Watson was bad today

[Watson]

I took him to the dog park today which he has been to twice before and shortly after getting there a fight broke out between a golden retriever and a chocolate mixed breed dog. So with alot of growling and barking going on, Watson decided he was gonna join in on the scuffle. After pulling all three dogs apart, there was another little husky dog that came and growled at Watson and so Round 2 started. Had to pull those two apart. There weren't any injuries as I was standing right there at the time. Watson never barked or growled but after being provoked/attacked he didn't want to back down. He is 60lbs of muscle. I have had Watson for 3 weeks and he has never done this before. He has been friendly to all people big and small and had a good time the last two time he went to the dog park and played nice with the other dogs. I don't know what's gotten into him today. I am a little disappointed in him today.

He is almost 8 months old and not neutered yet so I don't know if him hitting puberty is causing some of this.

 

[hoegaandit]

Hi, eight months and sixty pounds - Watson is huge for that age! (Our boy is also really big, 90lbs, but he is fully grown).Our boy is five (and unneutered) and has been in about four fights in his life, each time when another (bigger) dog attacked - he just turns away from aggressive smaller dogs. Although I do not like the fighting this has never stopped me from walking around off lead (which we even do on the streets), but I am always watchful of him when off lead.I have found the most useful command I have is a loudly yelled "STOP!" - which means our boy must stop everything and stay still until eg I release him or put on his lead. Fights can develop quickly between dogs but if you watch you can spot the signs in time. The dogs will go rigid. Any dog that fixates on your dog (intense focus) or starts rushing him (not overexuberance but in attack mode) is leading to a fight. I have found yelling "STOP!" very loudly at that attacking dog will break his concentration. I will also move in front of my boy standing very erect and with one arm raised (-our boy is well able to look after himself but I don't want a fight). If the dogs have started fighting then you need to grab your boy round the hips and pull him off that way (hopefully the other owner is doing the same with his dog). One problem you are going to have with Watson is that for a while he is going to be aggressive at that park, particularly if there is that same dog there or a similar looking dog. Please do not stop going to the dog park though - that is the way he is going to learn proper socialisation. Our boy has two "bete noires", dogs that attacked him previously. Whenever I see those dogs I put on the lead and so do the other two owners. (Despite that one of those dogs dragged his rather petite owner over once when he saw our boy). However for at least the past year and a half there hasn't been signs of aggression between our boy and either of those dogs, so things have settled down.By allowing our boy off lead he has generally learned good dog manners (although being a big dominant boy he will undoubtledly fight back if he is ever attacked again). When you think about it, Watson and our boy are showing that they can look after themselves, which is a good thing, although of course you want to nip any of these fighting actions in the bud.Hopefully this can help with Watson, who is still only a puppy and needs still to learn what is acceptable or not.

 

[Watson]

[MENTION=2729]hoegaandit[/MENTION] thanks for the advice. Your bulldog is a handsome chap and very big at 90lbs! I will try some of those things when we go the dog park again. The dog park that we went to today isn't the same one that we usually go to. My coworker wanted to meet Watson and he was going to bring his two pugs so it was supposed to be a playdate and so we went to a park that was closer to them. Unfortunately we never got that far as we quickly got into those scuffles and the pugs hadn't even shown up yet. I ended up putting a leash on him and we walked around the outside of the dog park for a while until the pugs showed up. He was fine with them. Here I thought they were supposed to be a docile breed but he certainly didn't back down to the bigger dogs.

I am thinking of taking him back to the dog park that we usually go to tomorrow to see how he does.

I don't know why he is so big. Everyone that meets him can't believe he is only 7months. He already has a big head and a wide chest. His parents both weighed 58 lbs. I don't know how much bigger he will get. He has slimmed down some but it just makes his muscles more pronounced.

 

[hoegaandit]

Yeah bullies are stubborn critters and reluctant to back down.

Best of luck with your normal park; it may quite possibly be that Watson is fine at that park, so in your shoes I would just relax and let him play as normal, and hopefully all will be well.

 

[LisaMarie]

Dog parks are sometimes not very good. Some dog owners let there dogs go and dont supervise the play well. I like the advice that [MENTION=2729]hoegaandit[/MENTION] gave you. When you do take him to the park watch him closely and beware of other unsupervised dogs.

 

[Watson]

[MENTION=1710]LisaMarie[/MENTION] I hear ya. I have to watch him like a hawk.