My collie is dog aggressive when I take it to our dog park. I also don't believe in correcting our dog. What can I do to correct this dog aggression?

I have visited your website to gain some insight about the collie we just adopted last September. She was described to us as an alpha female needing to be placed as the only dog in a household (which she is). For add'l exercise and as something to do, I have been taking her to a dog park each weekend except for the last couple months because of the extreme cold weather. In general and at the park, Kali barks quite a bit, even for a collie (she is 6 years old and was an owner give up for barking - I have no history on her background, but from what I have seen, she learned a few commands - leave it and go - but she didn't seem like she went out of the yard much because little things like goose planters and Halloween hay guys in a chair freaked her out when she first saw them with us). Anyway, at the park Kali barks A LOT!! She is seemingly bothered by the jumping the dogs do with eachother at the dog park and gets right into their faces and barks about it. She does run when other dogs are playing fetch, but not because she is interested in fetching, but because, at least what it looks like to me, that they are not orderly (she seems big on that - breed tendency I believe). Basically, whenever two dogs or more dogs are interacting, she is there in their faces barking at them. Over the last few months, she has also shown some aggressive tendencies with the dogs who will cower - she just won't leave them alone and will start snarling until someone separates them - but, at the same time, she has shown herself to back off when another dog won't take her attitude - she simply moves on. I could go into more details as I have been watching her closely at the dog park over the months - what ticks her off, what doesn't, when does she bark, when she doesn't, and I really think that she was getting much better until yesterday when we went to the dog park and she immediately started getting into everyone's face with the barking which soon after had her and a Golden Retriever got into a pretty big fight. Mind you, it was the closest I had seen to a fight - could have been a very heated escalation of two dogs not taking what the other one was dishing out, and neither dog had broken skin). But, despite that the dogs fighting are two breeds that are known for their gentle dispositions, what happened was that Kali did not back down from this dog who was not taking her crap and they fought.

Now, I know your position on dog parks, and I'm hoping you can help beyond the advise of not taking her there anymore because we walk Kali three times a day for exercise, so our issue with her and other dogs is larger. She simply goes nuts when on leash when she sees another dog. I have been working with her to put her in a sit-stay until she no longer barks or makes a noise, then she can get up to continue the walk until she barks at that dog again (which you know she does since it is still in the area), and we got back into a sit-stay, etc. until she stops freaking out over the sight of this other dog. Of course, she came to us like this and getting her into the sit-stay and not barking, but to the point of whining is a huge improvement, but the underlying problem remains - there is something about other dogs that sets her off.

It could be that she was in a fight, but we can only guess at that since she was an owner give-up and I have no information on her background. I can only speak to the time that I have had her (which is nearly six months), and I can't figure out what to do about her -- is more frequent contact with other dogs better than less frequent? Would getting another dog help her? Is there a way to train her out of this? Do I simply keep her on a leash at the park until she gets that she cannot snarl and fight with other dogs?

She is a smart dog who tried to alpha us in the first few days that we had her, but she does not any longer and we all do the little (out the door first, eat first, put her in a sit before leashing, etc.) and the big things (modified alpha roll, etc.) to put her in her place. She does seem to like knowing her place better than not knowing, and accepts it all very well - afterall, she is a collie and I do not think the breed tendencies should be discounted when speaking of her intelligence, ability to learn (which, by the way, is faster with positive reward training than the negative punishment), etc. But, what is with this other dog thing?? What do you think?

I did read Q&A section after I sent my email. Let's say that I stop taking her to the dog park (which has always been an option, and I am not looking for a magic bullet) - What about her behavior on leash during walks - how do you explain her behavior at the dog park? Seems to me that is the root problem - not whether I should be taking her there or not.

Your advocacy of the prong collar will not work with a collie, and given that the punishment method of training is not as effective for my collie in particular, the prong collar does not present itself as an option. I was already a believer in the turn your dog on-off on command/human in control of the pack way of relating to my dog before finding your website, but you seem to take it one step further, and it is that step I do not want to take with my collie.

Is your training philosophy all about correcting your dog into submission, or can you use that way of thinking and apply to the particular situation? I know I have damaged goods with my dog, but I do believe she can be fixed - but I do not have the experience of people emailing me with questions or working with dogs for a living.