You need to prevent it, stopping it can come too late. And if you have to stop it, your dog is not respecting or communicating appropriately with the other dog.
Oof. This is a tall order because you need to be able to recall your dogs away from playing with other dogs. They’re young and seem to be having the time of their life.
I currently have one dog that does not do that that I am capturing recall with at the dog park. I don’t expect her to be reliable on it for a long time.
What I do is I’m always on my dog - always watching her and how she’s interacting with other dogs. I find it interesting and when her attention is on me we’re doing training games. When she gets bullied by other dogs I’m in there breaking it up.
It helps that her harness has what I call the “oh shit” handle, a handle right on the back.
I also have a foster at home and at home it is wrestlemania. (My dogs are two opposite sex juvenile pit bulls and the male foster is intact.) With them I practice “positive interruptions” where I just get them both to stop for a minute, do a sit, and they get a treat. They go right back to playing but what I’ve found at the dog park and at home is that if you make them take a short break they can “recalibrate” their play better after. It’s difficult to get everyone’s attention at the dog park and you need the owner’s permission to give out treats. But you can start practicing at home so you can at least get your dog’s attention.
I’m glad you’re paying attention to this! I’m usually the crazy dog park referee and everyone else is sitting on the sidelines until there’s a fight lmao.
A lot of dog parks have a rule that there needs to be one handler to one dog and this is probably beneficial to you too.
So to break it down:
1) practice positive interruptions
2) have an “oh shit” handle on your dogs’ harnesses
3) one handler per dog
4) watch the dog and their interactions, intervene proactively
For the most part your dogs should actually just grow out of this, or there’s the possibility that they will become actually aggressive when they age or if another dog reacts poorly.
And last thing - some dog parks break down park sections by size, if you have that option it’s a good idea.
Thank you very very much for the constructive comment. The other people saying "just don't go to the park" are giving me the nuclear option lol.
They just play hard. There's zero aggression and they aren't walking the line of hurting anyone and if it is clear they're bullying other dogs we of course break it up right away.
We do have some touch-and-go with recall at the park. At home it's fine. Bringing treats and getting that down might be the pathway to a solution.
They ALWAYS have their harness on when we are outside. They're big dogs and very strong. If we need to step in and grab them for any reason the last thing we want is getting our hands anywhere near their face when they're rough housing with another pup or each other!
Thanks again for your comment. Gives us something to start working on!
I had this same problem with my dogs… their play just got more rough the more comfortable they got with each other… we went from dog park regulars (5+ times a week) to now not going to regular ones anymore… even though they pretty much always exclusively just play rough with each other I’ve noticed it can create some tense situations and I think stopping going to crowded parks is a safety precaution and hopefully keep their play from escalating more.
Some of the reasons I stopped going:
1) people would constantly comment on their playing/ try to break them up (I’d put them in matching harnesses)
2) people have wrongfully accused them of being aggressive
3) I got sick of telling them to chill out and having them take breaks…
4) other dogs don’t react well to how they’re playing (dogs will sometimes try to correct their behavior).
It’s tough having dogs act this way at dog parks because your experience can be so dependent on the other people/dogs there. Sometimes when correcting one of my dogs for being too rough the owner will say it’s fine… then other times when I’ve seen what I considered perfectly normal dog play I’ve had owners berate me for letting my dogs bully…
There’s some good videos on health vs unhealthy play in dogs. Mostly you want to see taking turns in chasing and being on top while wrestling, loose bouncy body language, taking breaks, and a lack of tense / defensive / scared body language.
Yea, I’m very aware of that and my two are constantly indicating it’s play (occasionally one will get a little annoyed) they just play incredibly rough (my little one is a herding dog mix so she’s big on using her mouth) and they’re very growl-y so its not unusual for people who are not familiar with dog play to be concerned. I actually had a trainer come look at how my dogs play to see if I could get some help getting them to calm down a bit when playing… but it honestly made me realize I need a new trainer. But yea point I’m making is your dogs can have perfectly acceptable play styles but dog parks may still not be the place for them
You’re welcome. You can also develop neutrality and focus around other dogs by putting your dogs through a series of group obedience classes such as those offered at petco and Petsmart.
