I recently discovered something interesting about my 20 months' old Simba (male desexed). Whenever I bring him to the dog park where every dog is off leash, he always goes to the dog owners to play balls or just walking around by himself, instead of playing with other dogs unless the other dog takes the first step and wants to play with him. However, whenever I bring him to the dog training class where every dogs is on leash, he is so active and always drag the leash to approach the other dogs to play... Why is that? I really want him to play with other dogs in the dog park!
No idea, really, but I will make a guess. The leashed dogs at training are less intimidating to him than the ones running loose at the dog park? Does he have a friend to go to the park with? I have to ask though, how is it that he is dragging his leash and approaching other dogs at training class? What kind of training class are you going to? No training class I've ever been in would look favourably on that. Part of training class is so pup learns to handle the distraction of other dogs and focus on you. The leash can't drag when I'm on the other end of it.
I agree with Snowshoe's comments, but personally I wouldn't be complaining about my dog ignoring other dogs in the park. That's something many of us work hard to achieve
My dog is a bit of a boring old thing at the dog park too, and is also more excitable on lead. He was a lot like your dog when he was the same age. Dogs to tend to be much more worked up or excitable on the lead. I personally think it's because the lead is either frustrating (they know they can't get to where they want to go) or worrying (they know they can't escape if they want to). If you work on having Simba look at you for treats in the company of other dogs that'll help you to get his attention in the class situation. Obviously don't let him drag you towards other dogs. Stand your ground, make him wait, get his attention (using a stream of treats if you need it), check with the other owner that's it's ok for him to say hi...then tell him he can say hello. If he can't be at all calm, move further away from the other dog. I know you didn't ask for advice on that but just thought I'd mention it If he's chilled out at the dog park and comes back to you easily then I'd just count your blessings! Sometimes I'd rather that my dog go off and play, instead of coming back to me all the time, but an attentive dog is not really such a bad problem to have
Hi thanks for the replies. Very interesting! I didn’t' realise people actually want their dogs to ignore other dogs in the dog park. Simba used to be a very playful dog when he was younger, now he is obsessed with fetching the balls. Every time when he is at the dog park he is just looking for any dog owner who is willing to throw the balls for him. And sadly most of the time he will pretends he doesn't know me when I call him in the dog park, unless I show him I am upset. Yes, he still drags each time when he gets off the car and sees the dog park or the training class place. I am still working on that…He is ok when the training class begins, but before and afterwards the class he is very excited to play with other dogs on leash. I try to be there earlier so he can have some play time before the class begins. But of course he can still be distracted by other dogs during the training sometimes.
Hi there Ah, well you've added some critical information now about the dog park - balls! My dog is both dog obsessed and ball obsessed - he loves both. But a ball trumps another dog every time. This is not at all unusual in Labradors, there is a reason they are called 'retrievers'. I had to work super hard to get my dog to ignore balls that didn't belong to him, it was much harder than getting him to ignore other dogs (both still a bit of a work in progress though). Ideally, you want him to focus on you even if other people have balls - once you have his attention, you'll find your recall works better too. Try not to get upset with him though, that's not going to encourage him to want to spend time with you - it's just a training thing.
