Possessed with trying to play with dog

[nmcnair]

This is a relatively new problem, but has progressed quite rapidly, and one that I would like to get rid of as quickly as possible. Duke, my 16 month old fawn boy is great around people and other dogs. We go to the local dog park quite often and will play with several dogs over the course of an hour or more without issue. However, there are two dogs, one of which we see quite often, that come hell or high water he is determined to play with, but they have zero interest in him. He will do the normal introductory stuff, sniffing around the face and back end, and will then attempt to get them to chase him by bobbing and weaving right in front of them. When this inevitably fails, he will start barking in their face and pawing at them. Duke's bark is fairly deep and raspy. To be honest, to those that haven't seen or heard him before it does sound aggressive, but I have heard him bark enough in other contexts to know that that is just the sound of his bark. It is quite obvious that he is not being "fight aggressive" (there is no growling or raised hackles, mostly has his head somewhat bowed, his butt in the air and his nub moving at a mile a minute), but is determined to try and goad them to chase him. While the one owner that we see frequently realizes he is a puppy trying to get him to play, the other owner has threatened to mase, kick and call animal services on him. It should be noted that numerous other owners have had some ridiculous issues and confrontations with this owner and I have been assured by several people that Duke was not doing anything wrong. With that being said, I would like to curb this habit.

I am always hovering around him when these dogs are at the park and will immediately intervene when he starts barking. I initially tried clamping his mouth shut and firmly telling him "no". I then resorted to putting him in time-out in which I leash him and we walk to the furthest corner of the park from the dog, almost always out of view of said dog, and sit there for a few minutes. Just recently I have started taking him out of the park and walking him for a lap or two around the soccer and baseball fields. The problem is that he seems to have a one-track mind to play with the dog, because as soon as I let him back off leash again, no matter how much time has passed, he will make a bee line straight back to the dog and begin barking again. He will also ignore my commands and attempt to stay away from me so as not to be leashed again.

Finally for the questions, first, how should I go about breaking his barking habit, and second, is there any way that I can get him to stop being so possessed about playing with these two dogs that do not want to play with him. With other dogs he has done the barking, but after a few minutes he realizes they don't want to play with him, or he gives up and moves on, with the exception of these two. It is a very nice park, and the people there, by and large are very good about keeping their dogs behaved and picking up after them. We are there often enough that the regulars know Duke is still a puppy and only wants to play, but it is embarrassing just the same. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CoraBoxer]

Honestly, I wouldn't stress. I would not visit the park when he's there and let Duke socialise with other dogs instead. Some owners are real nut jobs and there isn't anything you can say or do to change that so my advice would just be to avoid. You don't want to start getting nervous, scared etc and have Duke start picking up on that and associating it with the dogs at the park. Leashing up and walking away is good enough. I wouldn't correct my dog (especially in any physical way for wanting to play) for wanting to play. Redirect. Not all dogs are going to be best buds. Not all dogs are going to want to play in the same way. Age can also play a role. I always tire my dogs out before going to the park - this helps. He's still young but if you stick with it for a little bit longer he'll be through the hardest years.

If anyone kicks my dogs or gets physical with them they deal with me.