# Problem at the Dog Park



## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

Our 4 1/2 month old V, Riley, has always loved the dog park. He actually loves to swim in the pond and has been very social. Last night we took him, and as he was getting out of the pond with a tennis ball, another dog attacked him. Didn't harm him, but scared him very badly. The owners of the other dog finally came and took the aggressor away, but the rest of the time we were there, Riley ran from and hid from all the other dogs with tail tucked. We are planning on taking him again tonight because we want to keep up socialization, but is there anything we can do if his fear continues?


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2010/05/poor-city-dogs.html

I avoid dog parks with Bailey (Our intact male). He got mugged by other dogs that would actually team up on him. 

Chloe our female could go but I'd rather take a walk along a city street then a dog park. Maybe a bike ride with a springer attachment.

I really do not go to dog parks. Many of the people that go don't understand dogs well enough to control them and don't pay attention to them while they are there. More harm than good.

Good luck.

Rod 
http://redbirddog.blogspot.com


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## kellygh (Oct 25, 2010)

Dog parks are great outlets for people who do not have a yard & want to socialize their dog; however, I agree that too many visitors are irresponsible owners. The park is as positive as the experience. Our V pup, Pumpkin, was attacked by a family member's dog, while sleeping, and it took a lot of time, effort/socializing to bring her out of her shell around other dogs & some people. Vs are soft dogs, and a negative experience can be unforgiving to development. We enrolled Pumpkin in puppy class, pre-agility class, and we contacted members from our local V club for monthly play dates. P has not been to a dog park, but we have found other ways to socialize her well in a safe atmosphere. It was months before she began to "open up" around other dogs, and she's very picky about who she plays with. She will run alongside any dog in the field/on birds, but that is about it. IMO, I would find other ways to socialize & build her confidence back up. If it were me, I wouldn't risk returning to an environment where an irresponsible owner may be. Good Luck!


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

We go primarily for socialization and he has always loved going there. Tomorrow night he has his "interview" with a dog academy so he can start puppy kindergarten soon. You are definitely right about V's being sensitive. He has separation anxiety on top of it all, although he is only crated 2 hours a day. Playing with us humans just doesn't seem to be enough for him.


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## Keneomac (Oct 12, 2010)

Hi Emily,

I wanted to share my two-cents on this topic. We regularly take Darwin to the dog park, but we find it is a lot of work. I agree with most of the other posters, the dog park is great in theory, but never seems to work out that way. I have found a group that always goes to the park at about the same time and thus we have joined that group. All the dogs are great and it is a social playgroup. However, we have stopped taking him to the dog park at random times, there always seems to be that one dog who is aggressive and the owners refuse to take care of it. Darwin gets plenty of socialization, but we found playgroups where the dogs are screened are much better than the dog park!

Hope that helps a little!


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

Thanks!

Maybe we'll look into puppy playgroups. There aren't a lot of V's in this area. But I'm sure we can find something with acceptable playmates. And if we want to take him to the dog park, maybe we'll skip weeknights and the after work crowd and go early on weekend mornings when it's pretty much deserted. I know puppies need socialization, but maybe I'm just trying too hard. He seems to like humans much better than other dogs.


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## laurita (Jun 12, 2011)

Emily,
I've run into the same problem with a dog that's very territorial at a dog park... that's the difficult thing about the park is that you would hope that owners would either keep those dogs at home OR work on counter-conditioning the dog. My pup was pretty shaken up and I'm not sure if this is the correct thing to do but I had read it somewhere. After it happened, I didn't make a big deal, I didn't coddle him, I didn't pet him, I just said, "you're ok" and tried to get him to run and play for a little bit so that we could leave on a good note. Of course if that dog is loose or there's another dog that might attempt it, keeping your dog there isn't a good idea. Again, don't know if I did the right thing or not but it seemed to help to get Miles (my pup) to shake it off and have fun again. I don't feel like it's made a lasting impact on him (I hope). It did make him a bit more cautious about going up to each and every dog since not all dogs like that but he's still very social.