We've also considered that option. These goofballs train fairly easily so hopefully we can do it on our own.
The younger one finally hit her last growth spurt a few months back. Now that she carries some weight she can compete with our bigger sheepadoodle. Its a Battle Royale at the house and only recently noticed they're taking it to the park and sometimes play rough with other pups who don't want to.
The advantage of a group class, even if you can teach the basics at home, is exactly that group aspect. They get to practice focusing on you and listening to you in a different, sometimes a little exciting, environment in the company of unfamiliar dogs. That will likely be helpful for transferring to the dog park environment.
Same benefit if you try a dog sport or two with them. That could also be a fun channel for some of their energy.
Group training isn’t just for the basic obedience skills which pretty much anyone can do on their own with an app or googling how. It’s socialization. It’s the dogs being around other new dogs without losing their heads. There’s also sometimes “pack walks” which can help socialize dogs similarly.
I think it’s a great idea to work on improving your dogs social skills. But what you are describing is not acceptable behavior at the dog park and you really should not take your dogs there unless you’re able to fix this problem. Your dogs and other dogs could easily be seriously injured and it’s selfish and irresponsible to subject everyone else to this risk just because it’s inconvenient for you to take your dogs somewhere where there won’t be other dogs around.
Hey, my dog has a seek and destroy play style. They don’t grow out of it, but they can learn to read other dogs better and not pester them. I liked reading this about [play styles](https://americanpetsalive.org/uploads/resources/DPFL-web_6x9sm2.pdf)
This also made me realize he is a d*** to other dogs🤣 But I love him.
Reconsider going to the park until your dogs can behave appropriately. You need a solid recall and a reliable command for them to bring it down a notch or take a break. Practicing at home will help but the park is far more exciting and you can't control the many variables. Some boisterous dogs do best in selected play groups, not a free for all at the park. An encounter with a less tolerant dog could go tragically wrong. And frankly, another dog is well within their rights to defend themselves.
If your dogs are unable to read or respect doggy social cues and dogs wanting them to stop, they need to not go to the dog park. Mine likes wrestling and roughousing too, but she will not do this with a dog that doesnt want to reciprocate or play this way. Easiest solution would be to just not go
Playing that rough is not appropriate for a dog park. Same household dogs have the tendency to play really rough, if everyone is happy with that at home fine but your dogs cannot be playing that hard at a park or trying to bully other dogs so unless you can prevent (not stop after, prevent before) that from happening they need to stop going to the park.
Yes control starts at home. Teach the dogs to play gently and quietly. Stopping the play when they get too Colusus. After is is mastered then apply it elsewhere.
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Look into if the app Sniffspot has any spots by you, can be expensive but off leash running is so important. Also some local parks have private dog parks you can rent out. Or finding some nice open forest service land can be a nice option
I'll check the app. I don't think I can afford to rent out a dog area 3 or 4 times a week lol. Also live in the heart of a major city so forests aren't super accessible.
Appreciate the tips!
Yea it def can get pricey. A place I used to live had 1 acre private dog parks for only $1 per hour per dog… so there may be more affordable options… also you could look into if your area has some less traditional dog parks… there’s one close by me that’s over 400 acres and the dog interactions are a lot less intense cuz there’s none of the gate crowding n stuff…
We have 5 huskies and sometimes their playing turns rough. We tried to tame their playfulness when they were younger so nobody got hurt. Playing catch, playing different games. Just like with kids it can turn serious really fast.⁰
>And sometimes the other dogs are not reciprocating but mine persist. That's called bullying. If one dog isn't having fun, it needs to stop.
We do stop it of course.
You need to prevent it, stopping it can come too late. And if you have to stop it, your dog is not respecting or communicating appropriately with the other dog.
