What To Do When Your Dog Is Scared At The Park?

[huski]

I would have done the opposite to everyone here, it seems. I'm no expert, but I'm a small dog owner, and I also live in the city and frequent off leash parks. I call my park 'the dog park' but it's actually a sports oval that is off leash, with a bunch of really friendly dogs whose owners I now know and trust.

This is what I would have done, and continue to do - If the other dog has friendly type body language, and isn't acting in an aggressive way (eg they are just bigger and intimidating to a smaller dog just because of their size) I would just stand there and not react to the other dog, and talk to my dog to reassure her. Let her be sniffed and eventually do her own bit of sniffing, etc. If she sits there scared for a second, that's ok in my opinion - I don't want to teach that any dog coming up to us is cause for concern.

When I got her, she was terrified of everything and unsocialised with everything other than Toy Poodles, so the park was a nightmare for her. She's now great - she's still more timid around huge dogs and will just crouch down if even her "friends" at the park all rush over to her at once, but then will jump up and run around with them etc.

I agree that it's very important to remain calm in any situation, regardless of whether the other dog is being friendly or actually giving you cause for concern with their behaviour.

For better or worse, we don't live in a vacuum, and I want my dog to be able to learn to interact with other dogs at the park. I don't want to leave every time another dog comes near us - I want Maggie to know that I've got her back, and if she really is in any danger, by all means I'll pick her up and kick and scream and do whatever it takes to get the other dog off her. I've broken up dogs fights before, thankfully never with my dog, but wouldn't hesitate to stick a steel capped boot into anything that was actually going to hurt her. Hell hath no fury, etc..

I'm sure I'll get jumped on for being irresponsible and endangering her and .. whatever else. But look, I do all in my power to make sure that she is as safe as possible while being able to run around and socialise with other dogs. I am very alert to other dogs' behaviour and have been making a concerted effort to learn more about this. Part of the joy of dog ownership to me is interacting with other dogs and owners at the park; I love it, and Maggie loves it too. That's just been my approach to dealing with it, and so far it has worked out very well.

Initially my reasoning was not rewarding her fear, and I'm not sure whether that holds given that fear is an unconscious thing. Now, my idea is that instead of not rewarding I'm consciously ignoring her fear.

IMO you're lucky it worked with your dog as with others it wouldn't have. Regardless of whether the dog creating the fearful response was being aggressive or just overly aroused and rude some puppies could be damaged irreparably from a negative experience like that. It doesn't matter if their fear is unfounded - they still felt scared and learnt from that experience. If you have a dog who already has a negative association with a specific trigger or situation it's going to be easy to reinforce that negativity by putting them in a position where they will be scared.

[Weasels]

Weasels said:

But isn't changing an emotional response the core concept of counter-conditioning training? Or am I missing something? (quite possible, long day )

Does counter-conditioning change the emotional response or simply the behaviour the animal displays eg. fearful dog looks to owner rather than crying or trying to escape... or responding aggressively??? I'm not an expert but I'd say its expanding the dog's experiences (via controlled socialisaton) that changes the emotional response to situations???

That's certainly the idea - to change the emotional response - whether it works out in practice probably depends on the dog & the handler. I'm definitely no expert either, but it's a process I'm going through with one of my dogs to help him overcome his fear of bikes. Essentially changing his reaction from bike=freakout to bike="oooh a bunch of treats are about to come my way! I love it when bikes appear!" I think if you can read your dog well enough you can tell the difference between a trained look away from stimulus and a relaxed "yeah I see it, but I don't really care" look away.

But counterconditioning with other dogs would involve overcoming a complicated combination of instinctive & learned reactions, so it would be a longer process I'd imagine.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Weasels

[Bear&Duke]

Thanks everyone for your responses, it's much appreciated! It sounds like there are a few options out there which I will definitely take in to consideration if this ever happens again, but hopefully it doesn't :)

Duke is normally pretty good with other dogs, he always greets them in what I see as a submissive stance, crawling close to the ground, never straight at them always comes from the side, sniffing bums and very quiet. But he really enjoys meeting other dogs and once he has the initial meeting out of the way he will happily run around and play with them. I have been working hard to get him out and about and experience as many situations as possible so he is a confident and polite little dog, so I'll chalk this one up to another experience

Thanks heaps for the input!

[Pretty Miss Emma]

When this happens to me and my dog I generally turn the other direction when I see the dog approaching and we just head off with me telling Kenz how wonderful she is and keeping her attention and giving her heaps and heaps of treats. She actually copes much better with dogs off lead runnig towards her than any dog she doesn't know on lead anywhere near her. At the same time I really don't want her on lead around an off lead dog that I don't know and don't know how it is going to act. So just walk out of the situation clamly and confidently. I have had several dogs follow us, but I figure that's their owners problem if they are going to let a dog with no recall off lead in and on lead area - once they get a bit away from their owner they frequently try to figure out where they are and head back to them. If you can get out of the situation I don't see the point in having undue stress on your dog!

[Erny]

This is NOT professional advice but, provided I am confident the 'other' dog is friendly, I would allow my own dog to the end of his lead (assuming standard 1 metre length), ignore my own dog and in a non-confrontational manner, keep the other dog's collar merely so the other dog can't go trampsing at my own dog. Stroking the other dog calmly. This would give my own dog a chance to (a) observe the other dog without that dog overwhelming him/her and (b) observe me being ok with the other dog. Wait until the owner of the other dog comes over and takes their dog away.

