[QUESTION]Should I take my English Mastiff to the dog park?

[Frankly Scarlett]

I have a two year old English Mastiff, who unfortunately, in her puppyhood was not socialized properly with other dogs other than toy-sized dogs. She is completely harmless when it comes to chihuahuas, poodles, and other small dogs, but whenever a large dog is present she gets really aggressive. My husband and I became concerned about her aggression so we took her to a trainer who worked with her (it was the same trainer that worked with my Chihuahua who had been abused as a puppy and was scared shitless of my husband and other men), and she did great work with our Chihuahua so we tried her with our English Mastiff.

Almost immediately we noticed her progress - no longer was she growling, snarling, and snapping at other dogs but she was actually sniffing and being slightly playful with them at the training session. We worked with her outside of the session by taking her to Petsmart to explore other stranger doggy smells and see other dogs. Occasionally she growls and barks and we take her away from the situation before bringing her back - whenever she displays the actions we want we give her a treat and use the clicker.

She's been getting along well with my sister's two medium sized dogs, my roommate's medium sized dog, and of course, our Chihuahua.

However, we want to take another step and take her to a dog park so she can socialize with other dogs. Our Chihuahua loves going there and has a great time so we want to indulge our English Mastiff to that type of play, too. But we are cautious and unsure how to introduce her to such a strange and perhaps intense situation.

I'd also like to point out that we haven't tried taking her there as of yet, but we would like to in the future (in the future meaning a month or two). But we want to make absolutely certain that she will not get into a fight with another dog and end up getting injured or injuring any other dogs. We want to prevent that as much as possible which is why I am asking advice prior to making a decision.

I am not blindly going to throw my used to be aggressive dog into a dog pit and think all will be well - I am not stupid. I have seen aggressive dogs in the dog park and it is certainly a scary thing to behold. The owner even encouraged the dog's aggression by saying, "Yeah, show that other dog who's boss" and "Yeah, he's so small he's your chew toy. Go ahead and chew on him."

It was disgusting, and I certainly do not want to be THAT owner with the aggressive dog.

any good and well thought out advice is welcome!



Our Chihuahua, Cooper who is a male one year old weigh 7lbs.
Our English Mastiff, Thea, who is a female two year, weighing 90lbs.

[Frankly Scarlett]

bump.

[Frankly Scarlett]

bump.

[Frankly Scarlett]

bump.

[Latrans]

I would not take a dog with a history of aggression to a dog park. I am furious at owners who do so at the park I frequent. I have been forced to get physical with other's dogs in order to protect my own. With something as large and powerful as a mastiff that goes double.

Could you find other classes to sign her up for? Keep taking her to training classes where she'll interact with strange dogs in a controlled setting? Maybe find friends with bombproof dogs and meet up in a controlled way?

[Frankly Scarlett]

Latrans

I would not take a dog with a history of aggression to a dog park. I am furious at owners who do so at the park I frequent. I have been forced to get physical with other's dogs in order to protect my own. With something as large and powerful as a mastiff that goes double.

Could you find other classes to sign her up for? Keep taking her to training classes where she'll interact with strange dogs in a controlled setting? Maybe find friends with bombproof dogs and meet up in a controlled way?

We do have a friend who has a dog and he's volunteered her for experimenting. I think that would be a good idea - to keep exposing her in a more controlled environment first. Like I said before, I do not want to be the bad owner at the park who has a bully for a dog - I certainly do not want my dog attacking others at a dog park where it's meant for dogs to run freely and safely without having to worry about aggressive dogs.

[Latrans]

CrisaTsuki

Latrans

I would not take a dog with a history of aggression to a dog park. I am furious at owners who do so at the park I frequent. I have been forced to get physical with other's dogs in order to protect my own. With something as large and powerful as a mastiff that goes double.

Could you find other classes to sign her up for? Keep taking her to training classes where she'll interact with strange dogs in a controlled setting? Maybe find friends with bombproof dogs and meet up in a controlled way?

We do have a friend who has a dog and he's volunteered her for experimenting. I think that would be a good idea - to keep exposing her in a more controlled environment first. Like I said before, I do not want to be the bad owner at the park who has a bully for a dog - I certainly do not want my dog attacking others at a dog park where it's meant for dogs to run freely and safely without having to worry about aggressive dogs.

It sounds like you already play the look-at-that game with her, which is a great step. Maybe you could try going to leashed parks?

Ask your trainer if she thinks it's a good idea.

If her aggression is fear based, then the dog park isn't a good idea anyway. It can be loud and overwhelming.

[Frankly Scarlett]

Latrans

CrisaTsuki

Latrans

I would not take a dog with a history of aggression to a dog park. I am furious at owners who do so at the park I frequent. I have been forced to get physical with other's dogs in order to protect my own. With something as large and powerful as a mastiff that goes double.

Could you find other classes to sign her up for? Keep taking her to training classes where she'll interact with strange dogs in a controlled setting? Maybe find friends with bombproof dogs and meet up in a controlled way?

