Bad Dog Park Behaviour
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| Rule of thumb is you never take young puppies to a dog park. As you found out, you want their experiences with other dogs to happen in more controlled environments.
Since there are no marks on him you can assume puppy was being an obnoxious pest. Some older dogs are more tolerant than others. I have bitches who will put obnoxious pups in their place as a matter of course - it's their job. They do it well. Apparently the dog you ran into has a particularly short fuse when it comes to puppies. Live and learn. But you can't blame the other dog. Had he meant business and not just reprimands, your puppy would probably be dead. 
I'm glad he's OK. Chances are he'll continue to bounce back just fine because it wasn't a serious attack, but an older dog explaining the rules of the canine world. Kristine |
| Sorry but I have to defend mine. He wasn't anywhere near the offending dog when he ran after mine and attacked. I know the difference between teaching a puppy and full on aggression; that was aggression. I got to him and tore him off mine. He wasn't stopping once a dog or puppy is down I don't think that is normal behaviour to keep at it. I don't think that was normal canine rules. I just happen to be lucky he didn't get his teeth in because he was biting.
Anyways needless to say I won't be going back. |
| Puppies do not belong at dog parks for soooo many reasons. Hope there are no permanent issues from taking the little guy.
I am personally beginningt o believe dog parks are a bad thing all around. So many issues. |
| I've quit going to dog parks. It sounded like such a good idea-- and the first few times my sheepdogs were so excited I thought I was doing them a favor.
But the reality is there are too many problems and once they are all loose in a pack, the dogs are beyond control-- my own included. Since the dogs are unfamiliar with each other, there is no established order of dominance in such an ad-hoc "pack". It is not natural behavior for unfamiliar dogs to suddenly be thrown together in a large confined group. The dogs may seem to be having a good time mostly, but I think that it can be stressful to them as well. The biggest problems are aggressively dominant dogs and, even more, stupid owners who don't recognize problem behavior-- or worse, who even encourage aggressive behavior as some kind of vicarious macho thing that reflects on themselves (My dog is tougher than your dog). The popularity of pit bulls and other dogs bred for fighting in our society, makes dog park incidents more likely. In truth, I also think that herding breeds like sheepdogs who have not had any herding training sometimes don't recognize the difference between a group of dogs and a herd of sheep and create problems by following their own instincts. My own two sheepdogs will often work together instinctively to run down dogs who run off from a group (to chase a ball or something) and head them up to bring them back to the group. The poor dog is bewildered to find two huge sheepdogs who won't let him play a familiar game, and their owner doesn't often appreciate it either even if they understand such herding instinct when they see it. So no dog parks for me anymore. There are better ways to give them exercise. |
Well you learn something new everyday. I didn't realize not to take him to a doggie park. I thought I was socializing him. I have to say a majority of the dogs where puppies. Perhaps we should branch off and make our own group  no dogs over 8 months maybe. NO DOGS ALLOWED!  |
Poor Langley 
I'm glad he's ok and I'm sure he will bounce back quickly, but maybe limit his socialization to controlled environments like puppy handling and or obedience or whichever events you plan on participating in. That way he's on leash and you are in control of the experiences he has somewhat. I definitely wouldn't coddle him and say oh it's ok baby etc, because he will learn that it is correct to be afraid of bigger dogs. Once it's done and over with, it's done. Be careful about your own feeling of apprehension now that you've had a scare, he will pick up on your reaction. Next time on a walk if you see a dog if you are calm and non chalant about it, he should be too. |
| He kept trying to suck up to me took all my will to not give him a hug
I didn't even want to pick him up to get him out of there but the other dog wasn't letting up so I had to grab him but I put him down as soon as it was safe. Yah I learned my lesson. Poor little man. |
| I'm so sorry to hear what happened to Langley. I have had some unpleasant experiences with Asterisk and some dogs that decided to run her down and nip at her. I had stopped going to that particular dog park.
