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I personally don't know how to break up a dog fight. I know that getting in the middle is dangerous.
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I have found that the best way to break up a fight, I had to yesterday at the park because no one else knew what to do, is to grab the collar of the biggest one from behind and pull up and out of the fight. I pull up and then turn the dog around so it is facing away from the other dog. If its front legs are off the ground it cannot fight anymore. I did this and held it until its owner could grab the collar, she was right behind me when I did. Unfortunately a third dog then attacked the other offending dog so I had to repeat it with the third dog. By then the owner of the 2nd dog was able to grab hold of him and the owner of the third dog did the same. it was over in seconds. Unfortunately, the third dog got bitten on the snout and had alot of blood but it was that dogs fault for attacking the other dog. This was one of the few actual fights that I have ever witnessed in the park and we go every weekend.
i take bailey and dave to dog parks with some regularity..... and the first rule of thumb is to remove your dog's leash in the fenced area between the "outside" and the park..... bringing a leashed dog into an area where he or she is surrounded by unleashed dogs is just asking for big trouble...... a leashed dog feels way more vulnerable when surrounded by other dogs that are not leashed, as will happen when they first enter as everyone wants to say hi to the new kid..... a dog that feels vulnerable like that is far more likely to respond in the only manner it feels it can..... aggressively.....
the second rule is to know and understand dog body language...... your dog's and the other dogs' ..... i know when dave is starting to feel overwhelmed if there are too many dogs in his immediate area and that is my cue to take him to a different, less densely populated area of the park or go sit down under the shelter and give him a break...... we don't go into the dog park closest to us very often any more..... it is too small and WAY overused..... you will probably want to go at times that are less busy the first few times you take your fella..... i have found that the evenings, say between about 6 and 8, are the busiest at this small dog park...... so we don't go in there then..... we will go in there in the early mornings if we happen to see another dog or 2 there while we are out on our walk......
the third rule is to know exactly where your dog is, who he is playing with and how they are playing every single second you are in the park...... you can't just take him in there and go sit on the bench with your phone or a book or chat away with the other owners and not be aware of what is going on with and around your dog....... you don't need to hover so much as be aware and close enough by that you can intervene if an issue arises...... if another dog is misbehaving, not playing nice, being aggressive toward the other dogs in the park, it is time to leave......
a lot of people on this forum don't like or approve of dog parks for various reasons, but imo, they are a great place for my dogs to run and play without being encumbered by being leashed to me..... my running days are LONG behind me......
Since my husband and I work odd hours, we can usually go to hte dog park when nobody else is around. During the middle of the week during the day, most other people are at work.
I go to the dog park and our off leash beach often and have done so with my dogs for years. People have given you great suggestions.
I don't really agree with the one about going to the small dog area as a 32 lb puppy could be a bit much for say a 5 lb maltese. My favorite park does not have a small and large dog area all dogs are in one area . But I like parks that do seperate them as they could get hurt just because of the weight differences but so far things have worked out well. And despite the fact all dogs are in the one area I like this park as the dogs that tend to come are all sweet dogs and get along well. I think owners of the small dogs need to keep in mind that if a large dog stepped or fell on their dog it could get injured or a pack of dogs chasing their small dog could switch to pack mentality and see it as prey.
You have to also understand that most adult dogs do cut puppies slack up until they start feeling the puppy should know better then they may snap at or growl when they feel the puppy is out of line and that is OK as that is how puppies learn. Dogs that don't like puppies tend to avoid them.
