It’s dog park season! I don’t know about you, but every time I come within three blocks of the dog park, my dog knows. He’s ready to get in there and play his heart out. We frequent three different ones in the Seattle area: one in the city, one at the beach, and one in a field. Each one has different terrain and agility equipment. We love them all, and we run into similar problems at all of them, too. Over time, I’ve learned to recognize—and prevent—these four common bad dog park behaviors.
Just as all dog parks are different, so too are all dogs. Breed, personality, and history play a role in your dog’s particular behaviors. You know your dog, and you know what to look out for. At the dog park, it’s important to watch for your dog’s particular triggers, and to keep an eye on other dogs that might display these behaviors.
Recognize any of these?
Tips for Avoiding Problems at the Dog Park
1. Overcrowding
- Problem: When too many dogs are ready to greet a new dog at the entrance, it can be overwhelming for the new arrival. They’re the celebrity walking into a swarm of paparazzi.
- Solution: When another dog arrives at the park, make sure you call your dog away from the entrance. Let the new arrival settle in first. If it’s just so thrilling that your dog forgets his commands—it happens!—then just make sure you’re on hand to physically remove your dog if needed. Bottom line? Watch the entrance. That’s where many problems occur.
2. Toy Nabbing
- Problem: A toy becomes a high-value item at the dog park. When that happens, resource guarding behavior is inevitable. In other words, it’s easy for a dog to become protective of that precious toy and start an altercation.
- Solution: Take a moment to unwind. Remove the toy, go to another area, and wait until everybody is calm. If it’s a recurring problem, try leaving the toy at home for a while. It gets trickier if the toy belongs to someone else, of course. Again, taking a break is often the best move.
3. Playing Rough
- Problem: Some dogs play too rough for others. Though they’re not trying to be aggressive, scratches or play bites can happen.
- Solution: You know your dog. If she seems to be getting overexcited, call her away for a break. Wait a few moments to breathe, hydrate, and connect, and then have her play with another dog or toy.
Note: be especially careful when you’ve got a big dog and a little dog playing. A large breed playing a little too roughly with a small dog has the potential to cause big problems.
4. Jumping
- Problem: The dog park is just so exciting! Jumping happens. But keep an eye out for too much jumping, or jumping on other people. Worst case scenario, someone falls down, gets scratched, or just gets angry. Either way, it’s best to avoid.
- Solution: Walk away from an overeager pup, and if it’s your dog doing the jumping, give them a chance to take a break. Usually, some chillout time will help. If they’re so overstimulated they can’t settle, it’s probably time to go home.
The Bottom Line
Good dog park behavior isn’t always easy to enforce. It requires keeping an eye on your dog, and intervening before potential altercations. It also comes down to understanding how well your dog does in these settings, and when she needs a break. Keeping in mind the power of the break (even just for a few minutes) will improve your dog park experiences tenfold.
But these occasional problems are no reason to avoid dog parks. My dog and I will keep going, that’s for sure. Dog parks are fantastic places for our furry friends to let off steam—and for us to show off our dogs, right? Because they’re awesome, of course. We all know that.
More problematic is bringing your dog in to the park on leash and the overcrowding occurs. The dog on leash is threatened because he is tethered and can’t get away. You’d think people would know better. I had a situation where exactly this happened. My dog ran up to greet him and the other dog growled and snapped because he was trapped. The guy didn’t want to take his dog off leash because he jumped on people. If you don’t trust your dog to behave properly, train him better before bringing him to the park…But, I’ve found that most people who take their dogs to the park are capable of handling the over eager pup that might jump up. Putting a knee up for the dog to jump into or simply turning your back usually gets the message across that it is not acceptable behavior.
The other problem is bringing little dogs into a big dog park when there are separate facilities available. I have a 60# dog. She simply wants to run with other dogs and has never shown any aggressive tendencies and usually runs away from aggressive dogs her own size or bigger. Remember, she just likes to run. However, aggressive little dogs bother her. She runs and they chase…barking, nipping, growling and baring teeth and she gets defensive. She bit one recently for doing that. She had had enough. Mine is not the only dog I’ve seen that has a problem with little aggressive dogs. It’s usually because the owner has two dogs or more, one of them is big so they bring all their dogs into the big park. Their big dog is used to little dogs. Mine is not. People, take your big dog to the little dog park where we all know he is comfortable rather than bringing your little dog into the big dog park where we don’t know who is comfortable and who is not. You’re asking for trouble. I hate driving all the way to the park only to have to turn around because some little guy is in there showing aggression.
