When Snarky play turns not so nice.....

Honey's mom

Hey everyone,

I took Honey to the dog park last night and our experience was COMPLETELY the opposite of our visit last week. Last week Honey played SOOO nice with everyone. This week.....omg. As soon as we arrived there was a beagle that started to "alert" the group she was there. He was a young guy and before we even got in the gate Honey wasn't happy. I walked her around the outside a bit thinking she would relax (and it seemed she had.) When we went in I let her loose and the Beagle tried to mount her. From that moment on......it wasn't pretty. Honey started to play with some other dogs and she'd start to play a bit rough. I figured it was just "shiba play". Well then she pinned a small dog down and got pretty aggresive. I said "Honey NO". She didnt listen so I reached down and grabbed the scruff of her neck. (might have been a rookie mistake idk?) She then turns to ME and shows her teeth!!!! I couldnt believe it. I picked her up and took her to the entrance (where the double gate is) and gave her a time out. I didnt know WHAT to do!

What do you guys think??? When the play gets too rough how do you break it up? Have your shiba's ever showed you their teeth when you were stepping in???

brandon_w

Instead of a time out, I would have just taken her home.

It is not surprising that she showed teeth to you when you grabbed her neck from behind. She did not know who was grabbing her, and with the state of mind she was in, she reacted first and looked later. I've been bit by Nemo in that situation, not hard, but it has happened. After he saw it was me, and knew better, he went into a down.

This is why the dog park can be so tough, and why a lot of people stop going after awhile. That Beagle is a trouble maker, and the owner should have more control over it.

Leonberger

I second what Brandon said.
Especially the part about the Beagle and its owner. Fortunately I haven't had many bad experiences so far but the ones I had were pretty much all due to the fact that the owners could not control their dogs.

Honey's mom

I didnt know if it was something I did or not? I wasn't sure if Honey was just having a bad day? Or if she was too excited? Later when the beagle and another dog left she found a jack Russel to play with and she had a BLAST. They played together so nicely. ( I think she really enjoys playing with JR's. This is the second one she has taken to. When she plays with the JR's there's really no noise. Just a bunch of wrestling. But with the beagle it started out as a loud play and rough stuff.

I'm very glad our visit to the park ENDED with a good play with the JR, NOT the experience with the beagle!

WhiteGC8

That's the reason why I don't bring Yoshi to dog parks. As much as I'd love to, I don't think it'd be a good idea at this time. Yoshi's dominant towards other dogs and I can't get his prey drive under control.

Honey's mom

To those who DO take their pups to a park....how do you let them enter? What process do you go through before entering????

dlroberts

Katie:

First, let me say I think you basically handled the situation well. Its important to be aware of both the dynamics of the pack already in the park and of your own dogs feeling before you enter. The fact that you recognized Honey's behavior was not normal and walked her around before entering was absolutely the right thing to do. I suspect if you had entered right off the bat there may have been worse fireworks with the beagle.

Second, its important to realize that every time you go to the dog park things will be different. Dogs, like people, have mood swings and often have a bad day. Plus, all it takes is one trouble maker at the dog park to cause problems all over the place. One poorly behaved dog can have a ripple effect, making many or all of the other dogs uncomfortable. When a lot of dogs all on edge are together its a recipe for bad behavior. You have to do your best to monitor both your dog and all of the others at the park. If you aren't comfortable with the vibe, just leave. Its not worth risking a bad experience. Honey's behavior will probably be your best barometer for deciding whether you should stay or go. Also, its better to leave the park ending on a bad experience than to stay around hoping for a good experience and have it end up terrible.

As for entering, I use the following process. First, I don't let them out of the car until a majority of the dogs in the park aren't showing any interest in the gate. Once they are out of the car, I have them walk on loose leash next to or behind me toward the gate. If they run ahead, I stop, and begin backing up until they return to my side. When we reach the gate, they sit and wait for me to open the gate, enter, turn around, and release them to enter. Once in the first gate, I walk to the second gate where I repeat the process, but I unclip their leashes before releasing them to enter the main part of the park.

tsukitsune

very true - the beagle owner should have been controlling their dog AND the three times I've been bitten by a dog, twice (including my own Kitsune) were because I instinctively grabbed the dog from behind. It is a rookie mistake, but you can make it even after you've owned a dog your whole life!
Imagine it - they are in the heat of the moment - focused on play or fighting and they get grabbed - their INSTINCT is to defend themselves from all angles, while your INSTINCT was to grab her by the neck. Bad combo right?