I've found a great place to take him-- where he has his training they have a dog play time with an agility course. There's a trainer who watches to make sure all's well & all the owners are very vigilant, too. If you have some good training sites near your home, I would hope someone would offer this around you, too.


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## kellygh (Oct 25, 2010)

Yes, I have been able to make some play connections through our local AKC club via an excellent puppy class. Also check out other sporting dog groups in your area. Labs are often more prevalent, tend to have a local interest group, and in my experience, make good play pals for Vs. Doesn't it stink when one or a few people mess it up for everyone else  Best Wishes.


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

Yes it's very frustrating when people don't watch their dogs or they think it's always the other dog's fault. We keep tabs on Riley at all times and correct any unwanted behaviors, but most don't. They use the dog park as their social time too. It's really too bad because this is a very nice dog park that is kept up very nicely and well ran.


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## Shivangi (Jan 19, 2010)

Very strange. All of you seem to have had a similar experience with your Vs at the dog park. We used to be regulars at our neighbourhood dog park but almost every visit ended up on a bad note with other dogs constantly ganging up on our V and chasing her around the park till she found a bench and tucked herself under it. 

She always kept to herself, enjoyed meeting other people (not dogs as much) and loved all the attention. She was never much of a provocative dog, never teased other dogs, no signs of aggression, and yet, she perpetually got hounded. We thought she'd learn to deal with it, or that the dogs would become familiar, but we gave up. It was difficult to see her get excited to go to the dog park, and then get mauled once she got there  

Since a lot of you seem to have had similar experiences of Vs being chased around, any ideas why this happens to Vs in particular? I've never noticed dogs do that to other breeds.


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

My guess is Riley is a bit young for that type of encounter. There is a phase that Copper went through were he was jumpy. Yes, Jumpy, he would jump, crouch or just plain retreat when he encountered something unknown or out of the ordinary. I think most Vs are like this. We kept the unknown (including dogs) interactions limited until he was out of this phase. I have to say that once he turned 11 or 12 months he started showing much more confidence in new things and situations. At this point he is about 14 months old and still exhibits a bit of the unsteady/unsure attitude with things like big waves, large rocking boats and the like. It is now mostly restricted to very large unusual objects. As far as other dogs or humans go, he is all over it. If a dog or human exhibits unfriendly or aggressive tendency, Copper looks like a ridgeback with ears, fur and tail at attention and the teeth will come out! 99.9% of the time he looks to make friends. ;D


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

Yes I have to say that I almost wish Riley would stand up for himself. We have family who have very large lab puppies and he gets in there and scraps with them wrestling, nipping, everything. That's why I was kind of surprised he was so timid at the park when a dog did that.


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

Keep building his confidence. A secure, loved dog is a confident dog. Copper has a friend who is a large American bulldog She is about twice his weight and plays aggressively. Copper acts like the dog is a a toy poodle! It's amazing how he doesn't get beat up!


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

On occasion Jasper has gotten into trouble at the dog park, where a few dogs will really gang up on him. Luckily he is a resilient boy that shakes everything off, and I make sure to step in if it looks bad. But yes, most people tend to use the dog park as a way to exercise their dog without paying attention to it.

I find that the after-work crowd is the worst. They're just there to socialize and they pay very little attention to their dog. I've seen many owners reading while at the dog park, and they don't even have a clue where their dog is! As ridiculous as this sounds, not long ago an article was published in a local magazine that touted our off-leash dog parks as the new singles club. Ridiculous (though there are certainly some people there that dress and act like they're hunting for a spouse).

We go later in the evening--no earlier than 7:30pm. There are usually only 5 or so other dogs there, and those owners are much more watchful of their dog. In talking with them, I usually find that they're also unimpressed with the after-work crowd, which is why they come later at night. It's a great time for us to go, and we've yet to run into any problems when going at this time. So if you're still keen on going to the park, I'd suggest odd hours. Early in the morning, late at night, etc. 

