I try and answer every question I receive on dog training. I may often come across as a little on the blunt side, (some may call it brash). That is because I consider myself an advocate for dogs and not dog handlers. I am an advocate for common sense dog training and not the latest fad that appears on the horizon. Good dog training is not rocket science. It's common sense.

1. Dog parks: Why you don’t want to take your puppy to them.
   
   
2. I disagree with you on your article called Dog Parks.
   
   
3. My dog Kimba likes to play rough with every dog it sees. How can I train it to leave a dog alone who doesn’t want to play?
   
   
4. My 13 month old Rott has started to lift his leg and pee on other dogs in the dog park. He is not dominant, what ca we do?
   
   
5. My 8 month old GSD was chased by a Pit Bull and he hurt himself. Will he be afraid of other dogs now? What can I do?
   
   
6. My dog has a tendency to nip and growl at other dogs in the dog park. Any suggestions as to how I can stop this behavior?

COMMENT:

Hello Mr. Frawley,

I recently discovered your list of articles on the internet and have enjoyed reading several of them. The article about 'Dog Parks' caught my eye as I am a frequent user of a public dog park here where I live in Florida. I have two Dobermans, a 3 year old American-bred male from show and obedience lines and a 10 month old bitch I imported from Holland at the age of 10 weeks.

My male has an excellent mind for a non-working Dobe. He has good confidence, is protective, and has a lot of courage. He also has good prey drive and is not afraid to "go after" a target. I would say he is not dog aggressive unless he is challenged; he does not 'enjoy' fighting. But I have seen him fight off multiple dogs who have ganged up on him - he can fight and win if necessary. He is a semi-soft dog in terms of what it takes to correct him. He has had no formal protection training but I have seen how he reacts to threats and I rest easy knowing he is in the house with me. He has a lot of personal pride, which helps him to be an effective protector. He is NOT your typical American Dobe.

My bitch is from top working lines, although most of the dogs on her pedigree are also show champions as well. Her sire just earned a Korung 1A ZVA rating this year and he has all-around excellent credentials. Her mother has an IPO 1, which is nothing to sneeze at, and she is a Dutch Champion. The mother also earned highest scores on the DKT, the Dutch equivalent of the ZTP. My pup has a more intense temperament than my male and she's a little smarter (but the male's no dummy). She is a 'good biter' but she, like my male, is generally non-aggressive and peaceful around other dogs. When she was 6 months old I witnessed her chase away a 4 year old Chow who was trying to bite her. To say she is precocious for her age is an understatement. She already has developed well defense drive and is a somewhat dominant bitch, and I would say she is more hard than soft. I may train her for Schutzhund or protection, although I have not been impressed with the clubs I have seen in my area. She puts all the other dogs at the training club to shame because she hasn't been trained to bite but yet she bites harder and faster and more accurately than almost all the other dogs there, especially the other dogs her age. She is an all-around great (world class) Dobe in terms of her superior working ability, good conformation, and nice temperament. She is muscular and has a strong head, almost like a male. I don't know whether she's Korung material but she definitely has strong nerves.

I have been bringing the male to the dog park since he was 6 months old and I started bringing my puppy when she was about 5 months old. They have never been attacked and I feel that it has actually made them more confident in unfamiliar situations. Sure, they've each gotten into 1 or 2 minor scuffles, but fortunately most of the people who frequent our local dog park are "regulars" and we know each other as well as each others' dogs. The dogs also know each other, unless the dog is new to the park. Better than 90% of the people at this particular dog park are responsible dog owners; it is very rare that we have any real problems.

For me, our dog park is also a forum to discuss training (usually simple obedience), health and medical issues, and anything else that relates to dogs. I understand in Europe (esp. Germany, Holland, and Belgium) most towns have a nearby training club where dog owners regularly go with their dogs. We have no real training club where I live, but the dog park is only a five minute drive away and I feel it has been a benefit to both my dogs and me.

