie day care centers or trainers that hold socialization meetings. You usually have to buy a card and go on certain days. It's only a few bucks, but the dogs who go there must be friendly and there will be a trainer there to gauge the arousal levels and step in whenever necessary. Also, a single dog walker going to a dog park with 20 dogs is enough for me to immediately leave.

[IRescue452]

Unaltered dogs do not belong in the dog park. If you plan to have her altered but are going to wait because of her size, try taking various obedience classes for socialization. The dogs are on a leash most of the times in classes, or at least they are more controlled than the park, so there is less risk of a fight. If you came to my park with an unaltered female, you'd have to deal with us dog enthusiasts running you out of the park for putting our dogs in a risky situation.

[Buck'N'Chloe]

I do not take my dogs to dog parks only for the fear of them getting sick or injured by other dogs. Dog parks although are a great option for some people. With an unaltered female it does seem like risky business in the case of an unaltered male. Your dog might not even enjoy the dog park visits because of other dogs' behaviors (even though I think that other owners should better control their dogs). It sounds like the owners at this dog park are pretty laid back (which is expected of dog park dog owners, and isn't always a bad thing). I hope that one day your dog can happily frolic at dog parks, but for now it might not be the best idea...hope everything works out!

[4 Dog Mother]

Does the dog park have any rules? Our dog park would not let one person bring 20 dogs into the park. No one can keep an eye on 20 dogs - and not only are you suppose to keep your dog behaving but you are also suppose to pick up after your dog and you would be so busy picking up, you would never have any time to see if the dogs were behaving.

Each person is allowed 3 dogs at the park. If YOUR dog starts misbhaving - and I called repeated mountings of another dog as misbehaving -YOU and YOUR DOG are suppose to leave the park. If another dog is harassing or trying to hurt your dog you can call the park office or sheriff's office. Each dog has to be up-to-date of their shots.

I don't know what option you really have if there is no rules or place to contact when an abuse of the rules is happening. I have seen a little dog get hurt when a couple of big ones would not leave it along. I also have a dog that has hurt some dogs (minorly) - there are some dogs she does not like. Fortunately for me there is a time out pen in the dog park and I can put her in it when there is a dog she does not like. Knock on wood, she has not gone after anyone in a couple of years. For the most part, there were some breeds she did not like and if one came in..... and since I knew this I am (or at least try to be) always at the gate to see how she will react to a dog or even leash her if I was uncertain of her reaction.

When Taggert was a puppy, a certain dog would try humping him every time he saw him - I think it was a dominance thing since they were both males. Since they were there a lot of times we were - I did not hestitate to tell them to make their dog leave Taggert alone.

I also often carry a small squirt bottle of water - I spray my own and others when they won't respond to my suggestions. It works for a lot of dogs but not all. Our dog park has some down periods of day - the only other thing you can do is find out when those might be or especially if the dogs you don't want her near come on a regular schedule.

Good Luck!

[jameswelle]

Why is it risky to have an unaltered female puppy in a dog park? She has not gone through a heat cycle yet.

We have just decided to avoid dog parks because of her age and temperament for now.