I have a big, scary American bulldog named Rose:
http://i43.tinypic.com/n4b2qc.jpg

Okay, that's the least "scary" picture of her ever! But that's exemplary of her general temperament.

I have taken her to the dog park her whole life (she's 4) without incident, but recently stopped since I was told that bully breeds aren't safe dog park candidates, lest a scuffle occur. She never even growled at other dogs when they bit at her during her retrieve (which was commonplace), but bulldogs (that aren't English) have a bad enough reputation so I took the advice.

So since then, I've been doing play dates with a buddy's boxer. He has a lake on his property and I get to have her dock-dive in addition to retrieve. It has all worked out great until a few weeks ago. Rose was swimming out for the ball; his boxer won't go out deep enough to not be able to walk. He often "stalks" her and tries to steal the ball when she nears shore. During her retrieve (I suppose to redirect his boxer), my friend started "slap-fighting" with his dog (neutered male). Rose was swimming the ball back, then saw the his dog biting and growling at him and acted by FAR the most aggressively I've ever seen! She dropped her cherished ball and and took off like a bullet toward his dog. I was between them and able to stick out my leg -which she crashed into -and grabbed her collar. Until vocal corrections and them cutting out the wrestling, she WANTED at that dog! I walked her for a while and she calmed, so when I saw the moment had passed, let the dogs greet again, let her off-lead and we finished our day.

We've played several times since, but he's called my dog "psycho" and said "that's why I like labs and boxers. Those guard breeds can get sketchy." I don't see AB's as a "guard dog breed," but at any rate, do I fault a dog for getting overly excited at seeing a dog and a human wrestle? It's something I don't do with my dogs. If I started smacking at Rose, she'd shrink away, not grab my sleeve and growl. It's not in her universe of how dogs and people possibly interact, not that I expect everyone to train their dog the way I do.

At the end of it all, we still have twice weekly play dates. Everything is fine. But he has made comments about my dog being unstable over and over. It irritates the crap out of me. My dog will down/stay while I throw the ball and wait twenty minutes for the fetch command, his will knock over babies and fine china if an object is thrown. But I have no doubt that if he and his dog started wrestling hard, she'd try to "intervene" again. Is this something I should duplicate and give corrections for? I didn't expect to consider contemplating how my dog deals with dogs wrestling with humans. On one hand her reaction feels like a good instinct, and I don't want to stifle that. On the other, I feel like I should have control at all times over her strongest urges -such as fight or flight. What's reasonable? Thanks in advance.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (04/13/2009 08:43 PM)
Edit reason: change large pic to URL

I'd work on the obedience a bit more, introducing distractions like barking dogs, playing dogs, maybe growling etc.

Make sure you have a STOP command that is as good as it can get.

Thanks. I suppose you can never have enough obedience. She's a gem around distractions, though. She'll retrieve or "bite and out" on command with dogs being nuts all around her, and ignored dog fights at the park when she was "working." I almost feel like I need to relive this very situation to get the same reaction out of her to even address it. To put it in car terms, she's usually at 15 MPH, and gets up to 70 MPH when working, but this was Formula One intensity. I hope that makes sense.

I would perhaps build it up slowly, rather than using the 'play fighting' maybe see if he can get the dog to bark, or play tug etc. Then move up to the big league.

I understand what you mean about the drive level. For a number of reasons it obviously pushed her buttons.

Interesting idea! We do play tug around/with each other (us and dogs), and that goes well in spite of the doggie noise. One thing about Rose is that she will work until she literally drops. The buttons that were pushed were/are something I've never seen -I don't know if she was "protecting" or something clicked into action the so called dog-aggressive gene I was warned about. Which is why I took her from dog parks to begin with... though she had never given a signal (that I could see) to rethink taking her there.

 Quote: chip bridges

dog fights at the park

 Quote: chip bridges

though she had never given a signal (that I could see) to rethink taking her there.

Umm...????? the dog fights that you have witnessed SHOULD be more than enough to make you (or any sane person) rethink taking ANY dog there. It could be your dog next, her "signal" or not.

All it takes is a split second for some dominant dog to decide that her ball is really theirs. See what happens.

And, no, I definitely don't think your dog is unstable.

Are you opposed to dog parks in general? The local one has no oversight except for the other dog owners. Going every day weather allowed for years, I saw my share of fights break out. Most were trivial, and just involved snapping and noise, but more than a few times dogs left with punctures or lacerations, and once a woman's hand was bitten hard breaking a fight up.

The reason I felt comfortable with Rose was that she was so uninterested in the other dogs. All that mattered in the world was the ball or dummy, and I loved working through distractions. If other dog behavior got too rude (trying to steal, pestering during retrieve), we'd just leave. But I did see the potential for serious problems. BTW, I love your signature!

 Quote: Chip Bridges

Are you opposed to dog parks in general?

I sure am.

 Quote: Chip Bridges

Are you opposed to dog parks in general? !

Yes I don't support dog parks at all. I believe many people on this forum don't support dog parks either. Maybe very few will support.

Chip,

Dog parks are accidents waiting to happen. You have no idea how irresponsible another owner is. It is like going to a pot luck dinner with some really awful chefs.

If you value the welfare of your dog, don't want to put it into harm's way, and want to optimize the potential for good experiences with your dog - avoid dog parks.

The dog park socialization thing is at best a risky proposition.

But other than that, I think a dog park is a wonderful place to meet some truly out-of-it, in the ozone owners.

Just a casual observation.