My dogs like to go because it gives them an opportunity for intensive exercise which is really play. The dogs seem to enjoy the company of other, different dogs, and it also exposes them to different types of people. It is definitely a place to socialize the dogs, as well as the owners. They have fun and so do I. It is cheap entertainment with several benefits to me and the dogs. It is a place to go to "get away" for a while, to clear your mind, etc. And I've made some friends there (so have my dogs!)

I understand that bad things can happen at dog parks, but bad things can happen anywhere, really. I have been to the two local dog parks in excess of 150 times total (maybe 200, I haven't really kept count), and I can tell you that I've never seen a dog or person get seriously injured. I do know of a man who had two male English Mastiffs he raised together as puppies. His dogs did injure two other dogs, but he is a moron for getting two large male puppies the same age in the first place. Fortunately he stopped bringing those dogs to the park.

I have had three occasions where loose neighborhood dogs have attempted to attack my male while I was walking him (not at the dog park). These were dogs that were not socialized at all, I would consider them to be dangerous or vicious. I have to ask myself if these dogs would be so dangerous had they been socialized at an early age. Fortunately my male is a hard and fast fighter and he quickly ends any fight another dog chooses to start (the same for my female puppy, actually, despite her age). But he doesn't fight at the dog park because he has been trained not to, and he has a proper temperament for a Dobermann (non-aggressive).

So I have to disagree with your blanket statement that dog parks should always be avoided. Sure, you shouldn't blindly turn your dog or puppy loose amongst a pack of unfamiliar, potentially dangerous dogs. But not every dog park is like that. Like I said, our dog park consists of mostly "regulars." We welcome newcomers but we watch them carefully. I have not really observed the "pack mentality" you speak of. The dogs know who their owners are and tend to stay near them, even though they may wander off for a while and come back. There is no reversion to a more wild, uncontrolled type of behavior. At least not at our dog park. On a normal day we have about 20 or 30 dogs, coming and going at different times, with as many as 20 dogs there at once on a busy day. There are it is enclosed and is actually fairly big (maybe 3 acres).

I would not recommend bringing a young puppy under about 5 months of age to our park, although there are plenty of 12 to 16 week old puppies there on any given day. I understand that you do not want to have your carefully-bred puppies injured at the dog park, that is only common sense. But I think once the dog is old enough it could be beneficial for both the dog and owner if the circumstances are right. I believe in letting dogs play. Part of the reason I don't like our local Schutzhund club is because it is run by a woman who believes that her working dogs must be kept in cages when they are not working. It is my impression that socialized dogs who are allowed to play are happier and healthier, and they probably have less obsessive/compulsive behaviors such as chewing, barking, etc. If my puppy is killed by a pit bull at the park I may change my mind, but, based on what I've seen over the last 2 years, I don't think that's going to happen.

Just something for you to think about... You have done a good job with your web page/articles. I am a Dobe person, not a GSD person, but I'm sure a lot of your principles can be applied to the Dobe.

Larry

RESPONSE:

I certainly appreciate the time you have taken to pass on your thoughts, but when one stands back and looks at what you have written, it is evident that you are naive in your approach to dog training and the dangers present in dog parks. You have been lucky and as a result you are misdirected. You also do not have a clear understanding of the pack drives in domesticated dogs.

In my opinion my dogs (even my police dogs) should never be put in a position where they have to fight another dog, no matter what the circumstance. Your attitude towards your dog's ability to defend himself against dogs that are out of line is not an acceptable position to defend.

If people thought like this, they would find themselves in a situation where they would find out that there is always going to be someone or some dog that is tougher than there dog. In your case, there is no question that a rank pit bull would teach your very quickly how easy it is for one dog to kill another. It happens very quickly and the odds are you would be standing there wondering what went wrong and where did this fool with this crazy pit bull come from? I hope this does not happen to your dog.

