Dog Park fighting

[NerdyDogOwner]

Today Gizmo got into a fight, he "gave up" pretty fast and turned to retreat. However, the other dog then perused and kept going at him pretty violently, teeth snapping, going for the neck etc…. I got pretty upset at the owner who just said "they will sort it out".

Now I can understand letting them sort it out, but once one of them retreats that's when it's over. But if the other keeps going at it, well, that's where I believe the owner has a responsibility to stop the dog. Things could get nasty.

The other owner got pretty mad at me for reacting like that, yelling at her to get the "F'ing" dog off Gizmo. She left the park, while curing me out I bet...lol

Just wanted to know what you guys do in the situation your dogs get in a fight?

Let them sort it out?
Grab the collar and pull away?
Punish/shout that you do not approve of the fight after?

From what I have read, they usually sort things out very quickly.

[Tayda_Lenny]

This is a tough one - My belief is the more conservative owner wins. If one is comfortable and the other isn't, the uncomfortable one gets their way.
Lenny likes to nip at other dogs when they first come in the gate. But with him, I know it's like a "hey i was here first" nip, not a "get out of my park or i'm going to kill you." But the other dog owner doesn't know my dog so I usually base my action on how comfortable the other owner is. If THEY say - "oh they'll work it out"… then I let them do it. If the other owner seems uncomfortable, I restrain Lenny until the other dog is through the gate and has seemingly integrated with the other dogs. Then I let him go and he doesn't go seek out the new dog to nip him... strange.

If another dog approaches Lenny with a hostile attitude, particularly if it's a "new" dog, I prefer if the owner closely watches it so that we can intervene if necessary. There was one time where a dog attacked Lenny blindside and did nothing, said nothing, and it really upset me. Not so much as a "hey is he ok?" RUDE. Luckily I was a regular at that dog park and knew lots of the other owners who backed me up and talked to the other owner and she ended up leaving with her dog.

Dog parks can be tricky - lots of basenji owners avoid them. I like them, as long as I feel like the other dog owners are dog saavy - which can be a toss up, depending on the day.

[Rita Jean]

I do hope Gizmo is all right. I have no words of wisdom here for you sorry. I myself do not like to see dogs fight and want it broke up that second. It about kills me to hear and see two dog's fighting that to me is no good. I hope you find your answer as I also would like to know. Have a great day.

Rita Jean

[Basenjimamma]

I would do what you did..get mad at the owner for not taking her dog off of my dog, now that might not be the correct way to do it..but I am very emotional when it comes to my family and lets face it, my dogs are part of my family..
If Otis gets in a snarkfest at the park, I will let them sort it out..but if he is no longer part of the festivities, whether he has come back to me, or walked away to a different area of the park..I would get my dog out of that area or park immedietly, no one wins in trying to prove a point..even if you are in the right..it isn't worth your dog getting hurt because somebody else wasn't doing what they ought to do..boy that is hard to follow through on though..my emotions run high when this type of thing happens.

Otis is very much momma's boy at the park, he will go away to check things out, but comes back periodically to check in..if snarks erupt he will be the first to come running back.
Once we went to the park and this one lab/dachshund mix just beelined to Otis and attached himself to Otis' neck..they sorted it out and off we went..a few minutes later this dog does it again, this time Otis came running back to me, with the dog attached to his now very straight tail..and the mutt kept on doing that through our whole stay at the park..he just had it in for Otis, and poor Otis had no clue why.
The owner just said that he will do that, just ignore him..IGNORE him, are you kidding me..no way..you take your mutt dog out of here if he is causing trouble time and time again..once they left some other people came up to me and said they were happy I had said something to him, because that dog always causes problems.

I hope all this made sense..good luck at the park, but remember, nobody will look out for your dog but you..if you sense trouble, just leave..it isn't worth Gizmo getting hurt.

[Kananga]

It'd be one thing if Gizmo was fighting back, but he was clearly retreating. I think at that point, in my opinion, it becomes the responsibility of the other owner to control their dog.

I know Kananga has gotten into one fight (I think the only real fight really) with my mother's Border Collie. But Kananga stood his ground and decided to fight back (he was provoked and was simply being defensive). I still broke up the fight because I did not want to see either dog injured. There's no point in letting them "work it out on their own" because either one or both of the dogs could end up seriously injured. It's not a controlled fight.

It's also different when dogs simply warn other dogs, but when they go all out aggressive, it becomes an issue in my mind. It's almost like they intend to fight to the death. Those are the more severe situations and ones you simply need to break up.

[nobarkus]

That owner should have tried to stop their dog immediately and gotten it away. Then if the dog kept going back to Gizmo to fight that person should leave with their dog. Any scuffle at a dog park should be broken up immediately whether a dog retreats or not as the fight can escalate and injuries occur. There should be rules at the park. Our dog park here states this.
Owners must be in control of their dogs at all times. Dogs with
known history of dangerous behavior are not allowed.
There was a lady that brought a white Akita that would get a bit too aggressive and it was getting a little too rough with Buddy and she grabbed the dog right away and hauled it out of there. It also got rough with other dogs. I have not seen her back. Even Buddy has gotten too rough playing and I immediately run over and grab him and ask if his play is too rough. Even if he's being a pest in a play way I go after him and ask if he's bothering their dog. You can watch and see if the other dog likes it or is trying to get away.

