I have a 3.5 year old female Labrador.I have had her since she was 8 weeks old.She is extremely friendly when we meet other people and dogs.I have been taking her to a dog park for a few months now and spend about an hour every day at the dog park.She usually gets other dogs to chase her with a stick in her mouth.I am always supervising her play at the park.If she doesn't like a dog behavior (mainly humping) she will let them know politely 2-3 times and then I usually intervene and make sure that dog leaves her alone before she snaps. Yesterday, after about 45min at the dog park, I took her to my friend's place to meet their new puppy ( 12 weeks Akita male). I have met the puppy before and he is very calm and relaxed.My dog was excited to see the pup.This was the pup's first encounter with a dog socially(other than the vet and walks). My dog picked a toy and wanted to play tug with the pup.The pup was happy too and at that point, they seemed to get along well.They went to the yard to play.My friend was supervising them.I was inside talking to my friend.After a couple of minutes of play, the pup started whelping in pain.I didn't punish my dog at that time.I am not exactly sure what happened. The pup has 2 bites on the ear, 1 on the muzzle and 1 on the jaw.There was some blood.The pup was scared for quite some time. What steps should I take to make sure my dog doesn't do something like this ever again.I know I should have been supervising them play and probably introduced them slowly in a confined space.Should I not take my dog to the dog park? Does that make her more aggressive? She knows she is not supposed to bite humans, I have tried inculcating the bite inhibition from puppyhood.She is very gentle with kids. I am really sad that this happened and want to make sure that I train her positively to not do it again.But I am not sure what that entails.Would really appreciate some advice and suggestions.
Hi and welcome to the forum. As you have already said, you should not have left the older dog unsupervised with the puppy, that's all. You have no real idea what happened, or how this escalated. If you'd been watching, you could have stepped in once you saw your dog giving warning signals, but you were not there to help her extricate herself from the situation. Just never leave her alone with a dog that she does not know. I am sure things will continue to be fine at the dog park, but keep an eye on things. You say this puppy had not socialized with other dogs before, so he may not have understood the body signals your dog was showing. The next time you get together with your friend, I would suggest taking the two dogs out for a little walk together, so that they can be together without intense interaction. When we introduced our older dog and puppy, we took them into the woods, neutral territory, and let them sniff each other for a while. Then we took them both home. At no point did we let them out of our sight for several days when they were together, and we made sure that if the situation was getting too much for Poppy (if she stiffened, or put her ears back, or stared at the puppy or lifted her lip), then we did not tell her off, but made sure she could remove herself from the situation. It is very important the older dog is able to warn the puppy that things are getting too much. Good luck. I am sorry the little Akita got such a shock and got hurt. Nonetheless, I am sure they can be good friends in the future.
