Dog Park!
We've recently bought a membership for the local dog park. Midas loves to play with all the dogs there. There are three areas, a small, medium, and large dog area, which are all fenced off. However, everyone takes their dogs into the large dog area, regardless of size. We would like for Midas to get some social skills by hanging around/playing with the dogs, but sometimes the bigger dogs are a little rough when they play with Midas. Midas will yelp when they get too rough...the big dogs will stop...then Midas will try to play with them again. We always check him after he yelps to see if he is OK. We were just wondering if we should wait until he is older to play with the bigger dogs? All the owners there are really nice and friendly, and love to see our dog run around with theirs.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jessica on
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Midas is just letting the other dog know to take it down a notch. If he was truly hurt, he would be scared of them. He should be fine as long as there is no aggression.
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Permalink Reply by Mochi The Corgi on
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I don't understand the concept of buying a membership to a dog park? There are such things as that? Here the dog parks are free and the community takes care of them.
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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on
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Wow, a fee for a dog park? Here in SO Cal they are all free, thank goodness!
Sid would much rather play with big dogs than small ones, but then again he lives with a corgi/elkhound and a lab/dane, so he's used to them!
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Permalink Reply by Natalie, Lance &Tucker on
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Where we live they also have membership fees as well!!!
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Permalink Reply by Ju Lo on
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Sounds like Midas is a big chicken like my Theo! That's just how dog's play. Midas is probably giving the big dogs a warning that he doesn't like what they're doing well before he gets hurt. If the dogs are responding to it, then that means they're doing all the right things. If Midas is going back for more, then he's definitely not hurt! He wants some more! As long as everyone is being responsible (owners and their dogs). Midas will be fine.
Yeah, I've never heard of buying membership to a dog park either. The ones in So Cal, like Geri said, are free. Thank goodness for that! Though I bet you get a lot better owners at yours. :(
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Permalink Reply by Ginny and Diggory on
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Just be really careful. I don't want to come across as a worry-wart, but we had a friend whose puppy was killed at a dog park last year by a bigger dog. I would start slowly with maybe a puppy playgroup first and progress to the dogpark when he's assertive and big enough to fend for himself. They have to build social skills and learn how to tell-off more aggressive dogs and it might be good to start with smaller dogs or puppies, even in a puppy class. I'm just a little overly cautious... I would hate to see anything bad happen to a corgi baby!
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Permalink Reply by Cory & Adri on
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we took our corgi to the park when he was puppy to get him familiarize with other dogs because we didnt want him to be scared of bigger dogs since he is going to be small. he was about 11 months when we took him every week and he was not scared at all. he played rough and was not scared of bigger dogs. today is is fine and still loves to play and run so much. he loves chasing bigger dogs or have bigger dogs chase him. however we always kept an eye on him though when he was young but i would let him run around freely.
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Permalink Reply by Michael on
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Please, please ... If you let your Corgi play with large dogs at a dog park, reevaluate whether that's a good idea. And if you want to do it, don't trust what other dog owners with large dogs have to say and watch over your dog like a hawk.
I will no longer allow Mac to mingle with larger dogs he's unfamiliar with unless I have more control of the environment.
Mac is very friendly. He loves to play with smaller dogs at the dog park. When he encounters small dogs that are overly nervous, he remains confident he can handle the situation. I know I can pull him away if there is a problem.
But Mac also hates nervous larger dogs and larger dogs that try to dominate him, like when they put their head over his shoulder / neck area. He'll snap to communicate to the other dog to back off. I think this is a very natural reaction for some dogs.
The problem is you never know how the larger dog is going to react. Owners of large dog owners always, always, always tell me "oh, he's friendly, don't worry." Well that's all very fine. I'm sure that's the case. BUT, can they go so far to say that the large dog won't try to defend itself if my dog snaps back telling him to back off? Do you want to rely on the word of someone you don't know? If there is a problem, whose dog is more bound to get hurt?
That's not to say I don't allow Mac to play with larger dogs at all. There are some dog in the neighborhood that I allow Mac to play with since he knows them. I used to watch the large dog area for 10 minutes or so to see which dogs look nervous or are overbearing to the other dogs and then decide whether I want Mac to play with them. This also gives Mac time to see the other dogs himself so he's not overwhelmed. But now, I just don't think it's worth the risk.
I brought Mac to the large dog area this one time and there was a first time visitor there. He was intimidated by Mac's sniffing and they got into a fight. It was chaos when the other dog got a hold of Mac. When the dog owner got a hold of his dog, Mac was so pissed, he wanted to strike back. I was able to restrain Mac at that point. Thankfully, Mac's skin wasn't broken and there was no bleeding.