I did, however, find a different dog park. This one has an amazing set of owners. It tends to be the same owners whenever we go. They are pretty observant and step in to collect their dogs when it gets out of hand. There have been a few owners who don't watch their dogs. But for the most part, we have had some pleasant experiences. I think we are very fortunate, but not all dog owners are so responsible. |
| We don't do dog parks either. |
| We have found that how nice the dog park near our house is depends on the time of day and day we go to the dog park. Saturday and Sunday mornings before nine -- good. Saturday or Sunday afternoons and evenings -- bad.
I wouldn't condemn dog parks out of hand but try to find a good time of day and day of the week to go. |
| I'm so sorry this happened to Langley. Is there a puppy playgroup or something you can take him to? Maybe starting your own is a good idea |
| I'm always so sad we don't have any nearby doggie parks, but today I'm not quite as sad.
I'm sorry Langley had a scare and hope everything's OK. |
| I don't do dog parks. I've had multiple dogs for years & years so socializing them with other dogs wasn't really all that important. And when the opportunity did present itself at times, I just always kept 100% of my attention on my dogs. Not all dogs like each other......same as not all kids like each other. I just like to be able to step in immediately if there is any problem at all. I realize not everyone is forutnate enough to have acreage & fenced dog runs for their dogs to exercise in & play with each other. Dog parks can be an option for them. But I would want to make sure it was a very well supervised play group. |
| What type of dog was this other dog?
It sounds like it's a OES hater - no rhyme or reason to it, you may find it gets on fine with other dogs just not OES - for whatever reason. There are a few here that have never liked Archie and have wanted to have a go at him. Owners that realise this including myself keep our dogs on the lead when in the same area, fortunately being taller than the dogs we can normally spot each other before the dogs do. Fortunately my big daft lad never seems to take any harm or stress from the shown aggression. |
Archies Slave wrote: Fortunately my big daft lad never seems to take any harm or stress from the shown aggression.
I wouldn't count on that always being the case. The very last time I went to the dog park a large, un-neutered pit bull went after a submissive young dog (not one of mine) for no apparent reason. The dog went to his back in a clear sign of submission. The pit bull didn't back off but took the entire underside of his neck in his mouth in a death-grip, holding him down and issuing very convincing growls for at least five minutes (I'm not joking about the length of time) while the owner tried unsuccessfully to call him off. The poor submissive dog looked terrified and I am sure if he had moved one muscle during that five minutes, his throat would have been instantly crushed. As it was, the dog had puncture wounds, but survived. Everyone, but everyone there, leashed up their dogs and left. Very scary. You only need to see something like that once. I consider myself and my dogs lucky and I'm not about to push it for the questionable benefit of whatever kind of "socialization" may be had from a pack of unknown dogs and unknown owners. |
| in the UK the laws on dog behaviour are reasonabley easy for people to understand
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare ... c/dogs.htm How is the position in The States? |
| Laws can vary from state to state and community to community but in most major cities they would be similar.There are a very few places where pit bulls have been banned outright but usually that raises a cry of "breed discrimination", which if nothing else, SOUNDS politically incorrect.
"The problem is not the dogs it is the owners". It's kind of like gun control. Another problem is enforcement. The police are unlikely to respond to animal-animal aggression even if called. They would probably make a referral to animal control, who may respond in a day or two... maybe. Many of these fighting breeds originated in England in the 19th century or earlier for bear-baiting or dog fighting, and later breeding has selectively reinforced such archaic behavior to the point where an entire breed is, or probably should be banned. Unfortunately, here in the US, we are still living in the 19th century in some ways in tolerating this. I got Toby, my latest Sheepdog, at the local shelter. You go in any shelter in most of the US and fully half of the dogs there are pit bulls or pit bull mixes. Many are un-adoptable by reason of temperament and go right into euthanasia. For most of the rest, it's the numbers. How many people want a pit bull as a pet? It's sad. |
There are still areas of the country where any number of vets and groomers wish OES had been banned.  Think about that one for a while.
