Hello, I have a 6 month old female German Shepherd named Zelda. She is a calm submissive dog, has never shown any signs of attempting to challenge my dominance, I believe this is because I have established the pack order at home, with me on top, next the cat, then her. I have crate trained her since I’ve had her and she took to it well, and have done some basic obedience and behavioral training, and have established that all food is my food by making her wait and eat on command on a schedule. She is well behaved, and I don’t intend on possibly spaying her until she is an adult.

My problem is at the dog park. I go their once a week because a girl I am seeing and I are currently having play dates for our puppies (she has a calm but playful 5month old shepherd/malamute or lab mix, our dogs get along fine and play) but I do not personally like dog parks for the fact that I believe many dog owners do not know how to control their dogs and be the leader. Frankly, I think many people are stupid and can’t control their dogs, but fortunately like I said she is a submissive dog. I have seen dogs fight for dominance at the park but my puppy has never been involved since she does not challenge for dominance. Most of the time she plays with the girl’s puppy, and other dogs if he is doing so as well, or stands near me. And I make sure if she is scared and comes to me, I get between her and the other dog and make sure the other dog is doing something normal and that I approve of (such as simply saying hi and wanting to meet her), otherwise I push the dogs away and protect her from them. Only twice has an aggressive dog come to her acting as such, and both times I got between them protecting her and letting the aggressive dog know he has to go trough me first to get to her. I write this to simply explain how I treat my dog and how she normally behaves.

So she is not aggressive at all, except when it comes to tennis balls. We will play fetch, I throw the ball, she goes get it and brings it back usually dropping it somewhere near me, I get it and throw again to continue the game (I’m working on getting her to drop it closer to me). If she does not drop it she allows me or another human, such as this girl, to grab the ball from her mouth and she will freely let it go without trying to hold on to it or bite. But when another dog shows up she nips at them and tries to bite them. I assume this is the guarding behavior of the Shepherd. She will allow me, or any other human to freely take the ball, but when another dog comes near she goes into a guard state of mind and protects the ball. Since I control her toys I believe she understands I or another human near me can take the ball. But when another dog comes near the ball she will guard it aggressively. But there is one time this did not happen: the girl took two tennis balls and our puppies next to each other held them both out, I noticed Zelda turned to her dog and I believe she was going to bite, but noticed it was her friend and to my surprise did not bite him. So with this I assume her aggression is with strange dogs. She allows me, other humans, and her 1 puppy friend to get near the ball, but whenever any other dog even gets near her while it is on the ground close to her she will guard it with biting. I verbally correct her with her familiar correcting sound, and a physical hard yank on her collar or scruff. I do have a prong collar to make any corrections if I have to, but I’m not sure if I want to keep it on while playing. But I still need to make sure the coast is clear for us to play fetch before I even take the ball out of my pocket, to attempt to avoid the situation. I do not want to have to avoid playing fetch near other dogs, and yet I do not want to force her to completely lose her guarding behavior, except for the ball, since I may choose to train her for a sport (most likely tracking) when she is an adult.
I am unsure of what to do about this situation, I wish to teach her to let strange dogs come near the ball without her getting aggressive but do not know how to start doing this, since the only dog I can use to purposely come near the ball is the single dog she is friendly with (or at least tolerant with near the ball). I write Tennis ball but do intend to switch to rubber balls asap to prevent any tooth damage.

And I know this is all kind of long, sorry about that. First time posting so I want to try to cover as much back round as I can.

Welcome to the forum!!

You don't like dog parks and seem to have a clear grasp as to why they can be such a negative environment, but take your dog there because your girlfriend takes her dog there? It is at the dog park that your dog displays this unwanted behavior?

Forgive my bluntness - but stop taking your dog to the dog park. Now. Your dog is telling you she is not comfortable there and you are telling us that you are not comfortable there so WHY are we going there, except for play dates with your girlfrind's dog?

Can you not have the two dogs who supposedly get along fine with each other, simply play together at one of your homes?

The fact that you have been able to avoid a horrible fight to this point does not mean you will be able to do so in the future, so WHY subject yourself and YOUR dog to this on a regular basis?

Your dog is not secure in a dog park and does not seem comfortable there, and she is being subjected to potential harm... If your girlfriend can not understand this, perhaps another girlfriend is in order? Again, please forgive my bluntness.

I do not take any offense to bluntness, so don't worry
But basically, yes she is the main reason why I go, the second reason is because I can't think of another place to expose her to other dogs since she is the only dog at home and isn't aloud to bother the cat.

And it is true, I am not comfortable there, but Zelda for the most part seems neutral about it, she will play with the girlfriend's pup if she wants of just sit near me watching everything. I always keep an eye on her and only on a few occasions have I had to intervene another dog bothering her.

