There are many off leash parks in the Ottawa area that don’t have that many dogs running around. Socializing your dog with other dogs and people is a good thing. Healthy outdoor activity and a change of scenery all dog owners and dogs need.
Whose responsibility is it to maintain order? All of us! Everyone who has a dog and ventures onto public land be it a dog park or a public street, is responsible. This mostly mandated through bylaw and most of it is common sense. Your dog, your problem – you can lose your dog if it bites someone or is too aggressive with other dogs. Suck it up and start taking that responsibility for your own situation. You know your dog, and if you don’t, a public off leash park isn’t the place to discover it.
Dogs need to be able to socialize and run with other dogs to learn their own language.
Dog park attendees have numerous Facebook pages where you can experience the joys and pains of dog ownership. Here you can also participate in discussions about whether or not it’s right for you and your pet. Many opinions conflict, from those who think people with aggressive dogs should stay away, to those who have well behaved dogs to those think dogs will be dogs and some who are so terrified and overprotective that they won’t consider taking their dog to any park. Most of the discussion I’ve seen stems from owners not really knowing or wanting to believe their precious pet is really a dog. Pampered so much they aren’t even aware they’re a dog anymore. Some owners see no need to have any control over their dog and will completely ignore or worse yell at and insult people who think their aggressive dog should be on a leash .
Your dog will become overprotective of you and psychologically unbalanced if they only ever see you and you are terrified of meeting other dogs. Dogs will mirror your emotions and protect you if they feel your fear, barking and lunging at anyone or anything that comes close. Other dogs will sense this fear and react aggressively toward your dog.
Dogs that chase and attack are also a result of lack of control – allowed to behave whatever way they want – in fact, these dogs become territorial and everywhere they are – they are the boss. This is an owner issue as well.
When approached by an aggressive dog you should remain absolutely calm and don’t back away, yell at them or motion to them. Stand your ground, do not look them in the eye and wait for them to be the first to move (a sign of submission). If they are obsessing over your dog (before they are aggressive), move between them and your dog, catch their eye say “hey” in a short gruff voice until they look at you and listen or go away. You can add a “good dog” at the end when they listen – to help reinforce that deflection. Screaming, waving your hands, hitting them or any other type of panic behavior puts you in harms way and signals the dog that you are not in control. This invites an attack.
I have had the pleasure of sharing life with a number of dogs over the years with different personalities including one that had limits to how long he could handle a dog park. He had ‘fear aggression’, so he would run successfully with other dogs for about 15-20 min and then simply be done with all the dogs. That was our queue to leave the park, as typically leashing doesn’t prevent a loose dog from running up to him. We went early morning or evening when there were few dogs in the park. We taught him to recognize his limits by taking a que from me and whenever he was tired of the other dog he would come back to me and I would make sure the other dog knew he was off limits- even in the busy park. His time out.
Our new dog is a street dog, who is already aware of the language, however, city protected dogs don’t often know that language and react based on their owner’s energy. She now pays no attention at all to yappy dogs, aggressive dogs on leashes or anything – but rabbits lol and walks off leash everywhere without fear or worry. She can pass within 6 ft of another dog; be aware they are there but keep going and ignore them unless we specifically stop and meet them. We have taught ourselves the body language we need to not raise a protective response from her. If we don’t worry, she won’t, but we also make sure she will return to us or drop any food she finds. This one is particularly tough learn for a dog who had to eat street scraps to survive.
There are a few good training videos that can help you with this journey listed below. It helps to know it is not just your dog you’re working on but also yourself. You are responsible, energy wise, how your dog responds to the world around it. Try it, you will be amazed at the results. Calmer you, calmer dog. Don’t feel threatened and neither will your dog.
Victoria Stillwell – It’s Me or The Dog series
Who is Victoria Stillwell – https://positively.com/victorias-blog/becoming-a-dog-trainer/
Cesar Millan – love the energy this guy has. He can walk a pack of strange dogs with complete control off leash and is happy.