All Breed Play Session!

[poodlefan]

It certainly doesn't resemble what I see happening at local dog parks where its more of a free for all.

What, the dog parks you don't go to?

Did you all see the little dog 'chase' the bigger pup under a chair with friendly tail wags?

Those would be the dog parks I walk past, drive past and listen to the stories of other users here. Then I get to see the scars and the drains put in dogs I meet out and about. The dog attack reported last week occurred in one of the three Canberra dog parks Corvus. All I can say is count your blessings if your local is good but you yourself say you avoid some dog parks.

And didn't the bigger pup just love the attention of the smaller dog... NOT. He crawled under the chair to avoid him. His demeanor the entire time was unhappy. I wonder how that scenario would play out if there wasn't an escape.

[Alkhe]

We had a nice turnout at our park this morning: baby lab, GSD, 2 kelpies (of course ;)) 2 irish setters, teenage newfie, standard poodle and a golden all happily doing a lap around the park together and chasing two balls. There were some more labs and a boxer on the other side of the park that we didn't catch up with but have interacted with happily in the past (the st. poodle was a temporary visitor from that group who wanted to see if our crew was having more fun). The newfie also went off to say a gentle hello to a dog so tiny that I couldn't even see what breed it was

Finding a GOOD dog park is great for the soul I think, I love starting the day surrounded by happy dogs and friendly owners :D

Totally agree. I love going to the park near my house, it's often the highlight of my day. I'm actually excited to get up and see our little friends, and rush home from work to take my girl there again. She has come such a long way in terms of socialisation and confidence thanks to this place.

[Kavik]

The positive thing I see in the video is that when a dog did not wish to interact/was not enjoying the interaction (and I saw several such encounters), they avoided and moved away from the situation rather than reacting.

[german_shep_fan]

A great vid and thread, thanks for posting

We have a great time at our local dog park, many breeds are regulars including my boy, his bestie (lol) an alaskan mal, sibes, nz hunatway, kelpies, labs, goldens and varities of swf's, hungarian v's, borders, staffies, jack russels,terriers, beligain sheps, cattle dogs, cockers, setters,poodles, american bulldog and thats just off the top of my head lol we have a great mix

Edited October 4, 2011 by german_shep_fan

[Simply Grand]

I'm so frustrated that I can't seem to watch the video! It's my ISPs fault. Anyhoo I was reading the thread this morning and thinking about it at the dog park this arvo... I actually was wishing I could film to post but didn't want to film others dogs and put them on the web without permission so didn't.

I really see our regular dog park as a good one (PF this is the one in Belconnen ACT where that attack was recently reported). In my experience over the last 2 years (the park's been there about 3ish years) visiting on average at least twice per week, often 5-6 times per week, problems are rare. HOWEVER IMO the reason it works well is that there are many regulars, human and dog, who know each other, know their own dogs, know each other's dogs and manage appropriately.

Having said that, I also dont know that dogs interacting well together in a public setting is related to BSL. I think effective argument against BSL requires factual arguments about its lack of effectiveness... Of which I believe there are plenty.

[Simply Grand]

Argh hate trying to edit on iPhone! ETA to previous post - real evidence doesn't include anecdotes about nice dogs of particular breeds - Although I could give you many from said dog park

[aussielover]

while it was good that the dogs could interact nicely together, I don't know if its just me but I found some of the owners behaviour inappropriate.

Like, I wouln't let my dog off lead and go running up to other dogs that are on lead, especially in such a confined space.

Many other dogs don't appreciate being greeted by an unknown off leash dog and may feel anxious, especially being on lead.

But perhaps they all knew each other? it was good too see that all the dogs appeared to be well-socialised and have appropriate behavoiur

[corvus]

It certainly doesn't resemble what I see happening at local dog parks where its more of a free for all.

What, the dog parks you don't go to?

Did you all see the little dog 'chase' the bigger pup under a chair with friendly tail wags?

Those would be the dog parks I walk past, drive past and listen to the stories of other users here. Then I get to see the scars and the drains put in dogs I meet out and about. The dog attack reported last week occurred in one of the three Canberra dog parks Corvus. All I can say is count your blessings if your local is good but you yourself say you avoid some dog parks.

Provocation successful.

