Agression at Dog Park

[quintessa]

I've been taking Tessa to the only dog park in our city since she was 7 wks and it's been just lately (she's now 9mos) that she's been showing sings of agression. She seems to find one or two other dogs that she'll continue to pick on. Even when I try to distract her and take her to a different area of the park, she immediately retreats and finds the same dog(s). What I'm confused about is if she's being agressive or is she just playing. She Pounces on the other dogs, tries to pin them down (ussually succeeding) and makes some aweful noises (like gremlin noises.) I can't distinguish playing from fighting!! I'm just scared she'll hurt another dog - she hasn't yet, but still scarred she will. Can anyone help me figure out what real agression habits are. She is the most loving boxer ever towards human and most other dogs, but she finds targets and goes for them. Help me! I think it's important to socialize her as much as possible and I don't want to stop her weekly play time at the park.

 

[Adelle]

It doesn't sound like play to me, its sounds like she is trying to assert herself as the dominate female with certain dogs. If she does this to the wrong dog it may turn into a fight if they don't submit to her. Do you find its other females she does this to or can it be male or female ?

My male Finnegan gets along with 99% of dogs when we are at the park but he does try to bully really submissive/timid dogs when we come across them, fortunately it doesn’t happen too often but I always watch him closely and call him away if I think there may be an issue and fortunately he does actually listen to me in such situations which helps.

Watch her closely and make sure she knows that sort of behavior is not acceptable. Give her a time out or just leave the park when she does this so she knows this sort of behavior results in no more play. Also work on her recall commands so that you can call her to you when you see a potential situation arising.

I would guess as she is still a pup but starting to mature she is starting to test her limits with certain dogs.

Search through the behavior threads and I am sure you will find some good advise for this sort of behavior.


Good luck

Adelle, Finnegan & Nessa

 

[Chula's Moms]

Having been on the other side of this, I know that once a dog has it out for another dog, it usually won't stop until you separate them. Your best bet is to leave when this happens because she'll likely keep it up and it could eventually turn into a real fight.

I had a problem a few weeks ago where another, larger, more aggressive dog kept coming after Chula. Of the 50+ dogs she's encountered, this was the only one that wouldn't leave her alone. The easiest and safest solution was to leave.

I also understand that a day may come when Chula is the more dominant dog who might single someone else out and we'll have to do the same thing. I guess its part of the deal. When it's a good day at the dog park, it's great, but not every day is a good day.

 

[Barron's mom]

I used to take Barron to a local dog park in the morning, which seemed like the most popular time to go. Barron did well at the dog park and I loved bringing him there until the park became more popular and thus, more aggressive dogs whose owners did little, to nothing to curb their behavior came. I applaud you for wanting to control your boxer

I personally decided to stop going to the park in the morning because I have seen these more aggressive dogs injure other dogs and then remain in the park with their owner after the owner of the injured dog has left to go to the vet. I didn't want to put Barron, or myself in that position. I have also seen responsible dog owners change the time that they bring their dogs to the park (or walking trail, which is located in back of the park) because they do not want to be irresponsible and cause possible harm to another animal.

I currently take Barron to another dog park, or another walking trail (where he seems to get the best exercise). And.....if I do decide to go to the local dog park to throw a ball with a chuckit stick, I do it in the afternoon when I know whese dogs will not be there. Sometimes changing the time does the trick!

 

[yobdlog]

Loud Whistle

I saw something this weekend that I hadn't thought of or had seen before.

My boxer, Roxy, is very sweet and has a great time playing with other dogs and rarely if ever shows a sign of aggression that is out of the norm (read: unprovoked).

She was recently in a scuffle with a Rot/Lab mix dog who was a tad possessive about their toy and snapped at my dog. Roxy though non-agressive takes to defending herself quite well and doesn't like to back down and pulling her back is always a worrisome chore if the other owner doesn't help out and get a hold of their dog as well. Frankly, I'm surprised how many owners do not know how to react and adequately respond to their aggravated dogs. This one particular incident, however, had a great ending. The owner had a very loud whistle in her pocket and she blew it really L-O-U-D right over the dogs.

They both IMMEDIATELY froze in their positions and it gave the both of us adequate and safe time to grab their collars and put them in time-out mode.

I'm sure it has been brought up before but my wife and I were pleasantly surprised that a loud whistle really caught their attention and forced them to stop, in fact it got the attention of just about every other dog in the vecinity.

I was very happy to see that this woman had an effective method of getting her dog's (and my dog!) attention without hurting them or ourselves. She got a lot of 'What a great idea!' comments when everyone saw how fast it was. The whistle she picked up from a band/music store and was only $5.00 but it was a very loud whistle (she didn't know the name of it).

I'm thinking of picking one up and stashing it my doggy day pack when we head to the beach and other public parks where the dogs are freely playing around. All you need is that window of opportunity to get your dogs apart safely and retreat into the time-out mode and this seemed pretty darned effective.

Regards.