Jazz who is a cattle dog border collie as an adult is not that tolerant with puppies past 16 weeks. There was a yorkie pup that would jump all over and play bite all the adults, to the point of being annoying. At first Jazz who was about 2 tolerated her then one day decided it was time this puppy learned some manners so puppy came over did its thing to her and she grabbed it and pinned it on the ground growling as she did so. People started freaking and saying " she is going to kill it" The owner of the puppy and I both knew what was happening so told everyone to just back off and sure enough when Jazz figured puppy had learned its lesson she let it up not a mark on the puppy. After that anytime the puppy saw Jazz rather then jump on her she would run up rolling on to her back and offer a very submissive greeting to Jazz. This went on for about a year then my hours at the park had to change because of my job and we did not see the puppy anymore then about 6-7 years later we were at agility and I saw the lady walking her 3 yorkies, the older two males ran up to Jazz and were excited to see her.The female ( who had been the puppy) started running towards her then realized who it was so as she approached she rolled into that submissive posture and Jazz was thrilled to see her. Shows that the puppy did learn the lesson knew never to jump on Jazz again. Jazz is known as the Queen and as such she expects other dogs to behave around her.
The biggest mistakes I see at the park are people who come to socialize with other people or are busy on their cell phones and do not keep an eye on their dog...never see it poop and then get upset when someone does tell them their dog is pooping. Do not see the dog behaving in a bad manner that they should be preventing.
Next is people that bring dog treats or even human food for themselves into the park...very dangerous as you never know what dog may have a food aggression issue and the few fights I have seen have been food or toy related. Which leads to the toys leave a dogs favorite toy at home as chances are another dog will get ahold of it and that can set some dogs off. Our park does have alot of balls and that seems to be ok though there are a couple dogs that do not like other dogs running after a ball they are planning on getting so you do have to be careful and know the other dogs when you decided to play fetch.
People that bring young kids and just let them run among the dogs as they socialize not watching the kid or their dog also are potential problems. Alot of the kids that are old enought to read like to grab the dogs collars and read their names on the tags, well some dogs do not like collars being grabbed or like being hugged which the younger kids love to do to them. Oh yea and the winner are the intelligent people that bring their child bare foot to the dog park....they need to watch a few hours of "Monster Inside Me"
People that bring dogs in on leads also tend to cause issues as dogs have that fight of flight instinct and knowing they are on lead and can not flee can lead to aggression in fearful dogs.
Know dog body language and when you do hear a yelp do not assume a dog is being injured as that is their way of saying to another dog you are playing too rough and if you don't stop I will not play with you. It teaches the other dog bite inihbation and if you step in the minute one yelps you may be preventing the dog from learning that. If the yelping continues and the other dog is not letting up then step in and end it. Do not alow a dog to bully another one.
Yesterday Dazzle (my sighthound called a Silken Windhound) had two terriers chasing him he was having a ball and then he layed down they were all over him and making growling noises which it seems is common in terrier play, well the owner of the one terrier came over and grabbed his dog and said " NO bad dog" and lead him away . Well the terrier came right back as did the owner. I told the owner it was OK as Dazzle is a major drama queen and if play gets too rough he will yelp like he is being killed OR he will simply run off as the other dogs can not catch him as he can run 30-40mph. But it seemed that the three were having a great time and the growling noise from BOTH terriers was play not aggression but the guy gabbed his dog and scolded him again. Dazzle and the 2nd terrier just looked at him like " whats got your shorts in a knot dude?" So I think it is important that when you go to a dog park you do understand play and do let them play while keeping an eye out for any aggression. Certain breeds tend to make alot of noise in play and they are not being aggressive. I know Dazzle very well and he has not ever been aggressive so I do not worry about him and I know when he feels another dog is getting too rough he will run and come to me so he is a good dog park dog. Dogs like to wrestle him and lay on top of him and if they get too rough and he can not get away to run he will yelp in his drama queen fashion so someone will rescue him. He is such an elegant delicate looking dog that most of the regular people there are very protective of him.
If you do not want your dog to play with other dogs or you simply want to play fetch with your dog alone a dog park is not really the place to be unless it is large enough that there is an area you can get away from the others and even then some ball crazy dog may see you playing and come steal the ball.
I do want Kizzy to be around other dogs, but most of all, I want him to be able to run around off leash and have a good time.
I'll be sure to have an eye on him at all times, there's no problem with that. I'll probably head down there in the next week or so, without the pup, to check it out.
