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Aggression/dominance w/ other dogs in the off-leash dog park

naomi_abroad@hotmail.com's picture
Sat, 06/23/2007 - 08:32 — naomi_abroad@ho...

I have a 45 lb 3 yr male Boston Terrier which we fixed at 2 yr. Buddy loves attention and loves people and loves to run around BUT sometimes he has unpredictable behavior in the off-leash dog park and we don't know how to correct it.

Scenarios

1. Weak/submissive dogs or dogs who he wants to play but who are ignoring him - sometimes he will fixate on one dog, maybe a puppy who is scared to be in the park, or a little dog hiding under the table, and he won't leave them alone.

2. Dogs who he wants to play but who are playing with a different dog - he will get in the middle and force the situation physically by breaking up the play between the 2 dogs and basically just jumps in.

In these 2 situations he will start out nice but then I think he gets a little over-excited, the hair sticks up, he starts barking etc

I must first say that this behavior has never resulted in injury to another dog and that i think it's just a bit of posturing BUT it is uncomfortable for us because we want our dog to play nice with the other dogs, which he does 75% of the time.

I just don't know why that other 25% he gets pushy. Any ideas?

Comments

Mon, 06/25/2007 - 10:10 — Aidan
Aidan's picture

A really good recall

Hi Naomi, you've made some good observations there which lead me to believe that his behavior isn't all that serious unless perhaps another dog takes offence and disciplines him for it.

I would work on training a really good recall and when it is good enough and you have trained with increasing distractions you will be able to call him to you before he starts to get silly. This is really just an "interrupt and redirect" problem, interrupt before he gets silly and ask him to do something else.

I'm not a huge fan of "free for all" off-leash dog parks for every dog. Pick his playmates carefully. If you go at a regular time you will start to figure out which dogs he plays well with and which ones he doesn't.

Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com

Sat, 02/09/2008 - 01:58 — Russ

dog agression

Tails of Two Cities

I'm new to this site and have been reading the blogs. I've just come across Naomi's problem which is the same as my problem with Homer (shepherd/lab mix). He's a big dog and gentle, but has not had enough socialization. He frightens other dog owners and growls at other dogs when he's with them. This is a new behavior and concerns me. He comes when called, but I'll try the recall reinforcement.

Tue, 02/12/2008 - 09:00 — pos4015

Hi Russ, I work on recalls

Hi Russ, I work on recalls from day 1 and keep working on them forever. You can never have too good a recall!

Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com

Tue, 06/26/2007 - 03:15 — naomi_abroad@ho...
naomi_abroad@hotmail.com's picture

Thank you Aidan for the

Thank you Aidan for the advice. I will def. work on recall!

You know most of these interactions would probably work themselves out naturally BUT the owners at these off-leash dog parks can be very over-protective, particularly with puppies and small dogs. Buddy looks intimidating and can ***sound*** intimidating and is very strong - picture a solid, stout small boxer - that it has resulted in some discomfort for us at times. I think when people see buddy they immediately get a little worried just because of the way he looks even if they've never seen him before.

Tue, 06/26/2007 - 11:47 — Aidan
Aidan's picture

other owners

I know what you mean, and frankly, I don't think you can change them. I guarantee that a grumpy dog owner will always make this sort of situation much worse than it needs to be and your dog will learn from that so it's good to have a plan to interrupt and redirect before it gets to that point.

Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com

Sat, 08/23/2008 - 02:54 — naomi_abroad@ho...
naomi_abroad@hotmail.com's picture

Reactive vs agressive

Hi Aidan,

We've been working on his recall, which is okay. Still not responsive in high stimulus situations. As I read more however I am beginning to think that it's not aggression as much maybe as reactive behavior so I will work on the calm-o-meter.

Let me ask one question though? Would reactive behavior result in snarling, hair standing up on the back, and maybe lunging on leash at other dogs (not all dogs but some). Also, in the dog park, my dog will go up to another dog head-to-head and stand very tall and stiff, almost like men puffing up their chests, basically confrontational. This behavior doesn't seem to fall in line with a reactive dog because he does not seem to be fearful of those dogs, it seems like he is actively challenging them.

Thanks, Naomi

Mon, 08/25/2008 - 16:03 — Aidan
Aidan's picture

re: Reactive vs agressive

Hi Naomi, I make very little distinction between "reactive" and "aggressive". We're really just describing actual behavior, or perhaps the frequency of behaviors in certain situations. Snarling is behavior, piloerection is behavior, lunging is behavior.

I'm actually not too fussed about the underlying cause of behavior, either (unless it is important, say, a health problem). I am interested in Antecedents, I am interested in Behavior and I am certainly interested in Consequences. Snarling happens after what Antecedents specifically? What Consequence is the result of the snarling?

Above everything else, remember this - dogs do what works for them.

Then you can start to look at situations, figure out why certain behaviors work for your dog in those situations, and do something about it. I do a LOT of repetitions of alternative behaviors in controlled environments, setting the dog up for success.

If we can help it, we don't put the dog into situations where unwanted behavior is likely to be reinforced.

Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com