You just never know.
A few weeks ago, I was walking Mac at my local park. He was on-leash as this was a regular park. Another dog owner and her German Shepard entered the park. I could see she was having trouble keeping control of her excited dog. Mac and I were on our way out at that point. The German Shepard slipped out of his collar and ran out to us. Mac braced himself as this big dog ran our way. The other dog owner came running from behind yelling "Don't worry, don't worry, he's very friendly." By the time she reached us, the dogs were sniffing each other out. Mac was on-leash still and the Germans Shepard was not.
During this time, the other owner was letting them sniff each other without restraining her dog. Mac snapped a little. The other dog took it fine at first. But then things turned out bad and he attacked Mac. He actually grabbed Mac's back and eventually got Mac on his back. The other owner was never able to restrain her dog. It was only after I grabbed Mac away that he stopped. As I triple checked Mac for injuries, the other owner kept on saying "I don't understand it, he's never done that before."
You just can't rely on what the owner says.
Now, one could say these conflicts wouldn't have happen if Mac didn't communicate to give him some space and back off. That's probably true. But I can't fault Mac for not wanting to be dominated by another dog. Sure I could and have tried to get Mac to be more submissive in such situations. But there comes a point where I think no matter how friendly and forgiving Mac becomes, it's just not worth the risk to put him in such situations where it's hard to control.
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(Continued)
Again, like I said, Mac does play with larger dogs and he does meet new large dogs when I can better control the situation. I also let Mac go to the dog beach where there are other large dogs. I'm still debating whether that's a good idea. He just loves to play in the water. It's all open so both Mac and I can see dogs coming from afar. I can recall Mac back to me pretty reliably if I don't want him mingling with a dog that I suspect might be too much for him to handle.
I would finally note that this isn't just a matter of Mac needing more socialization. This dog goes just about everywhere dogs are allowed. I take him for walks daily. He goes to dog parks usually on the weekends. And he sees other dogs on leashes when we go for walks. He's taught not to stare down other dogs on leashes when we we go for walks. So it's not like Mac has some sort of confidence or socialization problem. at least not in my eyes. Of course, there's always room for improvement but I don't think it would be accurate to describe him as lacking stimulation and interaction. He gets plenty of it. lol
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have you tried to look up in your area if there are Puppy Socials? That way they can all learn from each other and usually trainers are present and can let you know what behavior is good or bad. That's how my Mochi started out with her socializing, now she's the social butterfly. (or really really nosey depends how you look at it! LOL)
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Permalink Reply by Nicole on
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Here in metro Atlanta, most of the dog parks are free/paid for by the parks & recreations department, but there is also at least one dog park that you can buy a membership to. I know there has been talk about adding a dog park to a town near me, but it keeps getting voted down because too many people don't want their taxes to help fund it. Perhaps that is why one town here has a pay for park?
As most other people said, it sounds like Midas is just letting the other dogs know that he doesn't like what they're doing, and it soundsl ike they're respecting that and giving him a break. If they were hurting him, he wouldn't be rushing back for more. All of the local parks here have a large area for all dogs and a smaller area for small dogs. Ein very much prefers playing with the big dogs, so we always go into the big dog section, even if we don't have our other two with us. He loves to herd and the big dogs are more fun for that. There was one time where a rotweiller wouldn't stop chasing him and barking at him (giving Mr. Barky-pants a taste of his own medicine) and it was clear that Ein wasn't thrilled. He kept trying to run away from the rot and even jumped in the lap of a man who had a similar build to his grandpa and stayed with the guy for awhile. If Midas is uncomfortable with the other dogs, he'll let you know. (In case you're curious, the rot's owners fussed at him several times to leave Ein alone and admitted that he does tend to do this to small dogs and were apologetic. After a little bit, they told the dog if he wasn't going to be good, he was going home - and then they left.)
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Permalink Reply by Gracii on
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Classes are excellent for learning what appropriate dog behavior is. There are classes out there that focus on correct dog behavior. We just finished one and we are more confident about taking Kitsie to the dog park.
Michael is SO right when it comes to the dog parks. Most of the dog trainers and behaviorists I know do not take their dogs to the dog park. You need to be extra careful, especially if your dog loves to run out of your sight, like, "see ya later, mom and dad!" like ours does.
Another idea: look for other small dogs at the dog park and ask their owners to come to the small dog enclosure with you. You might be surprised at how many owners you meet that say "yeah, my dog got bit here a few months/weeks ago."
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