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You're at the dog park with your dog and he is playing nicely with the other dogs, running around, fetching, playing etc. Then there's always that one dog that terrorized your dog, jumping, biting, pummeling him to the ground. Your dog is obviously scared and cowers away and tries to play with other dogs. But then that one dog continues to beat up your dog. The owner yells to stop but then goes back gabbing with their friends.
I know dogs will be dogs, and they establish a pecking order, but it's another thing to have one dog bully another.
What do you do when that happens?
Kick the other dog? Kick the owner?
Twice in three days I had to leave the park earlier then when I wanted because my dog was getting his arse kicked. I feel like adopting a Rottweiler as his body guard to protect him from these dog park bullies.
He's a five month old Golden Retriever and I'm trying to socialize him and it's very hard when people bring these monster dogs to the park.
Awww I can sympathize. My bulldog gets picked on by little yippy dogs.which seem to always hate larger dogs.
I found taking Bella to PetCo or someplace like that to be a great way to socialize her hen she was a pup.
Is there a certain time this bully dog comes? Maybe if you track their schedule it will help Also, at our human society they separate dogs by size...Maybe you could find a place like that to take your puppy.
Hope this bully doesn't make yours mean. I love Golden's....I think their smiles are wonderful.
Last edited by JanND; 03-26-2013 at 07:38 PM..
Reason: edit text
Awww I can sympathize. My bulldog gets picked on by little yippy dogs.which seem to always hate larger dogs.
I found taking Bella to PetCo or someplace like that to be a great way to socialize her hen she was a pup.
Is there a certain time this bully dog comes? Maybe if you track their schedule it will help Also, at our human society they separate dogs by size...Maybe you could find a place like that to take your puppy.
Hope this bully doesn't make yours mean. I love Golden's....I think their smiles are wonderful.
It wasn't just one dog, Saturday it was an aggressive Doberman, today it was a dominant Chocolate Lab.
I know there will be other dogs that behave that way, I just can't understand why people think it's okay to let them behave that way and not do anything. If it was my dog that was behaving bad I would be on him immediately and I would be petting the other dog to make him feel good.
Like someone mentioned earlier it's probably best to avoid the park until he gets more courage. I just thought that by running around with the big dogs he would get that.
I feel like I am on a quiz show. So the choices are as follows (cue the game show music):
a) Kick the other dog? Never! Not even an option! Just not going to happen!
b) Kick the owner? This has real potential. It really depends on what transpired and how much of an ass the owner is, but spending any time in the legal system will probably be a negative experience, so I would say no to this as well.
c) Take your dog and leave? Probably the option I would take. This option saves the animal from further harm (as an owner, you should be the dogs number one advocate). And by taking the high road, you avoid legal fees/jail time from exercising choice b).
d) Let dog be dogs? Eh, does my dog get the beat up the other owner’s dog? As much as I think dogs love playing with other dogs, when it gets too rough, I would go with choice c).
One of my dogs really enjoys going to the dog park. She likes to wrestle with other dogs and be chased. I've never seen another dog play too rough for her. Sometimes the owners will get concerned because she likes to make sounds like she's being murdered, but it's all part of the fun to her. The only time we had trouble was when there was a dog there who was going around and biting all the other dogs on the butt...Ginger was still a pup and she was really bothered by it.
My other dog has gone one time...he spent the entire time hiding inside my skirt (I wore a long skirt so he'd have a place to hide if he needed it) and peeing whenever anyone came near him.
You're at the dog park with your dog and he is playing nicely with the other dogs, running around, fetching, playing etc. Then there's always that one dog that terrorized your dog, jumping, biting, pummeling him to the ground. Your dog is obviously scared and cowers away and tries to play with other dogs. But then that one dog continues to beat up your dog. The owner yells to stop but then goes back gabbing with their friends.
I know dogs will be dogs, and they establish a pecking order, but it's another thing to have one dog bully another.
What do you do when that happens?
Kick the other dog? Kick the owner?
Twice in three days I had to leave the park earlier then when I wanted because my dog was getting his arse kicked. I feel like adopting a Rottweiler as his body guard to protect him from these dog park bullies.
He's a five month old Golden Retriever and I'm trying to socialize him and it's very hard when people bring these monster dogs to the park.
As long as it isn't violent bullying, I will watch closely. In most cases, the dog being bullied will lay on his/her back and surrender and then the bully will ignore him/her or even play nicely after he/she feels like dominance has been accepted. However, if the bully continues to bully even when my dog is in the surrender position, I would grab the bully until the owner comes over. I've never encountered an owner that doesn't handle their dog when I have it by the neck. If the owner didn't care, I would most likely use some choice words and take my dog elsewhere. It's not worth getting the police called on you because you decide to punch the other person's lights out. I think some owners can be over protective of their dogs. It's good to let dogs be dogs and they will teach each other things we can never teach. However, violent aggression should never be tolerated. I wouldn't keep my future kids locked up in a house their entire lives. I wouldn't home school them. Yes there are risks letting dogs play off-leash with other dogs you don't know, but that's part of living life.
When I think of a dog being a bully it is not the rough play that some dogs enjoy with each other but it is a dog that is playiny rough and some times even not so rough when the other dog is showing signs of stress be in running away of rolling over in submission yet the " bully" does not stop. In other words the one dog is not enjoying it . Most of it I have seen the dogs are not really being aggressive rather the one just does not enjoy that play style or is a very timid dog and rolls over when another dog so much as approaches yet the other one keeps bugging the timid dog. I think the only learning that goes on then is the one learning to fear other dogs.
