Background:
My 2.5 y/o Aussie has been great around other dogs since his adoption at 6 months old. I have a 11 y/o very well behaved Spaniel as well, and he is not territorial with toys/food/beds with her (or other dogs for that matter). We haven’t been to a dog park in ~5 months, but before that he would go 2-3 times per week to hang out with his closest doggy friends. They would play, take turns being submissive, and share toys. I feel like I’ve done a lot right with him… with room to improve, of course.
The incidents:
The last 2 times I have taken him to the park, he has snapped at another dog.
The first incident was as he was laying down submissively while playing. A larger dog came up and playfully but aggresively jumped directly on his belly somewhat near his boy-parts. I didn’t see exactly what happened, but since my Aussie is pretty boisterous when he plays, I imagine it had to be something painful for him to lose it like he did. My dog jumped up and kept snapping at the other dog so hard that they got into a short lived but heated fight. Neither dog was hurt. Took him home immediately and so did the other dog’s owner.
The second incident was the following week with another dog that wouldn’t stop following and trying to hump him. He growled at that dog very briefly within a few minutes of entering the park, but after ~15 minutes of it continuously happening after that he lost it. Fortunately a loud shout was enough to separate them but the other dog wasn’t even trying to fight back. It seemed like my once sweet boy was straight up trying to maim that dog.
My question:
Is he becoming too aggressive or retaliatory? Is he justified in defending himself? What should a “good, well trained” dog even do when it’s pissed off?
Before anyone says it - yes, I’m done with bringing him to the dog park after these last two visits. Too much risk and stress. Fortunately in either incident the other dogs’ owner and I were calm and just agreed the dogs were done for the day and took them home. We were all shook, of course, but nobody there was specifically taking either dog’s side during each of the fights. Seemed like everyone thought it was just unfortunate how it played out.
I’m okay with being in the wrong here for taking him to the park, I’d just like to have others’ opinions.
My 2.5 y/o Aussie has been great around other dogs since his adoption at 6 months old. I have a 11 y/o very well behaved Spaniel as well, and he is not territorial with toys/food/beds with her (or other dogs for that matter). We haven’t been to a dog park in ~5 months, but before that he would go 2-3 times per week to hang out with his closest doggy friends. They would play, take turns being submissive, and share toys. I feel like I’ve done a lot right with him… with room to improve, of course.
The incidents:
The last 2 times I have taken him to the park, he has snapped at another dog.
The first incident was as he was laying down submissively while playing. A larger dog came up and playfully but aggresively jumped directly on his belly somewhat near his boy-parts. I didn’t see exactly what happened, but since my Aussie is pretty boisterous when he plays, I imagine it had to be something painful for him to lose it like he did. My dog jumped up and kept snapping at the other dog so hard that they got into a short lived but heated fight. Neither dog was hurt. Took him home immediately and so did the other dog’s owner.
The second incident was the following week with another dog that wouldn’t stop following and trying to hump him. He growled at that dog very briefly within a few minutes of entering the park, but after ~15 minutes of it continuously happening after that he lost it. Fortunately a loud shout was enough to separate them but the other dog wasn’t even trying to fight back. It seemed like my once sweet boy was straight up trying to maim that dog.
My question:
Is he becoming too aggressive or retaliatory? Is he justified in defending himself? What should a “good, well trained” dog even do when it’s pissed off?
Before anyone says it - yes, I’m done with bringing him to the dog park after these last two visits. Too much risk and stress. Fortunately in either incident the other dogs’ owner and I were calm and just agreed the dogs were done for the day and took them home. We were all shook, of course, but nobody there was specifically taking either dog’s side during each of the fights. Seemed like everyone thought it was just unfortunate how it played out.
I’m okay with being in the wrong here for taking him to the park, I’d just like to have others’ opinions.