Not a good day at the dog park, attacked

[Steven Menk]

First off, Cosworth is fine, although I'm not entirely sure about the other dog. Cosworth is about 7.5 months old but certainly an alpha dog although not in an agressive manor. He's basically completely fearless. I guess that sometimes that rubs other dogs the wrong way. In this case Cosworth was playing around with a couple of other dogs that's he had played with often. One of these dogs is a very passive type that in the course of play gets humped quite a bit. This wasn't in itself the problem, but certainly led to it.

The problem was the dog that eventually attacked Coz got agressive when one dog would hump another. He'd growl, snip and chase the humper away, then hump the humpie. This happened a couple of times and the other dogs would back off and the owner would give her dog a mild rebuke. I'm not sure what kind of dog he was, but he was pretty big, probably around 85 lbs.

Then it happened with Coz. Cosworth didn't back away and the other dog attacked him. In retrospect I think what happened is that dog came at Cosworth, Cosworth got under him and got a hold of his upper leg. Pack that into about a half a second. At the time I saw the other dog come at Coz and that they ended up on their hind legs with engaged with each other. I tried to grab Coz's collar but since the other dog was on top and snapping like crazy I could get a hold of it with out getting bitten. I didn't want to grab Coz by a leg because he had a much larger and agressive dog on top of him and I was afraid of making the situation worse.

Fortuantly the other owner was also close by and got a hold of her dog. She said, "That's it, we're leaving!" (remember this sort of thing had happened a couple times already) and left with out a word to me. Cosworth had about 5 or 6 drops of blood on his paw and lower leg, but it doesn't appear to be his as it wiped off and after checking him over very closely I don't see any wounds.

The good news is Cosworth seems perfectly okay with all this. I waited until the other owner had left and gave her some time so we wouldn't cross paths in the parking lot before I left. Cosworth gave me his usual "Oh shucks daddy, do we have to go?" routine and seems otherwise normal. I did give him a wet chicken and rice dinner which he loves instead of his usual dry food.

I'll have to reconsider when I go to the dog park. Cosworth loves it so much I think I'll have to take him, but I think I'll probably start going in the morning when its much less crowded.

 

[craZ4HERKIE]

I am sorry you & Cosworth had such a bad experience at the dog park!Thank goodness he's Ok!I would have thought that the lady would have put her dog up and at least checked back with you to make sure Coz was ok....or at least to apologize!To me...that seems very irresponsible of her...what if Coz had been hurt and she'd just left?Then I suppose you'd have been stuck with a vet bill that her dog had caused....not to mention an injured dog and upset Daddy!

 

[Rocky Hoya]

Hi there,
I hope Cosworth is okay. He ended up having a great day with a nice chicken dinner I am sure he loved. You're from Alexandria Va? We were just there this weekend we live about half and hour away in Quantico. Well this weekend at the dog park by the YMCA just about the same thing happened to us but the dog owner told us she just got the dog 2 days ago and they told her it was aggressive. Why she would take it to the dog park is beyond me I mean she just got him. She did ask if Rocky was okay at least. Rocky came out of it with quite a few scratches but our baby is so passive all he did was cry and squirm while the other dog was on top of him going crazy. I know its scary but thank god neither Cosworth or Rocky had to go to the vet. Like you we are hesitant to go to the dog parks now but Rocky loves it. I wish owners could read their dogs better if Rocky had ever gone up in any type of aggresive manner to another dog after the first time we would of said no more and gone home sometimes its just not there day to go to the park. Thank goodness Cosworth is okay and hopefully has more days ahead at the dog park.

 

[Steven Menk]

You're from Alexandria Va? We were just there this weekend we live about half and hour away in Quantico. Well this weekend at the dog park by the YMCA just about the same thing happened to us but the dog owner told us she just got the dog 2 days ago and they told her it was aggressive.

Same place. I like the park, but it gets a bit too crowded at times. I hadn't seen this dog before, but I haven't been there in a few weeks either.

She did ask if Rocky was okay at least. Rocky came out of it with quite a few scratches but our baby is so passive all he did was cry and squirm while the other dog was on top of him going crazy.

Boxer do seem to attract the ire of some other dogs for some reason. Cos has been snapped at a few times while saying "hi" to other dogs on walks for no appearent reason and appearently to the surprise of the other owners.

I know its scary but thank god neither Cosworth or Rocky had to go to the vet.

Yes, that is a good thing. Cosworth seemed to take this much better then I did (especially the chicken dinner)! I hope the other dog wasn't seriously hurt either, although the owner didn't stick around long enough for me to find out.

Like you we are hesitant to go to the dog parks now but Rocky loves it. I wish owners could read their dogs better if Rocky had ever gone up in any type of aggresive manner to another dog after the first time we would of said no more and gone home sometimes its just not there day to go to the park.

Oh yeah. Cosworth has never been agressive, but sometimes he'll pester another dog. In those cases I end up going for a long walk instead.