I go to lots of different dog parks and off leash beaches. I must have to count my blessings several times over that there's only one local dog park I don't go to much because of the other dogs. It helps to have friendly, well socialised dogs myself. There is nothing like watching dogs interact more or less freely for learning about dog behaviour. I think it's just about as useful for owners as it is for dogs. I'm always pointing out signals to OH and quizzing him on what it means. He's pretty good! :D Someone ought to break up that huge indoor dog meet into small groups and have knowledgeable people give a running commentary to the owners about what is being communicated. I reckon dog parks would be better for everyone if people were made aware of common signals their dogs might display and things they should be watching for. I went to a playgroup like that once and it was good having someone pointing out a lot of the subtleties that were going on. It teaches people when and how to intervene. If the waggy little dog was mine, I would have called it away when the other dog was first showing signs of discomfort, but situations can change rapidly and sometimes it's not the best thing to do IMO. A fast retreat can trigger the other dog to chase and nip. Sometimes it's better to gently turn one dog away and then get between them so you're blocking the other dog's view while your dog retreats. It takes the pressure off more gradually and with less visual stimulation, I think. Not so easy to pull off in a timely fashion when you're not the closest human, though.

[Fit for a King]

corvus - the problem with your plan is that there are so many numbnuts that don't give a toss what signals are being given and wouldn't listen to anything anyone has to say - they are too busy on their phones, discussing what happened on the latest reality show, chatting up a prospective bonk for the evening or staring off into the distance....that's if they are still even in the park and haven't gone to sit in the car while Fido has a run...I don't do the dog park thing as I have seen time and time again idiots letting their dogs run riot and not giving two hoots what happens unless their dogs are the victims of the ensuing all in brawl.....

Edited October 5, 2011 by Fit for a King

[aussielover]

Corvus, it is not that people don't necessarily know when to intervene or can't read dog body language well (although this is sometimes the case). It is the fact that many of them can't be bothered to or don't see the need.

All many people can think about is that their dogs is "friendly" (in their opinion) and therefore all other dogs should also be friendly.

[Bartok]

My 33kg 8mth old is a pain at the off leash park as he is overly sociable and

thinks all dogs are his friends, but I follow him around the park while he

does his thing and I let him enjoy himself. If i think he is to heavy handed with a

smaller dog i remove him and try to re-direct him to someone who is happy to wrestle

with him and who he isnt going to squish.

[corvus]

corvus - the problem with your plan is that there are so many numbnuts that don't give a toss what signals are being given and wouldn't listen to anything anyone has to say - they are too busy on their phones, discussing what happened on the latest reality show, chatting up a prospective bonk for the evening or staring off into the distance....that's if they are still even in the park and haven't gone to sit in the car while Fido has a run...I don't do the dog park thing as I have seen time and time again idiots letting their dogs run riot and not giving two hoots what happens unless their dogs are the victims of the ensuing all in brawl.....

Hasn't been my experience. I've had dog owners at our local park telling me with troubled frowns what they think leads to problems and trying to reason out a way to handle it. Mostly they react, though, which is why some owners really struggle with their dogs. The dogs get overexcited and suddenly good wholesome play turns nasty and a blue occurs. The dogs involved get told off and put back on leash and taken away, but if the owners had seen it coming they could have intervened before it got nasty. Some of them have a vague sense of this and will try, but don't have the foundation training in place for it to work. Others just have no idea there are precursors to what happened. If something is going down with my dogs, I step in fast and explain to the owner why I did step in. They will give me puzzled looks, but sometimes they look harder at their own dogs, and start trying to control the behaviour that caused the problem, and sometimes they tell me why they think their dog is doing it.

There are always going to be some people that haven't the faintest idea that their dogs have feelings that are different to theirs, and no interest in learning about how to tell what their dog is feeling or how to be considerate dog park users, but why focus on those when there are people out there who do care and just haven't been taught? And there are more of them than people on this forum think. Everyone is too busy writing off the average Joe as a failure of a dog owner or yelling at them for being ignorant to actually talk to them and find out how they feel about their dogs. I am not kidding when I say I have had complete strangers ask me why I think their dog doesn't like huskies, or why their dog plays well one minute and then snaps a moment later. There are a lot of dog owners out there who do care, but just don't know how to find out more and don't have the motivation to look very hard. That doesn't mean they wouldn't listen if the information was easy to get hold of.