But yes .... if I am in any doubt about other dogs' intent, I will do things such as picking up my dog and taking him out of the park; putting my dog behind me and physically restraining him there whilst I endeavour to discourage the other dog's approach.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

My dog is generally fine with friendly dogs approaching, she goes into a crawl and lets them sniff and then invites them for play (sometimes)

Weims can be very rude, they tend to approach direct and fast. But they can also be put off, by standing tall, between your dog and them, and yelling fiercely. If the owner lets their dog approach a dog they don't know like this, the owner is clueless too, so you cannot expect any help there.

If you're sure about friendly and don't mind rewarding (encouraging) rude behaviour, you can chuck a large handful of treats in the approaching dog's face and pick up your dog and leave before the other dog is done finding the treats.

If you're sure about unfriendly and treats and yelling don't work, then you have to decide whether the approaching dog will attack a human (you) and whether you're prepared to let that happen to defend your dog. And then things get really nasty. The more noise you can make to attract help and attention the better.

I've been lucky, only one dog and it was a whippet x (small) ignored the angry human (me), but I was big enough to get it off my dog. Other dog fights - where my dog is not involved, I've not been able to do much except stop my dog from cheerleading.

[nawnim]

When this happens to me and my dog I generally turn the other direction when I see the dog approaching and we just head off with me telling Kenz how wonderful she is and keeping her attention and giving her heaps and heaps of treats. She actually copes much better with dogs off lead runnig towards her than any dog she doesn't know on lead anywhere near her. At the same time I really don't want her on lead around an off lead dog that I don't know and don't know how it is going to act. So just walk out of the situation clamly and confidently. I have had several dogs follow us, but I figure that's their owners problem if they are going to let a dog with no recall off lead in and on lead area - once they get a bit away from their owner they frequently try to figure out where they are and head back to them. If you can get out of the situation I don't see the point in having undue stress on your dog!

Totally agree with this post. Don't stress your dog.

[Dame Aussie]

I know what I'd have done.

Picked up my pup and told the Weim's owner to come and get their effing dog NOW. :)

Yep!

[mumof4girls]

This hasn't happened to us yet ( we don't go to dog parks but we are starting to go to normal parks with the kids) I'm more worried about me than Rogue as I start to shake if a dog comes near me off lead ( attacked as a child) .I just hope I can pull myself together and protect us both.... Great reading what others do though :-)

[Maxiewolf]

It really bugs me that I don't let my dobermann run up to other people or their dogs cos he is an uncoordinated clutz who has no idea what goes on below his chin... I dont let my dog off where its says dogs must be on lead.... I would like to say I would have told the people with the Weim... "he is NOT being friendly, he is pleasing him self and Ignoring YOU - So YOU come get him!" I usually hold Brutus tight, and change direction and I dont indulge either dogs wants. One, don't want to reward Brutus for tugging and fussing to get to the other dog, and I don't want to reward the other dog for running off like a loon and ignoring a recall (since the owners obviously dont think this way.)

When I had dogs that where less trample proof like my dachies, Id always stand between and give the agressive Get away shout at a bounding dog, regardless of how "friendly" they are, and though Dachies aren't trample proof they usually hated their space being invaded by anything other than... more dachshunds.

I hope Dukes okay, and that he recovers emotionally.. don't worry too much about your reactions this time, cant undo it... Just have to make plans for the next time which hopefully wont happen! :)

[GregW]

sadly, when out in public other dog owners will not have the common sense that a responsible dog owner has in a off lead or on lead environment.

My simple bit of advice is that if you are particularly fond of this park, go really early in the morning, I find the calmness and freshness of the morning great time to be just you and your dogs because more often the anti socials are still snoring away in their beds :D

[Polgara's Shadow]

I have a gregarious 2.5yo SBT who adores other dogs. However on the rare occasion he does come across a dog he doesn’t like much and he will run to me for help. He rarely does this so when he does I take it seriously step in to help. I always want him to look to me to solve the issue for him rather than him feeling he’s got to manage it himself. Being an SBT I’m hyper-aware that people can be scared of them and that he’s a powerful dog.

When he runs to me, I pop him on lead, holding him behind me and use my body to block the other dog from getting to him. That way I can control both of them. If I need to I’ll grab the other dog’s collar so the owner can come over and get them.

I’ve never been in a situation where I felt the other dog would attack me. I think its important that your dog has confidence in you to take care of it.

[Simply Grand]

Erny, I'm reassured to hear your response, that's exactly what I would do, and have done in similar situations. I'd also be more than happy for someone else to hold on to one of my dogs until I got there to take over and I've found it to be a good way of keeping everyone calm.

ETA - as you also say Polgara :)

Edited May 9, 2012 by Saxonpup

[Erny]

Thanks, Saxonpup.

I do my best to not yell or growl or act fierce towards other dogs in the presence of another that is afraid of other dogs. I want the dog I'm handling to observe me and 'take a leaf' so to speak. BUT, if I think the approaching dog is an aggressor, I'll do what it takes to block it from reaching the dog I'm handling and if growling/yelling is what it would take, then I guess I'd go down that track.

[MishB]

Its a pet hate of mine when you are walking your own dog on lead and ppl 'allow' their off lead dog to approach me & my dog.

He is a GSD & friendly off lead but is very boisterious so a lot of dogs get overwhelmed by him, so I keep him on lead when at a park. But then he gets quite narky with dogs that come up while he is on lead, so then ppl say things like hes aggressive, I cant win

[DerRottweiler]

I know what I'd have done.

Picked up my pup and told the Weim's owner to come and get their effing dog NOW. :)

Or you could have a bit of class and behave in a polite manner.

Some people don't know any better, being nice and a bit of education goes a long way.