Hello all. I took my 9 month old Lab to the dog park for the first time today. I never really wanted to take him to a dog park because of all the bad stories, but thought I would give it a shot because it's close to home. He is a pretty happy and high energy boy when he is outside. Mostly mellow in the house. So we get there and he charges out into the park which immediately draws the attention of a couple of dogs. The one is a hound mix and the other a herding dog mix. Well my boy starting wrestling around with the hound mix and found himself on his back with the other dog biting on his neck. They would run a little and then back to grabbing his neck. The owner seemed to think this was all normal and said nothing to the dog. Once my dog was running and the hound mix tackled him from the side and rolled him. The owner said "that was a bully move", but still did nothing. Now my dog seemed fine the entire time. They even stopped and got water for a minute. Well after the wrestling started again the herding dog mix joined in and started biting at my dogs legs while he was on his back and the other dog trying to grab his neck. So we went in and broke it up and gave them a break. After a minute we let them go and the same thing happened. That's when I said, "OK I guess it's time to go". This was all very hard to watch, but I kept a close eye to make sure he never got into any trouble. There never really seemed to be any "real" aggression during all of this, but it was just too much. My boy is a sweetheart and doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body. The one lady even said "if he would just bite them they would stop right away". And I said "yeah, that will never happen" and she said "yeah, he is just too sweet". Do you think I should just skip the dog park all together? He never really gets any socialization. He went to puppy kindergarten, but we never followed up with other classes. He loves to romp around with other dogs, but it seems you just don't know who you're going to run into at the dog park.
Well the herding mix was just doing what he was bread to do that's how they play by nipping at legs. and body slamming is just how some dogs play, I know my pup has taken out some dogs while running and playing, and grabbed their neck and played bity face. The body slam is usually a move they do to get their attention and it's usually followed by come and chase me.
Also is your boy intact?
He's not. Much to my chagrin I got outvoted and he was neutered last month. I wanted to wait until he was 1. That was also another reason I avoided the dog park because I took him to a dog swim after labor day weekend at the pool in the neighborhood, and he definitely got some dogs a little aggressive when they smelled him. I thought a lot of the play was normal, I just didn't like him getting ganged up on. And they other dog was just a little too rough. I think I would have yelled at my dog if he got that rough. He had a Lab buddy he used to roll around with and bite each other and they were great together, but this other guy was just a bit too much. Maybe I'm a little overprotective. We are talking about my baby
When my labs play, the little one pretty much grabs on to her big brother's neck and hangs on while they wrestle. Chase generally rolls over on his back when Lark grabs him. Chase does not generally correct her. He barks and growls a lot when they play and every once in a while I'll hear him give a "I mean it!" sounding bark, but that's infrequent. When I pull her away, because I think it seems like too much, he'll often bark and jump at her, clearly trying to re-engage which always means she grabs him by the scruff and hangs on like cold death. He outweighs her by 20+ pounds and could hurt her if he wanted to. He'll try to get away or come and get behind me if he's really not enjoying it, but as long as he's happy with what's going on, I let them play with breaks thrown in for my own peace of mind. Chase is also pretty mild-mannered and I know it's hard to see them get roughed up. And in my case, they're both my own dogs, not dogs I don't really know.
If your dog seems like he's trying to get away and not enjoying what's going on, I'd certainly step in. I'd keep an eye on them if you let them go ahead and play. What looks like fun one minute can turn quickly into more of a fight. "The trouble with trouble is it starts out as fun." (Unknown)
I am not a huge fan of dog parks, myself. But, not all parks are created equally. The parks that are more open with less dogs tend to be less troublesome. And, I have found time and time again, that going early in the morning nets better dogs and better people. I don't know why. I can walk to the local dog park in less than five minutes, but if I do take mine, I choose do drive 30 minutes to the big open one and only before 8:30AM on a weekend.
I'm also not shy at dog parks. I try not to get overexcited or flip out on anyone, but if I think things are about to get out of hand (with emphasis on the word about -- I never wait until it does get out of hand if I can help it anyway) I just say that I'd like to give my dog a few minutes to calm down so that no one gets hurt. Overstimulation can happen to the nicest dogs and they can hurt another dog on accident or cause the other dog to get defensive or scared. People should not let that happen.
That doesn't sound too bad to me and if your dog went back for more then he wasn't afraid. It certainly doesn't sound like he was the aggressor.
Did you make your first visit during off hours? Sounds like maybe if you only met two dogs. That's a good idea. It's good to make a friend outside the park and go together.
How big was the park? Something you should not do is stand and socialize with the people, you should walk the park and most times your dog will come with you thus avoiding any long amounts of time spent working up angst with the other dogs. Hard to do in a tiny little 10 acre park though, and a lot of them are smaller than that.
We have thousands of acres of bush land with trails. Some of these areas are well used by dog walkers but except for congregating at the pond everyone pretty well walks the trails and dogs don't spend time with each other much. From posts I've read here some dog parks work really well and some don't. I went to one closest to me once, a measley 7 acres with a hill just inside the gate. A lot of people won't, and some can't, climb the hill with the result that there is a gaggle of people and dogs just inside the gate, a virtual gauntlet to have to run even if you did want to go further. ONly went once.
i don't go to dog parks, mainly because i think the owners don't always pay attention and two of mine got kennel cough from drinking from a community bowl. that being said, it sounds more like play than anything else and it seems like all the owners, were on top of what was going on.
The few times/dozen or so I have taken chili to park, he has fun. He doesnt have an aggressive bone, but some dogs love him too much and just harass him. Some owners say their dogs just dont like intact dogs, others just have protective/aggressive dogs but most of the time its fun time. my big problem is everytime we go its a risk. And at my age I like to minimize risks. Its also against the law to have an intact dog in the parks. So double risk! IF anything went wrong I would be at fault.
Yes, personally I wouldn't take him back. When Loki (choc. lab) was a puppy, I was insistent he should go to dog parks and play with his own kind. He got bullied so much, just as you describe, and husband and I think that was what eventually caused him to be dog aggressive. If dogs enjoy dog parks, that is fine, but they do not NEED to go there. Especially if they have buddies at home to play with or play dates with dogs you know. Cori (black) was never taken to dog parks (we learned our lesson) and she gets along with EVERYBODY and has many friends and play dates.
I don't like dog parks overall. Just a personal preference. However, how you described it, it sounds like your dog was having fun and playing, as were the other dogs. Labs like to play rough and tumble. If your dog had run behind you and tried to hide or was cowering then I would say he was intimidated and the park was something to avoid in the future but it really sounds like playing to me. With that said, do what you are comfortable with and if you don't like how another dog is interacting with yours it is never wrong to wade in and break it up or leave.
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