Hello , New to the site. I have been taking my 11.5 month old male lab to the dog park every day, sometimes twice a day for the past 4 months. He was always very friendly and played well with all dogs and the other owners were always happy to see him walk through the gate. Recently, the past two trips, he has immediately attacked the first dog he saw, which both times happened to be the only dog in the park at the time. I am very concerned about this behavior as we enjoyed going to the park and it was a great way to burn a lot of energy quickly. Some background, and hopefully some clues. A few trips before he started doing this he was in a big fight with several dogs who started chasing him the second he got in the gate. He did not know any of these dogs and was clearly scared when they started chasing him. He eventuality had enough and turned and a fight started. It was a big deal, I had to drag him out of there. I took him back 3 times after that wanting to get him ok with going back and he did well. It is only the last two visits he attacked the one dog at the park at the time. My theory is he is being territorial and since both dogs he attacked were strangers he was defending the dog park he thinks he owns since he has been there so much. I would say he is just scared of strange dogs after the big fight, but we took him to the river to swim last weekend and there were strange dogs there he did fine with. It seems to only happen at the dog park. Any ideas what this behavior may be or if it can be fixed? Right now I am just not taking him anymore which is sad for both of us, especially since we live across the street and he can just look out the window and see the dogs playing st the park and whines to go. Any help or similar experiences would be appreciated, thanks!
Re: Friendly Lab Suddenly turns Aggressive at Dog Park Hi and welcome to the forum. What is your pups name? Sorry to hear about the incidents with your pup. It sounds like he was really scared being chased and that's why he snapped. He might be fearful hence attacking when you go there. You could try keeping him on lead and walking him around the perimeter of the park. Praise him when he shows calm behaviour when you are there. A few others on here have more experience than me and hopefully will be along soon with more advice
Re: Friendly Lab Suddenly turns Aggressive at Dog Park That must be really stressful. Dog memories are very strongly linked to the location where things happened. So that is why he is behaving like this at the dog park and not the river. Bad things have happened at the dog park, which he remembers when he goes there, so it triggers this behaviour. Bad things don't happen at the river, so he has no need to be worried there. That's all it is - he is definitely not being territorial or trying to claim or defend the dog park. He is just afraid at the dog park, not at the river. In being 'aggressive' towards other dogs at the dog park he's just trying to take the initiative to protect himself. I would just stay away from the dog park for the forseeable and go to places where he is relaxed and can have positive experiences with other dogs. I'd also give him lots of treats for behaving in a relaxed and friendly way towards other dogs
Re: Friendly Lab Suddenly turns Aggressive at Dog Park I second Rachael, he is scared at the park after his bad experience, and is just trying to take steps so he doesn't get attacked again. I think that you can gently over time get him used to going back to the park, when some time has passed and he is more relaxed, but I would avoid going for a while and concentrate on meeting up with other dogs at different places, so he re-learns that other dogs are not normally aggressive. After a few weeks, you can maybe start reintroducing him to the park when there are no other dogs there - maybe early mornings or similar. Maybe he has another dog friend that he can meet up with at the park. You will have to take your cue from him, and at the first sign of anxiety, take him out. Good luck!
Re: Friendly Lab Suddenly turns Aggressive at Dog Park Hi there,welcome to the Forum,I'm so sorry you both had this scarey experience and what a shame when it is a facility so close to you that you were enjoying . You've had great advice from Rachael and Karen,let us know how you get on building his confidence in other areas Best wishes Angela
Re: Friendly Lab Suddenly turns Aggressive at Dog Park Thanks to every body for their responses. They were all very nice and filled with some good advice. I will take a break from taking him to the dog park for a couple weeks. After that I will take him but leave him on the leash and walk around the perimeter, letting him greet dogs through the fence and give him a treat when he is nice and wags his tail. Hopefully after a few days of this he will get the idea that the dog park is a safe, fun place to play again. he has already started to forget about the place. He used to sit at the window and whine when I got home from work buy now we go out back and play fetch and chase in the yard and he seems ok with that. We will be going back to the dog park though. Thanks again for all the advice! His name is Finn http://s1068.photobucket.com/user/hiett4/Mobile%20Uploads/story
Re: Friendly Lab Suddenly turns Aggressive at Dog Park Looks like he loves the water! Your plan sounds good, but the only thing I might change is not walking round the outer fence at the dog park. Dogs can have sometimes get stressed (and bark a lot) when there are other dogs on the other side of a fence. I like Karen's idea of going back to the park when there are no dogs there at first, then trying to arrange a meet up there with a friendly dog on a couple of occasions. I would try that