You could also see if there is a privately-run dog park nearby--the private parks in my area are more stringent about how the dogs interact and such, and the owners are much more vigilant about watching their dogs and correcting inappropriate behavior.


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

I'm happy to say that we went back to the park last night and it ended up being a success. At first he ran and hid like before, but then there was a toy out there that a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy (bigger than riley) had that he wanted BAD. He ended up wrestling the other dog down, but no nipping, and then they were the best of friends. By the time we left, he was running with all of the big dogs. He got his confidence back.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

Glad that it went well. With the right mix of dogs and responsible owners a dog park can be a great place. 

In our town there just are too many clueless owners. 

Rod


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

Well we have a lot of that too. I also learned that I really needed to research the place I was going to take Riley for puppy kindergarten. Thru someone at the dog park, I found out some terrible things about where I was going to take him. On the outside the place looks great and is just around the corner from us and we've had people tell us good things about it. After a little digging, this is what I was horrified to find out.

http://worstfriendk9.blogspot.com/


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## Super (Apr 8, 2010)

Hey everyone. 
My 5 yr old Shemp and I have had a nice time at the dog parks. We usually invite his best friend JoJo (Great Pyranese) to come along. We did have an encounter with a Great big ol Dane and I was scared there would be bloodshed. He stood his ground and fended off that monster. We have only had the one incident and have not seen that dog since. 
We don't seem to have any puppies come there.


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

I continue to read this post and have to say.... For a younger (<10 month old V), I don't like dog parks. Just too much there to set them back. After they have developed their sense of self, confidence and comfortable with most of the surrounding in the world, then maybe. I would much rather see them play with one or two other dogs where I could more readily assess the situation and potentially control the interaction if need be.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Have to agree... Dog parks can be great places, or not. It all depends on the mix of owners, really.

When I had my last dog, a female Vizsla mix (mostly V -- I could tell), we had one unfortunate incident at the dog park. She ran right up to a group of big Malamutes and did a play bow, and the chase was on! She could run like the wind (just like Willie) and she was winning the race. One Malamute in particular didn't like that, so he reached over and bit her right on the rib cage. No blood, just a small patch of fur missing. She laid down on the ground and yipped, and looked straight at me. I felt terrible. Located the other dog's owner and told her what happened. She just said, "Gee -- he never did that before". Anyhow... it was a long time ago, but I guess that's when I decided to get my back yard fenced. Now I can invite other (prescreened) dogs over for play dates, but I get to chose who comes.

That said, dog parks can be wonderful places to really run your dog, if you feel that you can do it safely. A lot of unknowns, though... At the dog park near me, all of the dogs are supposed to be up-to-date on all shots (but how do you know?) and also be trained to come when called (but most of them never were...) But a nice dog park, at least in theory, can be a terrific resource.


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

Vs in general are very "in tune" to their surroundings. They grow up quick and learn fast but, are much more sensitive or even timid then most dogs. This is especially true when they are finding their place in the world and experiencing new or unfamiliar things. This is the stage in life where it could go very well, or you could end up with a V and the memory of an elephant! Yes, they will remember a bad experience forever!  So, my advise is proceed with all new interactions (other dogs, garden hoses, water, shot guns....) with caution. I hope this helps.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Boy, Linescreamer, you nailed it... you got that exactly right! My female V mix was stung by bees (two bees, two different times) when she was quite young, and she never, ever got over it. Her entire life, she was absolutely terrified of bees. I felt so bad about it, but couldn't think of a way I might have prevented it. They do not forget!


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

Now, if I could only figure out how to stop Copper from chasing the yellow jacks!  Which reminds me to put some benadryl in the dog bag!


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

Good idea about the benadryl. Savannah likes to hunt anything that buzzes and eventually she will catch one. I have been trying to think about how to prevent it, but maybe I should just prepare for the inevitable.


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