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SECOND COMMENT:

Dear Mr. Frawley,

I have read your response to my original comments about your article on dog parks. I realize there is an element of danger at our particular dog park. I do not like pit bulls, as a rule, but my observation has been that most of the pit bulls in our area have little more fighting ability/confidence than the average American bred-for-show German Shepherd. Of course there must be some pits out there who still have the abilities of their ancestors, but they seem to be few and far between (none that I've seen). And hopefully the people who own that type of dog would not bring it to our dog park. Most of the pit bulls I've come across LOOK scary and intimidating, but that's all. The pit bull breeders in our area have been producing friendly, soft dogs, either by design or by accident. They don't seem to be the tough killing machines most people would expect them to be. Maybe I've just been lucky (I expect that's what you will tell me). I do know that no dog has ever been killed at our park in the last two years or more, that says something concrete about the place. I also can tell you that the "regulars" at our park would not permit someone to continue bringing a dangerous dog once it had demonstrated its bad behavior (a pit bull may be intimidating, but 15 or 20 people carrying large sticks and/or rocks would probably be more intimidating; fortunately it has never come to that).

Our dog park will still continue to be a part of my life, when I have time to go. I, like many others in our town, do not have a large yard of my own to exercise my dogs, and the park gives me that opportunity. Our situation may be somewhat unique in that we are a fairly close-knit group of regulars who know each other and each other's dogs (many of us have been regulars for more than a year, some for several years). In that sense, we may not be exactly what you would define as a "dog park," with lots of strangers and strange dogs coming and going. I realize I am fortunate to have two relatively large dogs with at least somewhat good fighting ability, should an "incident" occur. If I had a Lab puppy or something less able to protect itself, I might feel differently. Or if injuries or deaths started occurring I would feel differently. Hopefully that won't happen. But we have an awfully good track record over about three years' time. I am putting together a web page about our park. I will send you the URL when I do (it may take me a few more weeks to finish it). I realize I am not going to change your mind, but I hope you will be open-minded enough to at least consider that, given the right group of people and the right dogs, a dog park doesn't necessarily have to always be a terrible thing. Granted, we may be the only park the way we are... I do not deny that. It is unfortunate that some people bring aggressive, dangerous dogs to dog parks; hopefully our park will continue on its present track (without any real problems, with good dogs and owners).

L. Glisson

P.S. The typical reaction of both my dogs, when they are "snapped at" by another dog, is to stand there without moving and stare them down, as if to say to them "What do you think you're doing?" 90% of the time this will make the other dog stop its bad behavior. I do not deny that they would fight back if pushed, but the average dog out there does not want to mess with a dog that shows no fear toward them. Not all of the other dogs have the high level of confidence my dogs have; I realize I am lucky in that respect, also. Confidence is perhaps more important than toughness, as far as keeping the peace at our little dog park.

SECOND RESPONSE:

You do not need to send your URL on your dog park. I would not consider adding any information on something I am so strongly against and when I know that I am right.

I think your quote “I realize I am fortunate to have two relatively large dogs with at least somewhat good fighting ability, should an ‘incident’ occur,” indicates that you are out of touch with reality and are living in a dream world.

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Dog Parks eBook

QUESTION:

I have been reading your Q&A section, and have found several articles very useful for our problem, specifically the one about the dog that wouldn't come when called.

Our problem is this: We take our Kimba, a neutered, 1 yr old male Rhodesian Ridgeback, everyday to an off-leash park to run/walk/play (I know that you are not an advocate of dog parks, but please hear me out). We often walk with friends who also have two RR's - Rio, a female littermate of Kimba's, and Rocco, a 4 yr old neutred male RR. The dogs love to play, especially Kimba and Rio - Rocco is more aloof and likes to take it easy. As is with RR's, they love to play rough, and Rio and Kimba are no different. That is not the problem. Kimba is very dog and people friendly with the exception that he thinks that every dog we meet should want to play, and play rough. By rough I don't mean biting or nasty play, just lots of paws and "arms," rough and tumble, big dog play. In most cases this is ok - but he seems to lose his sense of hearing when he is playing - often not coming let alone leaving the dog alone. I end up going up and often getting him back, putting him on the leash etc. While I recognize that he is "tuning me out," and that we need to work on our "coming" (and your article gave some good ideas for doing that), is there another command i.e. "leave it" that I can teach him in order to get him to leave the dog alone? I don't necessarily need him to come to me every time we experience this, but I want him to leave the other dog alone if it becomes obvious that the dog and/or owner don't want to play, or if we just want to walk further along.

