My dog has somewhat dominant behavior when playing with other dogs. I take him to a dog park on the weekends. When I first took him he was not as aggressive. He seems to be getting worse. If a younger dogs comes in he immediately grabs at the dog and trys to establish his dominance. This sometimes gets the other dogs excited. He sometimes grabs onto their necks and holds a little bit too long. He is not biting to hurt, but it is aggressive and does frighten the other owners. This does not happen with bigger dogs or dogs that put him in his place. Many times he just plays with the regular dogs who establish themselves with him. He is also taking to growling and snapping when their is water around that all the dogs drink from. He has never done this before! and does not do it at home. We have another dog at home and we have never seen this behavior. I put a pinch color on him in the dog park and when he showed this aggressive behavior I have snapped him, and said no. But I am not sure if this is going to work. Any suggestions? I want to be able to take him to the dog park.

Denise, use the search forum in the upper right of this page type in dog park and read the MANY, MANY reasons that dog parks are an accident waiting to happen.

Denise-you are on the right track with your dog. He is not allowed to decide who he likes and doesn't-thats your job. However I agree with Bob 100%.........I've never taken a dog of mine to a "dogpark" and never will. I won't start to list all the potential negatives and risks of doing so and in your current case one of them could be a nice lawsuit for $15,000 in pain and emotional stress should your dog eat a little lap dog. Try going to state parks or other areas to get your dog out in nature to spend time with you. You want your dog to build his life around you..not other dog friends. He should find his, love, comfort, fun, etc etc all with you. Derek

In addition to what others have said...

You are creating a dog aggressive dog if it isn't already. You did not specify the dogs age, but keep in mind it will take 3-5 times as long to correct a situation as it has to create it. So if your dog is over 2 years I would give it up.

Also in this situation you are likely to see this whole thing fall in to a huge fight or pack attack if one of the dogs he grabs exhibits fear. Pack mentality can form quickly and them attack what is considered a weak member.

If you want to have your dog play with other dogs make friends with other people that have dogs and allow them to play away from the dog park.

thanks for all for your input. I will probably just stay away from the park with him. Isn't socializing the dog important? Do you suggest no other dog contact at all?

Denise, socializing a dog is many things to many people.
Example: My ldo Border Terrier would love to play with every dog in the world, yet, she's never figured out that many don't want to play with her. My JRT will tolerate the pressence of other dogs....till they get in his face. My GSD MUST ignore other dogs because in SAR, he is often worked off lead with other dogs on the team and we also run across free roaming dogs frequiently. No matter how social your dog is, you have no control over the "other" dog. Social to me, doesnt mean my dogs have to want to meet and greet other dogs. It just means they don't get upset,excited, wanna play with strange dogs. Does that make sense?