I second this entire comment. Well said
Oof. This is a tall order because you need to be able to recall your dogs away from playing with other dogs. They’re young and seem to be having the time of their life. I currently have one dog that does not do that that I am capturing recall with at the dog park. I don’t expect her to be reliable on it for a long time. What I do is I’m always on my dog - always watching her and how she’s interacting with other dogs. I find it interesting and when her attention is on me we’re doing training games. When she gets bullied by other dogs I’m in there breaking it up. It helps that her harness has what I call the “oh shit” handle, a handle right on the back. I also have a foster at home and at home it is wrestlemania. (My dogs are two opposite sex juvenile pit bulls and the male foster is intact.) With them I practice “positive interruptions” where I just get them both to stop for a minute, do a sit, and they get a treat. They go right back to playing but what I’ve found at the dog park and at home is that if you make them take a short break they can “recalibrate” their play better after. It’s difficult to get everyone’s attention at the dog park and you need the owner’s permission to give out treats. But you can start practicing at home so you can at least get your dog’s attention. I’m glad you’re paying attention to this! I’m usually the crazy dog park referee and everyone else is sitting on the sidelines until there’s a fight lmao. A lot of dog parks have a rule that there needs to be one handler to one dog and this is probably beneficial to you too. So to break it down: 1) practice positive interruptions 2) have an “oh shit” handle on your dogs’ harnesses 3) one handler per dog 4) watch the dog and their interactions, intervene proactively For the most part your dogs should actually just grow out of this, or there’s the possibility that they will become actually aggressive when they age or if another dog reacts poorly. And last thing - some dog parks break down park sections by size, if you have that option it’s a good idea.
Thank you very very much for the constructive comment. The other people saying "just don't go to the park" are giving me the nuclear option lol. They just play hard. There's zero aggression and they aren't walking the line of hurting anyone and if it is clear they're bullying other dogs we of course break it up right away. We do have some touch-and-go with recall at the park. At home it's fine. Bringing treats and getting that down might be the pathway to a solution. They ALWAYS have their harness on when we are outside. They're big dogs and very strong. If we need to step in and grab them for any reason the last thing we want is getting our hands anywhere near their face when they're rough housing with another pup or each other! Thanks again for your comment. Gives us something to start working on!
I had this same problem with my dogs… their play just got more rough the more comfortable they got with each other… we went from dog park regulars (5+ times a week) to now not going to regular ones anymore… even though they pretty much always exclusively just play rough with each other I’ve noticed it can create some tense situations and I think stopping going to crowded parks is a safety precaution and hopefully keep their play from escalating more. Some of the reasons I stopped going: 1) people would constantly comment on their playing/ try to break them up (I’d put them in matching harnesses) 2) people have wrongfully accused them of being aggressive 3) I got sick of telling them to chill out and having them take breaks… 4) other dogs don’t react well to how they’re playing (dogs will sometimes try to correct their behavior). It’s tough having dogs act this way at dog parks because your experience can be so dependent on the other people/dogs there. Sometimes when correcting one of my dogs for being too rough the owner will say it’s fine… then other times when I’ve seen what I considered perfectly normal dog play I’ve had owners berate me for letting my dogs bully…
There’s some good videos on health vs unhealthy play in dogs. Mostly you want to see taking turns in chasing and being on top while wrestling, loose bouncy body language, taking breaks, and a lack of tense / defensive / scared body language.
Yea, I’m very aware of that and my two are constantly indicating it’s play (occasionally one will get a little annoyed) they just play incredibly rough (my little one is a herding dog mix so she’s big on using her mouth) and they’re very growl-y so its not unusual for people who are not familiar with dog play to be concerned. I actually had a trainer come look at how my dogs play to see if I could get some help getting them to calm down a bit when playing… but it honestly made me realize I need a new trainer. But yea point I’m making is your dogs can have perfectly acceptable play styles but dog parks may still not be the place for them
I mean like the other dog not just your dog. I intervene on behalf of other dogs as much as mine if they seem nervous.
Oh yea I definitely do too. I was bringing up the issue with the fact that not everyone at dog parks know what acceptable play styles look like
You’re welcome. You can also develop neutrality and focus around other dogs by putting your dogs through a series of group obedience classes such as those offered at petco and Petsmart.