I would appreciate your advice.

Thank you.
Carol Siminoski and Kimba

ANSWER:

This is an obedience issue and you are confused on the steps of training.

If you would like to learn more about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video and a prong collar. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog before it becomes considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes.

The command you need to use is COME. Your dog is not trained to distraction.

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Basic Dog Obedience $40.00+s&h

Question:

Hello,

My husband and I have a 13 month old rottweiller who is ver well behaved, and enjoys going to the dog park to play and socialize.

Lately, though, he has begun peeing on the other dogs, and twice he has almost peed on people. He is not a dominant dog, but this behavior is awful, and the only thing we know to do is catch him in the act and take him home. We want him to understand that behavior is unacceptable. What can we do? Thank you.

Answer:

Your dog is starting to mature. This is a sure sign of him displaying dominance. So do not kid yourself.

You need to read the article I wrote on my web site about DEALING WITH DOMINANT DOGS Look in the list of training articles on my web site.

I also have a number of Q&A sections on this issue.

You should read my article on DOG PARKS and why they are dangerous and how to break up a dog fight. That may save you from a serious dog bite.

If you would like to learn more about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. Get this tape and a prong collar. If you do not have a prong, we also sell those on our web site.

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QUESTION:

Hello Mr. Frawley!

Unfortunately I read your article on dog parks too late and now I'm not sure what I should do with my dog.
 
I have an 8 month old GSD puppy named  Shaman.    He got sick when we just got him and he did not get his shots until he was 5 month old, so he did not have any experience with other dogs.  I slowly introduced Shaman to my friends dog (girl shiba-inu, his age) and it took him a while to get used to her but now they are best friends and play very nicely. Shaman also plays with a male Newfoundland puppy who is only 4 month old.  What always bothered me is that Shaman gave up his toys and his bones to his friends without any arguments.  Shaman even llets them take over his bed when they are visiting our house.

One of my friends told me to meet with a guy who supposedly used to train GSD and ask his advice.  We met in a dog park and the guy showed up with his 8 month old pitbull.  His dog ran up to Shaman and of course Shaman backed away and tried to run away from this dog because pitbull was in his face and Shaman is not used to this.  The guy told me to take Shaman off the leash and I did (big mistake).  The pitbull started to chase Shaman around and Shaman would run for cover to me or my husband (fortunately we did not push him away but rather let him come down and then told him to go play), the guy insisted that we should "let our dog to figure it out on his own".  Well to make the long story short after one of the chases Shaman fell and hurt his foot and he also looked shocked and scared.  I took Shaman and we went home.  I did not say anything to the guy but realized that I did a huge mistake and never again I'm listening to stupid advices.

Do you think that now Shaman will be afraid of other dogs and is there something I could do to make Shaman feel more comfortable around other dogs and not to be afraid of them?
Is it bad that he gives up his toys, food and bad to other dogs?
Also does it mean that he will be a bad protection dog?

Thank you for your time,

Victoria

ANSWER:

Your problem with this dog is your lack of knowledge of dog behavior and care.

Let me begin by saying that I NEVER ALLOW MY DOGS AROUND OTHER DOGS!!! NOT EVER!! Dogs are pack animals. Strange dogs are not from their pack. Pups expect their pack leader to protect them – You are suppose to be a pack leader – your pup expects you to protect him and instead you put him with Pit Bulls and other strange dogs. BIG MISTAKE!!! Your dog expected you to protect him when he was chased – you did nothing to protect him.

As far as this so called GSD expert – where is what I say about people like this - “Everyone has an opinion on how to train your dog – just ask your mailman – the problem is that very few people have the experience to back up their opinions which results in a lot of bad information being handed out.”

