Do you ever get disapproving looks at the dog park? (and a vent)

[BeckyNC]

I took Tae to the dog park about 2 hours ago for some fun. We don't go too frequently anymore b/c she's been attacked a couple times, but she needed to be among her "own people" for a bit!

Anyhow, she's extremely vocal, as many Boxers are, and does the very loud growl. I had to repeatedly explain that she's not an aggressive dog. I do not want anyone to think I am irresponsible and bringing an aggressive dog to the DP. Does anyone else find themselves explaining their dog is only trying to play? Also, does anyone else's Boxer scare other dogs on occasion with the style of play? Tae scared a cute little 7 month old Boston. Fortunately, one of his owners loves Boxers. They were both vey nice, especially after Tae boxed him onto his back and stood over him barking! Poor boy was so scared he later snarled at her.

Here's my vent:

One guy, actually really angered me. Tae really wanted to play with his sheepdogs. She kept on jackhammering and barking at one of them. They were doing a lot of barking, too, but did not appear aggressive at all. He kept on telling me to come get my dog. I did, but she kept going back over there. He soon decided to leave (not b/c of Tae) and was standing in the middle of the DP taking his pretty time putting their leashes on--hmmmm, isn't that why there' a double gate entry and exit? While doing so, he yelled at me to come get my dog and I explained she just wanted to play. He headed toward one gate, but just stood there (inside the DP with his dogs leashed). Then, he decided to use the other gate. I had tired of waiting for him to leave and let go of Tae. She eventually wandered back over to him and he made a comment to me. I got pissed and told him he needed to leave if his dogs were going to be on a leash inside the DP b/c my dog wanted to play. He took his sweet time trying to leave. I'm sorry, but what an idiot. We've been to this DP at least 20 times this year and never encountered someone so strange. If you are in the park, other dogs will attempt to play with yours. OK, now I feel better!

 

[tyson&ali]

I know what you mean!

Tyson and Ali both do the same thing! they bark and box and some dogs get a little offended! I was beginning to get worried because Tyson didn't do this until we got Ali. I found myself at ease when they played with three other boxers at the park last week and all the dogs barked growled and boxed the same way! I know some owners may not like the way boxers play but I try not to worry about them (it is a dog park not a people park! ) however, if I feel like my kids are continually UPSETTING or harrasing another dog and they just won't stop I will take them home! Boxers have a gentle and some times naieve(sp?) way about them, they don't always understand an angry dog or why other dogs get upset with them and don't want to play! Worry about the dogs and not the people! And deffinately keep going to the DOG park!! Tyson and Ali's MOM

 

[Erica&Riley]

Riley does the exact same thing as Tae!!! We are regulars at our dog park (5-6x a week) so we know alot of the other dogs that go there and the owners all know Riley. The regulars know that she is as sweet as can be and that her growling is "talking" (saying "I WANT TO PLAY!"), but if someone doesn't know Riley they get mad about her growling and think she is being aggressive. I suppose I don't blame some of these people as I wouldn't want Riley being bombarded by a dog that I thought was aggressive. Another thing I run into is people who have very submissive dogs...Riley can be very dominant and rough when she's in play mode and if she wants to play with a dog who just lays around on its back that dog is going to get pounced on!

I like to say that Riley was a kangaroo in her past life with the way she jackhammers! You know your dog...if she's just playing, explain that to the complaining owner and let Tae have fun!

 

[boxerspirit33]

Bali does the same thing , she loves to box other dogs and often the owners gets mad . Even after explaining that boxers do that while playing we get the dirty looks. then because of her brindle they think she s a pitbull and often people yelled at us for bringing a vicious dog at the park . We have learned to stay away from that kind of dog owners but this is not a reason to not be able to socialise our babies Bali never showed any kind of sign of agression and doesnt understand when other dogs do , she still want to play

 

[SashaBaby]

We have had similar problems with Sasha...she is VERY verbal and really just loves to "talk" to other dogs. Usually we can spot the dog friendly people, or other dog owners who understand she is just being funny, but once in a while we get people who are like, "what's your dog's problem?" And of course, we have to explain she is just playing.

This problem first arose when Sash was in her puppy kindergarden class. During playtime, she would start growling at the other dogs - we knew it was play but the owners were really unsure. So the trainer was good and worked with us...when Sasha started to get too growly we would pick her up and say "time out". We would NOT tell her no or yell at her, she would just be taken away from the other dogs until she calmed down. Then we released her back into the play group. Needless to say, we had to practice this over several sessions but Sash got the point. She now knows she has to be a little more "quiet" when she is around new dogs.

This also works at dog parks...if she gets too wound up and starts irritating other dogs, we just say time out, put her leash on, move her away and wait a minute or two. She has now figured out what we mean and we haven't had problems at all!!

 

[Erica&Riley]

I forgot to add to my previous post that Riley is a HUGE chicken when other dogs at the park do get aggressive. If she sees 2 dogs getting into a tangle she high tails it over to me so she can hide behind my legs!!! As soon as I hear aggressive growling I see my little girl running straight to mom for protection.

She is a very interesting combination of bully and chicken!

 

[jpkj]

I have the same problem with Kona at the dog parks. She loves to play chase, so she'll get in the other dogs faces and just bark and jackhammer, and pounce until they chase her away. I think it's just so cute how she trys to tell them "Come on already, Please chase me!!". But I get dirty looks from the other dog owners. I try to just ignore them.
Another thing I have a problem with is that Kona gets really excited when she's playing with other dogs that she foams at the mouth. It's really gross, so I always carry paper towels with me. She's so hard to catch to wipe her mouth. The other owners always try to get their dog away from her, like she has the "cooties" or something. I always have her shot papers with me. I had one lady once say that she thought Kona was sick. I tried to explain and she left the park. Oh well, her problem.

 

[BeckyNC]

jpkj--Tae does the bark and please chase me thing, too. I think it's so cute. I guess we all know our dog's Boxer personalities so we think their play is cute or funny--I usually find myself laughing--but others do not always understand.

I suppose one way to look at this is by going to the DP, we can educate owners of other breeds. I just wish there was a Boxer only DP!

In the grand scheme of things, I do not require other folks' approval of me, but at the DP, I just cringe to think they may feel my dog is aggressive and I am irresponsible. Quite honestly, if I owned another breed and saw Tae acting as she does, I would probably wonder why that woman brought her dog to the DP!

Thanks for everyone's input!!

 

[RavenGirl]

Well everytime we take the girls out to the petstore we get the wrong looks and people pulling their dogs and children away from them. Phoenix has cropped ears and Rave is pretty dark(and her daddy has a spike collar on her, said she needs a collar to match her attitude) So we get some rude looks. We even had an older woman walk up to us and ask us why we were letting our 1 yr old daughter feed the fur babies cookies at the store, said they would rip her arm off before we could do anything about it. About 5 minutes later we let our daughter get up and walk around holding on the Ravens leash( we had a hold of it too) and the same lady walks by and calls us stupid. I wish I could teach my girls a "lick to death" command to use on people like that.

 

[BeckyNC]

RavenGirl--sounds like the woman mistook your dogs for Pit Bulls, perhaps? That seems to happen a lot. People who are misinformed have made that error before as I have read a number of posts on BW by people who have had similar experiences. If the woman only knew what a big error she was making!!!