I have a wonderful friendly 6 year old 50lb Wheaton that does fine on his own at the park even with other dogs in the pen. For the most part….
He is not particularly social and is a little unsure around other dogs. But today is the second day now that when another dog runs up to him and they start getting acquainted… I can see his emotions shift over about ten seconds until he comes undone into barking “f-off” and snapping. I’m relieved that he is not chasing other dogs and it’s only when he is approached…. But still I can see this going south pretty quick. He just gets stuck and doesn’t know what to do… until now figs have barked back and went in their way.
He is pretty new to the dog park environment and Enjoys running free and sticks close by. In his prior living situation he had a big yard and his sister…. That was his whole life. she was queen B and ran his life like a drill sergeant. Over the last three months he has been adjusting to walking and sitting where he wants after his sister and he were separated. We have a yard but nothing like an open field and I’d like to maintain that in his life.
As a horse person his behavior seems entirely confidence related and I know if I don’t address him (or something I’m doing) im concerned it will get worse quickly… my bag of tricks is equine related so I’m asking for some canine insight.
Also: The first time he went to the park his sister was with him. She let him do his thing and they played but then she’d kind of be his security blanket/“etiquette coach” it seemed. It was a good day and for about 2 weeks it’s been good except for the last 2 days.
He is not particularly social and is a little unsure around other dogs. But today is the second day now that when another dog runs up to him and they start getting acquainted… I can see his emotions shift over about ten seconds until he comes undone into barking “f-off” and snapping. I’m relieved that he is not chasing other dogs and it’s only when he is approached…. But still I can see this going south pretty quick. He just gets stuck and doesn’t know what to do… until now figs have barked back and went in their way.
He is pretty new to the dog park environment and Enjoys running free and sticks close by. In his prior living situation he had a big yard and his sister…. That was his whole life. she was queen B and ran his life like a drill sergeant. Over the last three months he has been adjusting to walking and sitting where he wants after his sister and he were separated. We have a yard but nothing like an open field and I’d like to maintain that in his life.
As a horse person his behavior seems entirely confidence related and I know if I don’t address him (or something I’m doing) im concerned it will get worse quickly… my bag of tricks is equine related so I’m asking for some canine insight.
Also: The first time he went to the park his sister was with him. She let him do his thing and they played but then she’d kind of be his security blanket/“etiquette coach” it seemed. It was a good day and for about 2 weeks it’s been good except for the last 2 days.