Forget everything this guy told you.

Get a dog crate for your house. When friends bring dogs over put your dog in the crate.  I don’t understand how you allow this – no one brings a dog to my house – if they do they leave it in the dog crate in their car.

Stay out of the dog parks.

Train your dog –use my DVD on Basic Dog Obedience.

If your dog ends up being dog aggressive because of this, I suggest you also get my DVD on Dealing with Dominant and Aggressive Dogs.

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Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet $40.00+s&h

Question:

Dear Mr. Frawley,

I was wondering if you could offer any suggestions for me.

My 3 year old dog Kraemer, an Australian Cattle dog and Rottweiler mix, has started to develop aggressive behavior toward other dogs at the leash-free dog park. When we enter the park through the double gates and if there are dogs to greet us, he'll charge out of the gates and bark and chase the dogs away from us (me and my other dog Annie). He loves
to smell the other dogs and literally gets urinated on sometimes because he's right in there (sorry to be so descriptive). However, when the dog turns around to smell him, especially in the face area, he'll snarl, show his teeth, and sometimes again try to nip the face and chase them off. If there are dogs running past him playing, he'll try to nip one as they pass by. He loves to fetch a deflated basketball and if another dog tries to run towards him while he's bringing it back to me, he'll growl out of the side of his mouth. My vet told me to put him in the car for 15mins every time he does this. She told me that they only learn from banishment. This is not such a great idea in the middle of summer even with the windows down. She also told me to put his leash on him in the park. But, I know that the other dogs would sense his vulnerability and react to that even more. I just want him to play and have fun. I always tell him that we're going to the park to see his friends but frankly he doesn't have any because he doesn't know how to interact with the others and just play. He is always by my side and constantly looking for my queue. He also doesn't allow strangers to pet him. Because of the herding breed in him, he also used to chase children in the park if they ran and nipped at their heels. This I thought was actually just normal until one day he nipped at a child's hand for no reason. The child was just there, not even moving and I was completely mortified.

Anyway, I know this is a long email and only if you have a moment to reply, I would greatly appreciate it. I would like to get your Dog aggression DVD but I still think my dog is not that viscious and malicious and really want to avoid him increase the level of his aggression.

Kindest Regards
K

Answer:

First off, I would stop taking this dog to dog parks. The behavior you are experiencing with Kraemer is only going to continue to escalate. There is NO good reason (in our experience) to take any dog to an off leash dog park.

Dog Parks, it's a place where lots of dogs get bullied and injured, and aggressive dogs become MORE aggressive because their owners don't understand pack behavior and allow the behaviors to continue.

Your vet may know medicine, but banishing a dog to teach them their behavior is not acceptable does not work. I would disregard any training advice from your vet from here on out.

You need to learn more about pack behavior and establish some leadership for your dog. Right now he is in charge. In this day and age of lawsuits, I would take this very seriously. If you don't make big changes in the way you handle this dog, I am afraid he is going to injure another dog or a person.

Please read this article about becoming an effective pack leader.

The first sentence in this article says it all: "You can feed water and love your dog and he will like you but he very well may not respect you." 99% of all behavioral problems are a result of dogs not respecting their owners. This happens as a result of poor handling and/or poor training.

This article was written for people like yourself, people who have great intentions but not enough knowledge of pack structure. There are links within the article that will take you to other articles on my web site.

I believe that this recently finished DVD could really help you. It’s titled DEALING WITH DOMINANT AND AGGRESSIVE DOGS and was a 5 year project. Your dog is an aggressive dog, and it will escalate. Being aggressive has nothing to do with being vicious, it's part of a dog's natural behavior.

This DVD is 3 ½ hours long and costs $40.00. You can go to the web page and read the outline of what’s included on the video. My DVDs are not meant to be watched one time. The fact is anyone who needs this information needs to watch it many many times because every time they watch it they will pick up new ideas.

I hope this helps.

Dealing with the Dominant Dog eBook