1) Check your ego at the gate and be prepared to walk back out of the park at any moment. Every time you go to the park, it's a different mix of dogs, a different hierarchy, a different chemistry. So the atmosphere that's there one day may not be there another day. Be sensitive to the "vibe" of the park and the temperaments of the other dogs.
2) Don't stand in clusters with the other dogowners; walk around and call your dog to you or play with him down at one end of the partk. The problem with the people-clusters is that the dogs tend to stick close to their owners, and those dog-clusters can fall apart -- turn aggressive -- in a second. So keep moving. You'll find your comfort zone in the number of dogs you like to see in a cluster. (For me and my guy, we tend to say away from any dog-cluster that's more than, say, four dogs.)
3) Don't let your dog hump other dogs. It's not cute or funny. If your dog is the humpee, intervene to separate the dogs. Move yours to a different part of the park. If the humping persists, just leave and come back another day.
4) Don't take your dog's toys and don't take food. NO TREATS. If your dog is toy-possessive, be prepared again to run interference, if necessary, as dog parks usually have tennis balls and frisbees that the dogs like to play with.
5) Pick up after your dog. Which means that in order for you to know where your dog has dumped, you need to be tuned into him and near.
6) Make sure your dog is a good "dog park candidate": don't take him if he's aggressive or too submissive or fearful. And if he's intact, be especially watchful, as I've noticed some altercation between the intact and neutered dogs. And it goes without saying that you should never take a fertile female to the park.
I could probably go on and on, but it'll leave it at that. I personally find Bandit's park-time to be really valuable. He needs to be able to stretch his legs and socialize with other dogs, but I've learned how to get the most out of our park experiences. I do understand why people don't like the park. I'm just saying that it's not automatically a negative experience for all dogs/owners.
Sydney is probably about the same size as Kizzy now..I'd say 30 lbs and he's a little older...about 6-7 months but he LOVES the dog park. As others said, go at a time where its not too crowded at first. The first park we went to, I did not like..we went 3 or 4 times and decided it wasn't for us...poorly trained dogs and owners who didn't care and of course 1 or 2 of the overly protective owners who don't want anyone to judge their dog as misbehaved so they break up any form of play other than wandering around. But this other dog park we found is amazing...its almost always the same group and Sydney knows who he can play and wrestle with and who he can just run with. Dogs are smart and if you start bringing him while he's younger he'll learn that certain behaviours don't fly with certain dogs. For instance, there is a puggle and a pit puppy who looove to wrestle with Sydney..they play bite a little, make growling type noises, and wrestle until its time to finally leave then there are other older dogs that Sydney will just play chase or fetch with and others he'll approach and decide he doesn't want to play with them and trot away. As others said, just keep a close eye on him but don't play the overprotective mama..I had to learn the balance myself. Good luck! I'm sure he'll do great
I would love to go to a dog park where you could just go and play with your dog who was trained to ignore other dogs but that ain't how they work. So I am one who does not "do" dog parks. Too many people who don't know how to control their own dogs. Too much behavior out of hand that is beyond "play".
My advice as well. Too stressful for me, too stressful for my pups. And, as if I didn't already have enough reasons not to go, the shooting was absolutely the final deal-breaker for me.
I would love to go to a dog park where you could just go and play with your dog who was trained to ignore other dogs but that ain't how they work. So I am one who does not "do" dog parks. Too many people who don't know how to control their own dogs. Too much behavior out of hand that is beyond "play".
I'm with you there grannynancy. Dog parks exist for the benefit of the dog owners, not the dogs. They are disease-ridden areas filled with people who should not be allowed near a dog much less own one.
why don't you tell us what you REALLY think, Glitch??
neither of my dogs has ever contracted anything from being in a dog park....
too bad all of us in the lower 48 don't have the miles and miles of uninhabited woods to let our dogs go that you and your dogs have.....
if you can come up with a way for my dogs to run safely and legally offleash that doesn't involve a dog park, i would be DEEEEELIGHTED to hear it.....
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