Funny that you recommend big dogs go into the small dog area – exactly the opposite of your recommendation happened at our dog park in Oro Valley, AZ. A lady who has a golden, blithley brings it into the small dog section and for the most part, nothing negative has happened – until it did. You know how fast a situation can turn, and on this one occasion, a small dog got bit as it entered the area. So, what caused this Golden to attack is still a mystery. The owner of the small dog hasn’t been back to report. Go figure, but I keep a better eye on that Golden now as it still visits in the small dog area when I am there with my 15-lb. oooch.
Was that golden part of a family of smaller dogs? I would never recommend bringing a big dog into the small dog area if he is from a single dog home and not comfortable or familiar with the behavior of small dogs. My point is that in a family of mixed sized dogs the larger dog is going to possibly be more tolerant of smaller more aggressive breeds simply because he is accustomed to it. IDK, maybe I’m just overthinking it. It’s just aggravating to have my girl get so excited, she knows where we are going, only to get there and have to tell her I’m sorry she can’t go play because I see a little Shiz tzu or a Yorkie showing alpha behavior among a bunch of big dogs. I know my dog isn’t going to respond well. I’ve been wanting to vent my frustration and I saw this article pop up. Seemed like a perfect time.
What I’d really like to do is approach the people that are doing this but I don’t want to come off as thinking I know more than them or that I’m trying to be confrontational. One time I did enter not seeing a Yorkie that was already there. The Yorkie ran up to my dog and showed it’s teeth. I was able to get my dog on leash and out before anything happened. The lady that owned the Yorkie came over and grabbed him and said something about me leaving. I just said My dog doesn’t do well with small dogs and went outside the gate. After about 10 minutes of walking up and down the street on leash in front of the park the lady must have finally gotten the hint and took the Yorkie over to the other side.
NO TOYS at all in the dog park. Dogs fight over toys & food and it’s an ABSOLUTE NO NO at the dog park. (food and treats as well) this seems pretty obvious though :)
What about eating other dog’s poop? I just noticed my dog keeps doing this everytime we go to the park and I don’t know how to fix it.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad guardians/owners. We used to go to the dog park all the time. But our dog has been attacked so much and so often and always, my husband has to stop the other dog. The people who have the dog stand there and do nothing. I’ve been bitten, too. I’m not saying our dog has never been an a-hole but we step up and stop the situation. Why is there such a lack of common courtesy? I’ve also seen people not pick up after their dogs and sit there on their phones. Lastly, the part about small dogs and big dogs– we have a medium sized dog. I’m frankly afraid to take her into the big dog area when there are dogs in there that weigh more than I do! And she’s afraid of pits. So sometimes, I do take her into the little area. 45 lbs is not a big dog, nor is it little. I err on the side of caution.
I have never taken any of my dogs to a dog park. For me, it’s the worst thing you can do. Never mind all of the reasons stated in the article but all the ‘mess’ that is around also for everyone to stop in. Also, you don’t know what dog might have fleas, ticks, parasites, etc. I just will not risk it. Our dogs are walked regularly and have a big backyard to run and play in, so we’re lucky that way.
What if my dog starts going at my leg in public? Should I let him finish like I do at home? I would feel guilty if I didn’t, but also a bit of self-shame if I did.
I have a 2 yr. old 93 lb. Lab/Shepherd mix who has been going to the dog park since she was a puppy. She is super dog friendly and has never shown signs of aggression, however she is constantly bullied by the other dogs who have a tendency of piling up on her and I can immediately tell she’s not happy so I jump in and break it up and pull her away. What frustrates me is owners who go to the dog park and then sit on a bench on their phones and totally forget they brought a dog with them. I’ve noticed that it’s those owners dogs that cause the problems because they are not getting direction on proper behavior from their owners. As a result, I now take Tessa to the medium/small dog park where she is the proper gentle giant and can play with the smaller dogs without fear. One last thing that I’d like to add is that owners should not bring their dogs to the park if they haven’t been neutered, especially male dogs who seem 10 times more aggressive and have “humping” tendencies….not cool!
My problem is kind of the opposite. We’ve got a 55-pound Beagle/Foxhound mix that simply doesn’t want to run around or play. He loves to take walks, but when we take him to a dog park, he just hangs around with us or the other humans there and mostly ignores the other dogs. There have been times when we have been there alone, and even then he just hangs around with us instead of running around and playing. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get him to realize he’s a dog and not a human? :-)
please keep your pet from being poisoned or eaten. google it.
Things are changing.