 

[moira]

Kramer is brindle with a very black mask . When we are out dogs always bark and growl at him. I was told that a black face on another dog confuses some dogs as they cant see the eyes. Poor Kramer just keeps on walking with a rather bemused look on his face.

 

[Melissa18]

I have taken Otis to the dog park a few times and the one time he got attacked was when we went in early evening around 6:00 pm and there were a lot of dogs in there! He just walked up to say hi to a dog and it went at him right away. It happens a lot to him, too, when all he is doing is saying hi. Maybe it is a boxer thing? Anyway, he had a much better time when I took him mid-morning and there were only 3 or 4 dogs there. I just decided that if I take him to the dog park, it won't be at a prime-time when there are a lot of other dogs there. Too many irresponsible pet owners that take their dogs to the park without paying attention to whether they get aggressive or do well in that environment. The dog that went after Otis, they were in a small space with lots of owners and other dogs. After the dog went at Otis (and Otis put it on its back by the way and the dog was twice his size) the owner apologized and said her dog doesn't like being in small spaces with lots of people!! So WHY did she have him in that exact situation??? Blows my mind. Otis did walk away with a slight nick to his jawl, but other than that was fine. We did have to break them up though. Then we just left. There were just too many dogs and made me uncomfortable.

 

[entelekia]

Not to put a damper on things... (and I hope your dog is OK by the way...) but boxers are notorious for being space invaders, especially the young rambunctious ones (mine included) and other dogs don't take this well at all.
Someone on this board gave me this link: http://www.flyingdogpress.com/sayhi.html and it made me think a lot about the times Laika had been growled and snapped at, when I just thought she was saying "hi"... we have been working on her approach to other dogs ever since and the number of incidents have decreased dramatically.

Also for Cos' owner, this exact situation you describe is why I absolutely NEVER let my dog hump another dog... EVER... not only do you run the chance of what happened to you, but I've witnessed "humpees" who will turn around and attack whoever is humping them. In a dog park, you just never know the personalities of all the dogs involved and if your dog gets into a habit of humping (not saying he is) you never know when he might hump the wrong dog.

All that said, I'm glad you guys came out of it ok, and I hope you can go back to the park soon for some incident-free fun.

 

[Bellas Mom]

Wow! After hearing what happened on Sunday at this park and with what happened to your dog, I'm a little glad we don't go to that dog park! I'm certainly glad your pup wasn't hurt. I live in Alexandria as well and I always go to the park at Brenman Park by Cameron Station (not the one on Duke by the library). Everyone there is super friendly and really pays attention to their dogs. We've talked about having a boxer bash there. Perhaps you could try that park instead.

 

[Steven Menk]

Not to put a damper on things... (and I hope your dog is OK by the way...) but boxers are notorious for being space invaders, especially the young rambunctious ones (mine included) and other dogs don't take this well at all.

Sure. Cosworth also has a tendancy to hone in on one dog and bug the crap out of them, so I watch out for that as well. In this case the other dog charged him from a distance.

Also for Cos' owner, this exact situation you describe is why I absolutely NEVER let my dog hump another dog... EVER... not only do you run the chance of what happened to you, but I've witnessed "humpees" who will turn around and attack whoever is humping them.

Yeah, that's why I was so close at the time. Cosworth is at the stage where one of his nick names is Cos-Sirhumpsalot. I was close by to keep him off the other very passive dog. I did make a mistake in not reconizing that this other dog, who was showing "I'm the man" aggressive tendacies would eventually butt heads with Cosworth, who has never started anything like that, but is COMPLETELY fearless and doesn't back down an inch when another dog tries to intimidate him. It was a recipe for trouble, but I was thinking more about giving Cosworth a good run instead of reconizing the situation.

All that said, I'm glad you guys came out of it ok, and I hope you can go back to the park soon for some incident-free fun.

Yeah, I'll just pick my times better. Cosworth LOVES the place and has lots of buddies he loves to play with. It was just too crowded and too out of control that day.

But Cosworth is just fine. I checked him over very closely when he fell asleep on his back on the couch and I'm sure that the blood on his paw must of come from the other dog.

 

[Steven Menk]

Wow! After hearing what happened on Sunday at this park and with what happened to your dog, I'm a little glad we don't go to that dog park!

I wouldn't completely dump on that park. Its a very nice place with very nice people as well. Its just the particular situation and particular combination of dogs didn't work very well. I'm sure it occationally happens everywhere.

We've talked about having a boxer bash there. Perhaps you could try that park instead.

That would be great. One kind of dog I KNOW Coz has no trouble with are other Boxers. That and Golden Retrievers. They seem to catch on to the boxing game pretty quick as well.

After the dog went at Otis (and Otis put it on its back by the way and the dog was twice his size)

No one take this the wrong way as I'm in no way advocating that dogs be trained to fight or ANYTHING like that, but I too am glad that in this situation Cosworth was the one that drew blood instead of the one that ended up bleeding. I've never seen a dog as friendly as Cosworth but as incredibly friendly and loving as our fur babies are, the hunting insticts certainly come to the surface in one heck of a hurry in situations like this.