As for showing this behavior only at the dog park, I do not know, since she is the only dog at home I have not been able to see if she still guards it. And she doesn't seem to mind the girlfriend's dog since when he comes by most of the time she leaves the ball and goes off playing with him.

Unfortunately the girlfriend has a heavy weekday schedule and we can only see each other during the day on weekends, or late nights during the week. And the dog park was her idea since her dog is very social and loves to play and meet new dogs. I can run that idea by her but I still do not see a way to expose her to different dogs other than the park.

Dogs don't need other dogs. It is a common misconception since they are "pack" animals, but you and your cat and your girlfriend (at home) can be her pack. Imagine a pack of wolves out wandering around... are they THRILLED when they see other packs of wolves? (Hint: NOPE. They want to kill the other packs. )

Your dog simply does NOT need to be subjected to the stress and CORRECTIONS for guarding HER ball from STRANGERS.

One of my dogs would LOVE a dog park. The other - HATE IT. WE DON'T GO. Never have, never will. As you said - TOO many idiots who can not control their dogs or others who mean well but are there for the WRONG REASON.

If you have not read about/implemented MARKER TRAINING - I strongly suggest doing so. GREAT way to bond with your dog vs trying to get your dog to bond with strange dogs.

More than two dogs is a PACK. Neither you or I can control an unknown pack at a dog park. There are those rare folks who can - but you and I are not among them. WHY waste the time preventing an unwanted / unknown attack/circumstance vs WORKING / TRAINING on gaining the WANTED behaviors in the safety of your own home and yard. It is a no brainer for me and I sincerely appreciate you not being offended by my bluntness.

Now trust me on this and implement it.

Really. Trust me.

You have toys or balls at a dog park, you are correcting your puppy for guarding HER ball from strange dogs, you want your puppy to have to submit to strange dogs .....

I'm aghast. You need to STOP doing all these things. You're setting your pup up for a disaster. You have been VERY lucky that you haven't already experienced it.

Barbara has covered it well; the reason I'm posting is to say a gigantic ditto and to URGE that you follow her suggestions immediately.

You are going to get responses of 100% agreement with Barbara -- some people will be afraid to post for fear of chasing you away with their reaction of shock, and your puppy needs you to be here, reading and heeding.

You came to the right place.

" I do not personally like dog parks for the fact that I believe many dog owners do not know how to control their dogs and be the leader. "

You are 100% correct. STOP GOING.



"Your dog simply does NOT need to be subjected to the stress and CORRECTIONS for guarding HER ball from STRANGERS."

Or from even being placed in such a situation.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

some people will be afraid to post for fear of chasing you away with their reaction of shock, and your puppy needs you to be here, reading and heeding.

You came to the right place.

Yes.

Why not join a puppy obedience class? Some of them are glorified play dates, but some are actually beneficial. They help the pups learn self control and how to focus on you.

Another great way to socialize her is to take her on walks in the city. Every time she sees a dog you can give her a treat to help her associate seeing other dogs with good things that make her happy. This will also help teach her self control and to pay attention to you.

You and your girlfriend can also take walks with the dogs TOGETHER while rewarding appropriate behavior and reinforcing good things for your two dogs. It will help teach self control and how to pay attention to the handler. See the pattern here?

All of the things I've suggested are great ways to give her physical and mental exercise and to help you bond with her while teaching her positive life lessons. You can also involve your girlfriend and make it a fun way to bond with her AND your dog at the same time. Working together on a goal is a great way for people to grow closer.

It sounds like you are having a great relationship with your dog. Don't let the dog park mess it up.
I'd take the girl to a different place, like a beach, or a fenced tennis court, and let the dogs play together and wear each other out. Or go for a long hike together, someplace where you can let the dogs off leash, have a picnic.
As far a sharing goes, I don't think most dogs share well. I think it's a human concept.
There is "mine" and "I'll yield to a higher authority", but I don't think they really understand "share".

Ya know John, I get the impression you read quite a bit here before you posted. You put a pretty good effort into trying to short circuit any of the criticism you were expecting to get, Lol.

Maybe I have a different idea of what control is because its not compatible in any way with dog parks. Screaming no, or stepping in between as a protector, its not doing what you think. She's already perceived a threat or challenge before you knew what was going on, no matter how close you were paying attention. I think the ball or any other toy is something that you use to create a bond with your dog and develop the trust you need in your relationship whether its for formal obedience or just being your companion.

What your doing, even if only with your girlfriends dog, and worse, a whole park full of dogs, is creating a competition for that toy and breaking that trust. Stay out of the dog park and be happy with a dog thats already neutral to other dogs and leaves your cat alone. You're on your way to messing all that up.