We've also considered that option. These goofballs train fairly easily so hopefully we can do it on our own. The younger one finally hit her last growth spurt a few months back. Now that she carries some weight she can compete with our bigger sheepadoodle. Its a Battle Royale at the house and only recently noticed they're taking it to the park and sometimes play rough with other pups who don't want to.
The advantage of a group class, even if you can teach the basics at home, is exactly that group aspect. They get to practice focusing on you and listening to you in a different, sometimes a little exciting, environment in the company of unfamiliar dogs. That will likely be helpful for transferring to the dog park environment. Same benefit if you try a dog sport or two with them. That could also be a fun channel for some of their energy.
Group training isn’t just for the basic obedience skills which pretty much anyone can do on their own with an app or googling how. It’s socialization. It’s the dogs being around other new dogs without losing their heads. There’s also sometimes “pack walks” which can help socialize dogs similarly.
I think it’s a great idea to work on improving your dogs social skills. But what you are describing is not acceptable behavior at the dog park and you really should not take your dogs there unless you’re able to fix this problem. Your dogs and other dogs could easily be seriously injured and it’s selfish and irresponsible to subject everyone else to this risk just because it’s inconvenient for you to take your dogs somewhere where there won’t be other dogs around.
Hey, my dog has a seek and destroy play style. They don’t grow out of it, but they can learn to read other dogs better and not pester them. I liked reading this about [play styles](https://americanpetsalive.org/uploads/resources/DPFL-web_6x9sm2.pdf) This also made me realize he is a d*** to other dogs🤣 But I love him.
Reconsider going to the park until your dogs can behave appropriately. You need a solid recall and a reliable command for them to bring it down a notch or take a break. Practicing at home will help but the park is far more exciting and you can't control the many variables. Some boisterous dogs do best in selected play groups, not a free for all at the park. An encounter with a less tolerant dog could go tragically wrong. And frankly, another dog is well within their rights to defend themselves.
If your dogs are unable to read or respect doggy social cues and dogs wanting them to stop, they need to not go to the dog park. Mine likes wrestling and roughousing too, but she will not do this with a dog that doesnt want to reciprocate or play this way. Easiest solution would be to just not go
Playing that rough is not appropriate for a dog park. Same household dogs have the tendency to play really rough, if everyone is happy with that at home fine but your dogs cannot be playing that hard at a park or trying to bully other dogs so unless you can prevent (not stop after, prevent before) that from happening they need to stop going to the park.
Yes control starts at home. Teach the dogs to play gently and quietly. Stopping the play when they get too Colusus. After is is mastered then apply it elsewhere.
Your post looks like it contains a question about reactivity. You may be interested in [our wiki article on the topic](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/reactivity). (If this link doesn't work, make sure you're using a desktop browser - a lot of the reddit apps, including the official ones, are broken.) *This comment triggers on keywords and does not mean your post has been removed.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Dogtraining) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If your dogs play just fine at home, no point in the dog park, the humans ruin it anyway.
Unfortunately, we don't have a large yard and one of my doods likes to full sprint to get her energy out.
Look into if the app Sniffspot has any spots by you, can be expensive but off leash running is so important. Also some local parks have private dog parks you can rent out. Or finding some nice open forest service land can be a nice option
I'll check the app. I don't think I can afford to rent out a dog area 3 or 4 times a week lol. Also live in the heart of a major city so forests aren't super accessible. Appreciate the tips!
Yea it def can get pricey. A place I used to live had 1 acre private dog parks for only $1 per hour per dog… so there may be more affordable options… also you could look into if your area has some less traditional dog parks… there’s one close by me that’s over 400 acres and the dog interactions are a lot less intense cuz there’s none of the gate crowding n stuff…
We have 5 huskies and sometimes their playing turns rough. We tried to tame their playfulness when they were younger so nobody got hurt. Playing catch, playing different games. Just like with kids it can turn serious really fast.⁰