We do have a friend who has a dog and he's volunteered her for experimenting. I think that would be a good idea - to keep exposing her in a more controlled environment first. Like I said before, I do not want to be the bad owner at the park who has a bully for a dog - I certainly do not want my dog attacking others at a dog park where it's meant for dogs to run freely and safely without having to worry about aggressive dogs.

It sounds like you already play the look-at-that game with her, which is a great step. Maybe you could try going to leashed parks?

Ask your trainer if she thinks it's a good idea.

If her aggression is fear based, then the dog park isn't a good idea anyway. It can be loud and overwhelming.

I do not think her aggression is fear based. Our trainer said that she displays more so of a territorial aggression or a protection aggression, trying to protect us from other strange dogs. We are taking both our dogs to the lake today on leashes where there will be other dogs on leashes (leashes are required for pets). So we will be able to monitor and control her better than we would in a no leash dog park.

I'll give my trainer a call and see what she thinks as well!

[Latrans]

CrisaTsuki

Latrans

CrisaTsuki

Latrans

I would not take a dog with a history of aggression to a dog park. I am furious at owners who do so at the park I frequent. I have been forced to get physical with other's dogs in order to protect my own. With something as large and powerful as a mastiff that goes double.

Could you find other classes to sign her up for? Keep taking her to training classes where she'll interact with strange dogs in a controlled setting? Maybe find friends with bombproof dogs and meet up in a controlled way?

We do have a friend who has a dog and he's volunteered her for experimenting. I think that would be a good idea - to keep exposing her in a more controlled environment first. Like I said before, I do not want to be the bad owner at the park who has a bully for a dog - I certainly do not want my dog attacking others at a dog park where it's meant for dogs to run freely and safely without having to worry about aggressive dogs.

It sounds like you already play the look-at-that game with her, which is a great step. Maybe you could try going to leashed parks?

Ask your trainer if she thinks it's a good idea.

If her aggression is fear based, then the dog park isn't a good idea anyway. It can be loud and overwhelming.

I do not think her aggression is fear based. Our trainer said that she displays more so of a territorial aggression or a protection aggression, trying to protect us from other strange dogs. We are taking both our dogs to the lake today on leashes where there will be other dogs on leashes (leashes are required for pets). So we will be able to monitor and control her better than we would in a no leash dog park.

I'll give my trainer a call and see what she thinks as well!

Yeah, please don't take your dog to the dog park. Using other people's dogs without their consent when you know your dog is very likely to have a problem with them isn't right.

[Smittenkitten92]

I wouldn't take her in to the dog park yet, but I would take her and walk her around the dog park so she is near it.
Dog parks are really quite high stress especially for a dog like her, so you would be exposing her to it, but not throwing her into it. I would also go with your chihuahua and talk to some people with bigger dogs and ask if they were willing to help you work on your girls socialization skills, you could maybe meet them while their heading to the park so she has the distraction of all the other dogs and chaos in the park, but is separated from it.
Also when you feel comfortable take her through it on leash, you can still remove her from a situation.
If another persons dog is aggressive, don't be shy to forcibly move it, a lot of people dont take the care you obviously have to make sure an incident doesnt occur.

[zombie amoureux]

I agree with the idea of taking her to a different park on-leash for a while first, and eventually taking her around the park on a leash so she can smell/see the dogs but can't get too them, just to see how she reacts.

[SmoothSavage]

I would never take her to a dog park. Hell, I don't take my social dog to dog parks. They're just bad news. People rarely pay attention to their dogs, let alone have control over them. People can and often do bring aggressive dogs to the parks. Not to mention rude dogs, overactive dogs, or dogs with fear issues.

Its not an environment you can control, and all it would take is one dog being a jerk to yours to start a fight.

[friendsh1p is magic]

Leash her. Let her see your chi run around and have fun.
Keep up with your classes and etc while you do.
She should be fine after awhile on a leash and continued work.

stop eatin' other people's old french fries, pigeon, have some self respect, don't you know you can fly?

[Frankly Scarlett]

Savage Destiny

I would never take her to a dog park. Hell, I don't take my social dog to dog parks. They're just bad news. People rarely pay attention to their dogs, let alone have control over them. People can and often do bring aggressive dogs to the parks. Not to mention rude dogs, overactive dogs, or dogs with fear issues.

Its not an environment you can control, and all it would take is one dog being a jerk to yours to start a fight.

This is unfortunately true that some people don't even think before bringing their aggressive dogs to the park. That is why I'm still insure whether or not she is ready. I think maybe some more training sessions is in order for her and then baby steps to see. But I'm really hesitant because we did have a bad run in with a horrible aggressive German Shepherd whose owner actually encouraged the aggressive behavior - toward my Chihuahua! Seriously? What is a Chihuahua going to do to a German Shepherd? He kept goading his dog to attack mine and I got sick of it so I picked my dog up and told him that he needs to learn to teach his dog obedience and respect for other dogs!

I don't go to that dog park anymore - I go to one specifically for small dogs now.