Ok, so we have had our new guy Captain for just over a week now. He is a delightful sweet dog. At 12 months, he looks like an adult but is really just a very big puppy mentally and emotionally. He's very physically robust - solidly built and fast. He loves to play, especially with other dogs.
For the past week, he has been going to the dog park daily, sometimes twice a day. In all that time, he has played well with other dogs - running, chasing, being chased, play bowing, jumping etc. He has had a lot of fun and apparently so did the dogs he played with. Any dogs who reacted negatively to his play overatures, he simply wandered away and found someone else to play with. Sounds like perfect dog play behavior to me...
Anyway, last night we were at the dog park just before sundown. Captain was roaming and occasionally playing with various dogs. Suddenly out of nowhere (apparently I was paying attention to my own dog and not keeping an eye out for new arrivals) two matching pit bull terriers descended on him. These dogs apparently have a rough and tumble style of play that involves wrestling and play fighting rather than just chasing and posturing - in short, they make a contact sport of it. They surrounded Captain and came at him from both directions simultaneously - snarling, growling and pouncing (not near him, ON him).
My wife and I called for the owner to call in her dogs, she yelled "they're just playing!" but I don't know this owner, or her dogs, and Captain doesn't know them and that they're "just playing". Especially with being double teamed, I felt the situation had the potential to rapidly escalate into REAL fighting if, out of fear, Captain felt like he needed to defend himself. Captiain acted confused and was trying to back away from the one in front of him, who continued to press in, and was being hit from behind by the other one. We yelled again for the owner to call in her dogs, she yelled back "they're just playing, if you don't like it you can LEAVE!" We were pretty angry, but I felt the best thing to do under the circumstances was to take our dogs and leave... too much to be lost, too little to be gained by staying. We did not get her name, which I regret now. We simply took our dogs out of the park and went home.
So, questions - is this a common problem? Did we do the right thing? What can we do in the future? We do not want our dog to become dog-aggressive or fearful of other dogs - but did we over-react?
Any suggestions appreciated.
For the past week, he has been going to the dog park daily, sometimes twice a day. In all that time, he has played well with other dogs - running, chasing, being chased, play bowing, jumping etc. He has had a lot of fun and apparently so did the dogs he played with. Any dogs who reacted negatively to his play overatures, he simply wandered away and found someone else to play with. Sounds like perfect dog play behavior to me...
Anyway, last night we were at the dog park just before sundown. Captain was roaming and occasionally playing with various dogs. Suddenly out of nowhere (apparently I was paying attention to my own dog and not keeping an eye out for new arrivals) two matching pit bull terriers descended on him. These dogs apparently have a rough and tumble style of play that involves wrestling and play fighting rather than just chasing and posturing - in short, they make a contact sport of it. They surrounded Captain and came at him from both directions simultaneously - snarling, growling and pouncing (not near him, ON him).
My wife and I called for the owner to call in her dogs, she yelled "they're just playing!" but I don't know this owner, or her dogs, and Captain doesn't know them and that they're "just playing". Especially with being double teamed, I felt the situation had the potential to rapidly escalate into REAL fighting if, out of fear, Captain felt like he needed to defend himself. Captiain acted confused and was trying to back away from the one in front of him, who continued to press in, and was being hit from behind by the other one. We yelled again for the owner to call in her dogs, she yelled back "they're just playing, if you don't like it you can LEAVE!" We were pretty angry, but I felt the best thing to do under the circumstances was to take our dogs and leave... too much to be lost, too little to be gained by staying. We did not get her name, which I regret now. We simply took our dogs out of the park and went home.
So, questions - is this a common problem? Did we do the right thing? What can we do in the future? We do not want our dog to become dog-aggressive or fearful of other dogs - but did we over-react?
Any suggestions appreciated.
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