Now when two or more dogs that enjoy playing rough play I have no problems with that as yes they will learn how to inhibite their bite and and when to back off etc. All important lessons and often what looks rough really is not that rough. I have photographed a lot of dogs playing and mock fighting so am on the ground with them as they wrestle and race around and often it is a lot of noise and bites that are not at all hard and what we seem to think is one dog throwing another down is often one dog flopping over on his own to assume the more submissive role in the game. Dogs have fantastic control over their mouths and when I go through photos you can see they often are not really biting. Sweet Miss Chaos has her buddies that all play rough and she loves it. Some people at the park get upset when they see them play but the other owners and myself feel as long as the dogs appear to be enjoyng the game we will just keep an eye on them and let them play. One lady was upset because they were grabbing each others necks with their mouths well being they do not have hands they do use mouths and no one is getting hurt and all are having fun . She looked at all of us and said well how would you like it if I bite your neck and hang on? Really lady??? I do not happen to be a dog and know no humans that play that way so for me it would not be normal but for a dog it is. If Chaos or Daz start bothering a dog that is not wanting to play I will call them to me and keep them away from said dog but when it is their buddies I let them play.
Dazzle got bullied by a Rottie when he was younger the Rottie was a sweet dog but when he would see Dazzle he would race over and t-bone him right in the ribs and Knock Daz over.... Daz would scan the park when we arrived and if that Rottie was there he would get very nervous as I am sure having a well muscled dog run into his thin boney body hard enough to knock him off his feet must have hurt. Several days in a row it happened so I decided Daz needed a break so rather the go to the dog park we went to the beach as Daz ran around I suddenly saw a rottie zoom past me and smack right into Daz sending him flying, I looked around and sire enough there was his owner they had decided it was a beach day too
Warning: Dog lovers are going to really jump at this post.
Humans domesticated dogs so that the pack is the human group or family and not other dogs.
So now humans who think it's cute for dogs to play with other dogs created dog parks. How nice. Now you can take your dog to a dog park where it can socialize with other dogs and then what should happens, happens. The dogs act as if they are in a dog pack and some get the snot kicked out of them and others do the kicking.
People who own dogs simply can't understand that dogs, like most other animals, can't reason. When people start imposing their own perceptions and emotions onto animals problems always arise and the people wonder why. So your pooch is taken to the dog park where you seem to think everything should be one happy doggie family. How naive.
Dogs can be trained but remove the human from the equation and you really expect a dog to remember to behave?
There isn't a dog on this planet including yours that won't revert back to instinctive behavior if you tossed them out into the wild. Not one. They would either survive or perish and that little ball of fluff will kill and eat a rabbit, a mouse or rat in short order. Yes, your cute little shampooed and blow dried poofy.
The other problem is the people who have no alternative to a dog park. You have no real business having a dog. You keep your dogs in the house all day and then after you get home from work and your poor dog is about to explode, you run it to the dog park and think that is humane? You should be ashamed of yourselves. Worse, others are doing the same thing and you really expect animals to behave like polite people going to a chess match after they've been sitting in the house all day? Maybe you have a yard but only get to the dog park once a week. Oh goodie, once a week. What if we kept you at home all week, never letting you out of the house or yard and then once a week take you to a park where anyone else can go too, like kids, adults, people who are there for other reasons like drug dealers, not so nice people, people with mental health issues and those who are just not on the same track as everyone else?
If you don't have a place to properly exercise your dog, let them run and let loose you simply shouldn't have a dog. I know, lots of you are going to chime in and say your dog is behaved, no way would your dog ever hurt another and on and on.
I am calling BS. You only think you know what goes on in a dogs mind, you have no idea. Only your arrogance as a human allows you to impose how you think and decide all by yourself that somehow the dog thinks the same way.
I'm not a fan of dog parks, for all the problems that have been discussed. I'm glad my dogs have a fenced yard to play in. But, if I didn't I shouldn't have a dog?? Really?? You do realize that dog parks are quite a new phenomenon, and that people have owned dogs in the city for as long as there have been cities, right? Why not say no one should own a dog.
The other problem is the people who have no alternative to a dog park. You have no real business having a dog. You keep your dogs in the house all day and then after you get home from work and your poor dog is about to explode, you run it to the dog park and think that is humane? You should be ashamed of yourselves. Worse, others are doing the same thing and you really expect animals to behave like polite people going to a chess match after they've been sitting in the house all day? Maybe you have a yard but only get to the dog park once a week. Oh goodie, once a week. What if we kept you at home all week, never letting you out of the house or yard and then once a week take you to a park where anyone else can go too, like kids, adults, people who are there for other reasons like drug dealers, not so nice people, people with mental health issues and those who are just not on the same track as everyone else?
If you don't have a place to properly exercise your dog, let them run and let loose you simply shouldn't have a dog. I know, lots of you are going to chime in and say your dog is behaved, no way would your dog ever hurt another and on and on.
Is the view nice way up on your soapbox? Do you feel better about yourself now that you got an ego boost from being a judgmental *******?
But hey, if saying things like this is what you need to feel good about yourself, go for it champ.
NYTom, you had me ready to vote 'kick the dog' or 'kick the owner' until I read your dog is 5 months old.
Puppies are treated differently by other dogs, frequently bullied for lack of a better word. The best dog park in my area has a seperate area for pups and small dogs.
Puppies don't have any technique yet and they often go to ground inviting mounting. You may want to minimize your dog park visits until he's big enough, skilled enough, and has enough adult bravado (if small) to hold his own socially.
And I've noticed young goldens get picked on alot... maybe the other dogs are jealous of their long golden hair.
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