To save yourself from a bite or near bite, instead clap your hands or shake your keys or say her name so she gets distracted from the sound of it then put her into a sit and hook her leash up - its called redirecting. You take her out of something [potentially] bad and turn it into something good and/or safe. At home, I have a tin can with 10 pennies in it to shake if things start to escalate - the sound startles and we break it up.

We don't go to the dog park anymore either because we can't control everyone else's dog and it gets iffy. Instead we'll take trips to state parks or local walking paths and meet other people and dogs that way. I feel its safer all around.

When we did go to the dog park though, we'd let them go right away because I think them seeing dogs and being on leash watching might be frustrating instead of helping. If things started to heat up, we'd take them aside, make them sit and relax or we'd just leave. You can never control the dog park atmosphere, but I hope it can be enjoyable for Honey some of the time!

lindsayt

I know with the shibas I have had and been around, like to have their space bubble and so when a strange but friendly dog comes running up to the shiba and gets in their face, the shibas go "Hey, back off, I don't know who you are yet!" and sometimes show teeth, hackles or growl but it's their way of warning overlly excited dogs that don't have good manners. I'll tell the other dogs to back off. If I let the shibas go charging from the car straight into the crush at the gate, bam, there's a dog fight. They need to get their bearings first and cool off from the car ride and be calm before going into the park. From there it's up to me to control them. If the other owners can't/won't control their young rambunctious dogs that don't have manners yet or let older pushy dogs jump all over everyone, then we leave and go do something else that's fun. I guess that's the risk when you go to dog parks.

Honey's mom

Thanks everyone for the advice. I REALLY had a blast last week, and I'm pretty sure Honey did too. I'm sure there will be good days and bad days at the dog park, but you're right! It's MY responsibility to keep Honey safe and happy. And if the environment at the park isnt that.......then it's time to leave.

Thanks for the suggestions and advice! I knew this forum would have the answers I was looking for.

tobyshiba

When i'm home, i'm normally a regular at the dog park. I just ... find it so weird how many issues people have with the dog parks, because I've been going there almost daily since Toby was younger and i've never had a single issue so far.

I guess I just consider myself lucky. Toby is incredibly nice to the other dogs, and he hasn't ever really growled at other dogs before unless they were really in his space ( like the time some dog kept trying to mount him and he kept getting angry ). As for being nice to other dogs, I wish I could say the same for people. He doesn't trust strangers outside the home too much. If they're inside the house, he's actually alright with them. If kids approach him, he will warning bark, because as a puppy, some kids have chased him and have scared him.

Honestly, at the dog park I frequent, i'm more concerned about idiot kids with idiot parents. If there's a nasty dog at the dog park, normally someone will tell them to leave. Because for the most part, all of us know one another, and if its a new dog or something and its nasty, it obviously doesn't belong there.

There is a few people I have deemed total morons because they are regulars and are ... not very smart.
I really don't appreciate the one old grandmother and her grandson. Not only are her dogs misbehaved, her grandson opens both of the double gates and lets all the doggies free. And he always sees Toby and yells "HUSKY HUSKY LOOK HUSKY!" and chases him.

I was actually thinking of making a Shiba meetup in my area, because all of the Shiba Inu owners i've met are so incredibly nice, and we always happen to not come to the dog park at the same time.

JessicaRabbit

Reasons I hate dogs parks
*Had my wrist broken by a chocolate lab who was "just playing" and bit me
*Moto has been slammed against fences and held down by a bull terrier, a coon hound, a chocolate lab (really starting to dislike them), black lab, catahoula leopard dog, I could go on...
*Friends dogs have contracted kennel cough, parvo, and one dog was exposed to rabies
*stupid people and their offspring

I could go on, but instead I have a fenced in yard and puppy playdates. My packs health (as well as mine), and my own sanity are too important to spend any time in dog parks.