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Best way to introduce dog at dog park?


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I'm feeling a little braver with Bindi and her recall (she is all about the cookies!) and want to try a dog park. What is the best way to introduce her to a park that has dogs in it? My boys and I took her to a dog park yesterday and it was empty. She spent the time sniffing everything and didn't want to play at all. Then I read about Freckles going to the dog park and it has me wondering if we should have a plan.

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Guest WoobiesMom

When I first started w/Woobie we walked around the outside of the fenced area and let the dogs smell each other. Then another day I went in and kept him on the leash. This was frowned upon by many other owners, but I knew he would bolt and may entice the prey drive in some of the more bullyish dogs. I'd also gone on weekend days those first couple of times and the place was mobbed and very intimidating for Woobs. So we went back on weekdays during the day and there would be one or two dogs. I'd ask if the dogs were friendly and they were. I let Woobie off the leash the first time and he ran along the fence and laid down alot every time the dog tried to play. There was alot of that in the beginning. But once the dog lost interest in him, he'd sniff around. Then he finally met some dogs who were more his size and play style and began to play (this was about 4 weeks in, he took a while to build his confidence). Now he's an old pro and it's very rare that he can't handle most things. Even the more bullyish dogs he's learned to handle and it doesn't break his spirit (and I step in). I've trained him to the word "box" which means to get up on an elevated platform. So when a dog is hassling him, I tell him box (or he goes on his own) and he heads for the benches and once he's up above the other dog, they lose interest and he goes along his way once they've moved along.

 

I'd go when it's not very crowded and work up from there. Even letting her get familiar with the area when it's empty can help because it will be familiar to her. Hope you have as good an experience as we do, it's been so great for Woobie. And I've made some nice friends there as well!

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Keep in mind Bindi might not want to actually play with the other dogs. Just sniff and stuff. That's ok too. Bring something for you to do with her there, like fetching or tugging so she has some interaction and gets to blow off some steam.

 

Like Woobies mom, I let my dogs access the situations themselves, but I'm ready to step in and scoop my dog up if needed.

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We use a long lead for ceana... but she can be aggressive and doesn't liek to play with very many dogs... this could be good for Bindi though since you will have complete control in case another dog gets aggressive with her or her recall slips her mind :rolleyes:

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Thanks! I didn't think about keeping her on a leash in the beginning.

 

I'm pretty sure she will only be submissive. She is never anything but that at doggy daycare. She is very social though too and sometimes doesn't read signals the right way. To Bindi all signals = play with me.

 

I'm going to try it again tomorrow afternoon. Maybe we will catch a few people after work.

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Guest LJS1993
Thanks! I didn't think about keeping her on a leash in the beginning.

 

I'm pretty sure she will only be submissive. She is never anything but that at doggy daycare. She is very social though too and sometimes doesn't read signals the right way. To Bindi all signals = play with me.

 

I'm going to try it again tomorrow afternoon. Maybe we will catch a few people after work.

 

 

You know, I am a rookie but let me tell you what has worked for Freckles. Basically we first let the other owners come to our side of the fence and pet Freckles. You know, show their dogs that Freckles is already welcome by their handlers. Then we let them run next to each other from seperate sides of the fence. It was so cool for us because this guy Sean brought his very easy going and submissive dog Chubby to play with Freckles. As my thread stated she was not friendly at first, but Sean let her nip and charge at him. Once Freckles and Chubby came to an agreement as to how they would play with each other it went great. After that another lady brought her male Airedale Piper over to play. Same thing, Freckles had to establish how she wanted to be played with along with Piper showing Freckles how to play. Fifteen minutes later, perfect play partners. Once those two dogs were cool we brought another dog over into the group and etc........ So basically Freckles is part of the play pack now. There are several dogs she doesn't like much, but they seem to just stay away from each other. Most of all, show Bindi you are confident with other dogs and be relaxed. Your dog will pick up on your anxieties and that will only make things harder. Trust me, you will want to be super protective at first. But like a kid, just let her slowly get confident and play.

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well, I knew Usher gets along with all dogs, from being at the doggy bar and going through petsmart etc.... he's never met a dog he didn't like. We got to the dog park early and started playing tennis ball. We were the first one's there. It's fenced. His recall isn't very good with distractions. Once the other dogs started coming, he couldn't care less about the other dogs- just wanted to play ball. So, now every time we go, he thinks it's ball time instead of play time. I wish he would play more :rolleyes:

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