What makes some dogs act like Mean Girls (and Mean Boys) at dog parks?
When dogs declare their dominance, should owners be concerned or assume it's just part of wolf descendant nature?
As I marched through a field of grass with my Hound mix by my side, I had two thoughts: 1) My light grey shoes are about to be so dirty; 2) Junee will never step foot into a dog park again.
Two days later, I learned absolutely nothing. I wore the same grey shoes to the dog park again, and it was all because Junee dragged me back to the scene of the “mean girl.”
Here’s what happened.
I hadn’t been to a dog park in about a year. The irony is I was constantly at a dog park or a dog beach on a weekly basis before I owned my third dog. It was fun to walk somebody else’s dog by the lakefront, or sit in the sand or on the rocks and watch dogs leap around soak and wet. But when you’re walking your own dog three times a day, you can get kinda stretched for time. I’m not sure what made me decide to go to the dog park after I hadn’t been there since last summer. It just seemed like fun.
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When Junee and I arrived at the dog park, I remembered there was one entrance gate for small dogs and another one for medium- and large-sized dogs. Only, it was inconvenient to get to the gate for the small-sized dogs because pet owners would have to walk an extra block. It was much easier to just cut through the “big dog” side and walk to the opposite end of the dog park. And so I did.
Only Junee had other ideas. She wanted to play with a Poodle two times her size. Within minutes, they were both in the small-sized part of the dog park, quietly playing after another large dog and her owner left. Soon after, two small dogs showed up, but the owner wanted them to get used to large dogs so she stayed on the “big dog” side of the dog park. The Poodle and Junee continued to play while I chatted with the owner for 20 or so minutes. Then, in came a larger (and very pretty) athletic breed (Border Collie maybe?) to the “big dog” side.
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Although the Border Collie and the two small dogs seemed to be getting along on their end, I was amused when Junee’s squeaky ball rolled under the gate. One of the smaller dogs took off running with it. I shrugged at Junee looking defeated. (I have crawled under a couch one too many times. I no longer try to rescue dog toys. I’m retired.) When the larger dog tried to take the ball from a smaller one, the smaller dog yanked it up and hid the ball under her belly. The Border Collie walked away, looking like she wanted to roll her eyes.
I grew bored of the dog park, and Junee looked like she was ready to call it a day too. So I unlocked the gate to cross through the “big dog” side of the dog park and head home. However, this was the first time the Border Collie and Junee had interacted. The two smaller dogs paid her no mind. But the Border Collie took a special interest in Junee.
And by “special,” I mean the dog tried to leap on Junee, block her exit and push her into a corner. I was stunned. If the dog had acted this way with the two smaller dogs, I’d have been better prepared. What threw me off was my dog, who I have had to lecture multiple times about barking at other dogs (she’s far better at it nowadays and stopped leaping at other dogs around year two) looked scared. I’d never seen her look scared. Cautious. Aware. Uninterested. Irritated. Hyper. Playful. But not scared.
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But I’m a dog walker. I’m well-aware of how to de-escalate a situation. After trying twice to get Junee to go around this dog, I chose another option. I squatted down to the Border Collie’s size, smiled and called out the dog’s name to see if she’d play with me instead. (Through the gates, us three dog owners had already introduced our pets so I already knew the Border Collie’s name.)
The dog looked at me curiously, took a couple steps forward and I watched Junee creep backward to get away. The Border Collie’s owner was also trying to get her attention and get her away from my dog. Eventually, the larger dog huffed off with an attitude like we’d spoiled her fun. I leashed Junee, and we exited. But before I could fully get out of the park, the Border Collie took off running at full speed, leaped in the air over one of the smaller dogs, and landed with a thud. Ole girl was acting like a child when the Now and Laters kick in.
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For a couple of days, I pondered on what set the dog off. Why was this calm, cool and collected dog so triggered by Junee? Should I have done anything different beforehand? As mentioned in the opener, I just knew Junee was going to boycott dog parks for the rest of her life after that.
Not so much. She yanked me right back to that same dog park 48 hours later, and she happily played with three large dogs and two small ones like the cowering incident never even happened. After two hours, I finally coaxed her out of the gate so I could go home. While Junee would’ve stayed there all day, I was still glancing over at the gate, wondering if the Border Collie would make a re-appearance.
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Recognizing dog temperaments at a dog park
According to Living With Wolves, wolf pack order is regularly enforced by dominance. Posture, facial expressions, ear and tail positioning, and body language let wolf packs know the hierarchy. And while wolves still have an extra layer of IDGAF when it comes to human commands, scientifically, dogs are very much a domesticated version of wolves.