[Rita Jean]

Thank you Dan I am so with you fight broken up immediatley. I always worry two dogs get to a fight next thing one more and then all breaks loose.

Rita Jean

[MacPack]

I think a real fight should be broken up immediately.

A 'show' fight, dominance thing, can be left to work itself out if both owners are agreeable. I am talking about mouthing and posturing, not serious attack-fight.

And if one dog is bothering another, even in play, the owner should intervene. The idea of the park is that everyone have fun, so even if it is play and one dog is not happy about it, the owner needs to stop up to the plate and take their pesty dog away.
Too many folks seem to think their dog's play should be acceptable whether the other dog wants it or not!

We are lucky that our park is pretty safe and friendly most of the time, but there are always going to be owners that are either oblivious or indifferent.

Hope Gizmo is OK!

[AJs Human]

Did Gizmo try to hump the other dog?

The below picture is the result of a dog fight. AJ had to get staples to close the wound. This happened before I got him. It is the reason I am very careful in how I introduce him to new dogs. I know he has the propensity to be a jerk.

[Kananga]

@AJs:

Did Gizmo try to hump the other dog?

The below picture is the result of a dog fight. AJ had to get staples to close the wound. This happened before I got him. It is the reason I am very careful in how I introduce him to new dogs. I know he has the propensity to be a jerk.

Good example of what can happen. It's why I always keep Kananga on a tight lead when he's meeting a new dog. I've seen it happen before, it's never fun. Usually it catches everyone off guard.

[nobarkus]

People let their dogs walk up to Buddy on walks and say he" friendly" then Buddy wants to jump up and play and the dog snaps at him. So I keep him well back and tell the people "please keep your dog back".

[NerdyDogOwner]

Not sure what triggered it AJs Human. He was just playing with a group of dogs and this one was among them, suddenly they went at it. Wouldn't surprise me if he did try to hump him…lol

Gizmo did have a small puncture wound on his lower leg. Didn't noticed it til later that day, and he didn't react as I looked at it.

This was the first time taking him to the dog park on the weekend. I usually go in the middle of the day, since I am unemployed. But I guess at the weekend is when the "grumpy" dogs get to play...haha!
There were several fights that day, before Gizmo got his (not the same dog). So I think I am gonna stay away from the park during the weekends.

[BART]

You folks are giving me second thoughts. My County is building a new dog park to be open this spring. I went to the old one by myself, just to see what it was like…not impressed. I have driven by the new site just by happenstance and it looks like it might be nice ( and closer/ easier to get to). But now I wonder if I should even try. I don't want to be the "bad" dog owner, nor do I want to have the "bad" dog. The only socializing that he gets are vet visits and the occasional trip to the pet store, and we rarely run into anyone on our walks. He's never been aggressive in these situations or even really seemed to care that much about anything other than the vet's cat. A dog park....I just don't know.....

[NerdyDogOwner]

You have little to fear. I go almost every other day, and this is the first time Gizmo has gotten into any "serious" fight.

It's natural, and like they said; it does usually work itself out.

Gizmo loves going there, and that's the important thing. He will actually cry and whimper for the whole walk if we pass the Dog park and just go on a normal walk.
The amount of joy he gets out of being at the Dog park is worth the occasional fight.

And trust me, when you see your dog running and having so much fun with the other dogs you just can't imagine taking that away from him/her.

[BART]

We would have to drive to the dog park. And I guess I would just have to be vigilant when/ if we go there come spring. I guess I should say that my backyard shares a property line with a park. We can go there whenever we want but I can't let him off-lead. I use one of the extended ones, 24' (I think), but it's just not the same as running free like he could at a dog park.

Just as an aside…this new dog park they are building...totally donations. Even though its the County doing it, the money came from dog washes, dog walks, bake sales, etc. The county provided the space. Sometimes the government does work with the people......:)

[BART]

Oh, and Nerdy, I do, most certainly, agree about seeing your dog have that kinda fun. With my last boy I also had a fella and we used to stay at his friends house and they had a mutt that they had literally resued from their front yard after being hit by a car. Needless to say they had a fence in the backyard and I took my boy there to visit many times. What joyful playing..it was so-o-o- fun. Lady outweighed Bisquit by over 100 pounds but they chest-butted one another,wrestled one another, and had each others heads in their mouths all the time. It was fun for me to watch. Gosh, I miss that more than that fella!!!

[wizard]

I've taken my previous basenjis to the closest dog park and everything was fine for the most part. There were occasional dominance type snarkiness events but only once did a real fight start (and the owners pulled their dog immediately). Never encountered a jerky owner. But I was very careful not to go when the prime times were - Saturday mornings (and if I had a day off then around noon) were usually the times only a handful of dogs were there and it was easy to keep an eye on them.
I haven't taken Gossy since she goes to doggy care once a week and has a lot of fun there. Also I've discovered that though she is exceptionally friendly, if another dog becomes nasty aggressive to her, she will definitely fight back. So the dog park will require more vigilence on my part I think - this park is half wooded and kind of large - I'm a firm believer in owner socialization comimg second to keeping a watchful eye on the dogs.