I compete against AKC registered Am Staffs and Staffy bulls in agility. In fact, I started agility training with two UKC registered APBTs in the class. All of them better behaved and with better temperaments than many OES. Not saying we should ban OES, or that most have bad temperaments, or that there aren't vicious dogs out there of all breeds. I am saying we need to think carefully about sweeping generalizations. Most of the breed bans use the AKC and UKC breed standards & "mixes thereof", which can include anything remotely resembling a bully breed, to define their ban. In parts of Europe where such bans have been in effect for some time, they're recognizing that they don't work and are starting to repeal them. Maybe we can skip that wasted step. We already have leash laws. Enforcing them is half the battle. The other is making sure there are vicious dog laws on the books, and most communities already have this too. Like Marilyn, I don't use dog parks for socialization. If I go it's to let my dogs run off lead. They are their own pack; I don't bring them to play with dogs of unknown temperaments owned by people of unknown levels of dog experience, so I just keep moving instead of standing around yacking, which is 95% of the problem in dog parks where problems occur - owners too busy socializing to realize that their dogs are getting into it. Larger dog parks with lots of walking areas and no "gathering spots" for owners are always my preference. Kristine |
| I have taken all 4 of the dogs I've owned to off lead parks all their lives as we live inner city with only a tiny yard, and I have to agree with Kristine some of the best behaved, friendliest dogs I've met have been from the so-called aggressive breeds.
My dalmos favorite friend is a pit bull and she is super friendly. Mind you her owner has also made a point of researching the breed and dog training methods and has carefully and consistently trained and socialised her since she was a puppy. An agility instructor I spoke to recently said oh an OES, they can be good at agility but many of them are too bitey.   
The worst incident we've had was early this year where a border collie (supposed to have fabulous temperments here in Aus) attacked Rastus with no warning and we had to see a vet due to the big tear on Rastus's shoulder. This incident occurred while Wayne was standing around waiting for me while I stood beside a very large, ankle deep mud puddle trying to get Tiggy to stop chasing a staffy through the mud. They were both having a ball but it was very smelly, sticky black mud. Nice on a hot summers day from a dogs perspective. 
So again I'd have to agree with Kristine; humans like to stand around and yak but it often doesnt work for dogs, I think sometimes somedog gets bored and starts a bit of trouble which can get out of hand, and before you know it "there's blood on the green" to use an old english term. |
I've been taking my dog to dog parks since he was 4 months old. As a matter of fact, one of my dog's favorite playmates is a pit that is slightly older than him.
I think you have to "read" each park, the dogs and humans there, and how familiar you are with them before you let a puppy off leash on a dog park. It's good to establish a group of dogs your dog is familiar with. If there are new or strange dogs at your usual park, take a moment to observe the animal's interactions before you let your dog off-leash. Once my pup running at the park accidentally knock off a 4 year old kid, and he started crying. Of course, I immediately apologized to the mother, and brought my dog to meet the toddler. I gave the toddler a little dog treat to feed my dog, which he promptly did. My dog took the treat from the toddler and licked him on the face a couple times. All was forgiven. Because my dog is very friendly, I also like taking in onto university campuses. No car traffic, and the students usually love giving him some attention. You just have to make sure you have little clean-up bags with you, in case the dog decides to poo. |
Mad Dog wrote: I don't use dog parks for socialization. If I go it's to let my dogs run off lead. They are their own pack; I don't bring them to play with dogs of unknown temperaments owned by people of unknown levels of dog experience, so I just keep moving instead of standing around yacking, which is 95% of the problem in dog parks where problems occur - owners too busy socializing to realize that their dogs are getting into it. Larger dog parks with lots of walking areas and no "gathering spots" for owners are always my preference.
Kristine I failed to mention that. My husband and I are there to take care of our boys and not socialize with the other folk. We follow them on the paths, and the guys stay together. |
Cadenza wrote: Because my dog is very friendly, I also like taking in onto university campuses. No car traffic, and the students usually love giving him some attention. You just have to make sure you have little clean-up bags with you, in case the dog decides to poo.
My husband works on a beautiful campus, and we take the boys there a lot. There are beautiful walking trails; the college kids like petting the sheepies; my boys like watching the soccer players; and the nuns like us (he is a librarian at a private Catholic university). Universities are great! |
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