Puppy got attacked at the dog park...still in tears...what now?

[Shade]

Personally 6 months would be the minimum age I would bring a dog to a dog park, puppies are too often targeted by adults not used to dealing with them. For puppies I prefer good adult dog socialization which is supervised

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by GoSailGo

Navarro just turned 16 weeks and we started going to the dog park, since I don't know many people with dogs and he seemed quite timid of them. He's only come out of his shell once when there was another puppy at the park, but other than that usually just sits under the bench and watches. Today though there were people sitting about 10 feet away from us and he started to have fun running between me and them. Out of nowhere this dog ran over, no warning no smelling no nothing and attacked him...pretty sure he wanted to kill him. Navarro started wailing while this thing was over top of him biting at his neck. The people I was sitting near pulled him off, and Navarro ran under the bench crying. The owner of the dog took him over to the other side of the park. Navarro jumped on the bench and hid behind me as I was trying to calm him down, but about 2 minutes later the dog ran back across the park, leaped on the bench and latched on to Navarro's neck again. They both fell to the ground, the dog was pulled off and owner told to leave. She told us it was because we were sitting near the water (50 ft away). Thankfully there were enough people there to encourage him to get off the bench after about 10 minutes and walk a lap of the park before we left. Got home. Had a good cry. Now I have NO idea what to do. We're both traumatized and I don't know if or when we should go back to the park. I don't know why that dog went out of his way to attack Navarro. I can't find any cuts on him, but he has a broken puppy tooth and the girl that pull the dog off had her arm bitten. I feel so awful for putting him in that situation. This is the most awful day.

Don't want to gang up on you, but why did you take a baby into an adult dog park? And esp. why did you stay there once your puppy was jumped on one time?

Did you grab the attacking dog and kick his/her behind up and down the park? You are his protector and pack leader as long as he is a baby (later you will switch this role with a good GSD!).

Do NOT go back to the park - find an OB class or maybe meet some owners with what you know arepuppies and'or some friendly dogs.

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by Shade

Personally 6 months would be the minimum age I would bring a dog to a dog park, puppies are too often targeted by adults not used to dealing with them. For puppies I prefer good adult dog socialization which is supervised

Good idea!

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by Courtney

Is it unusual that a puppy would be attacked by an adult dog like that?

With normal stable adult dogs, yes absolutely, esp. with a baby that young, BUT not so much with the whackos (dogsd and owners) that you will see in the average dog park.

[Liesje]

Originally Posted by Courtney

Is it unusual that a puppy would be attacked by an adult dog like that?

I don't know if adult vs. puppy is as much a factor as the OP saying the dog was already acting timid around other dogs. I have seen stable dogs target timid dogs. One of my dogs will pick on a real timid/submissive dog if I let him and the funny thing is, of all my dogs HE is the most submissive and gentle when it comes to play (likes to run and chase but doesn't like using his mouth and doesn't like rough wrestling so he rarely tries to play with my GSDs). Also since we weren't there we don't know what really happened, if the puppy was actually "attacked" or what. Sometimes people watch my dogs play and think they are fighting but I've had some seriously rough 'n tumble foster dogs!

[Blanketback]

Originally Posted by codmaster

Did you grab the attacking dog and kick his/her behind up and down the park?

Now that's the spirit!

I'm sorry that happened. I didn't take my puppy to the dog park until he was 10 months old, but that doesn't mean he didn't have any bad experiences. A few times people said their dogs were good with others, but I found out the hard way that they weren't. One friend's GSD was great with him when he was 9 weeks old, but flipped him on his back when he was 16 weeks. Maybe that's the magic age when the "puppy pass" starts to fade? My mother's dog attacked him too....and every time I felt terrible.


Don't beat yourself up, although I know that's easier said than done. I'm going to go against the grain and say you should go back to the dog park, but try to find a time when nobody is there, and have a really good time full of extra special treats and games. I would - I took my puppy to the dog park the day after my mom's dog attacked, so he didn't have lingering bad impressions about other dogs in general.

But I wouldn't let him play with any other dogs there, not unless you know that they're friendly. And if someone shows up before you have a chance to leave, and it looks like trouble, don't forget codmaster's quote above!

[KZoppa]

I'm sorry this happened. After the initial incident, you should have left to prevent it happening again. Also would suggest you stay away from dog parks. Too many things can go wrong really easily. Especially to pups who are shy of other dogs. Get involved with puppy classes and socialize that way. It's a controlled environment. I NEVER take puppies to a dog park. Ever. Riley went to the dog park after he was a year old. Everything was fine because we knew the regulars and all the dogs got along great but a Saint Bernard who was not a regular and shouldnt have been at the park to begin with (severely dog aggressive) almost killed him. We stopped going when we knew she was there. If she came in, we left out the back gate. He never went to a dog park again after he was 2 years old. He became extremely reactive after that incident.

Dog parks are bad news in a great many cases.

[GoSailGo]

To all the people saying you shouldn't take a baby to the dog park, I would say that not as many people are fully aware of this as you would think. I waited until he was 16 weeks, but there were puppies there as young as 11 weeks old (an aussie cattle dog who he had played with two days prior to this incident).

Anyways, thank you everyone for the advice.

[Kayos and Havoc]

No dog parks.... bad news. Hope your little guy overcomes this. Form what you said about the other adult dog that came over later, he should be okay. But stay away from the dog park. They are fights looking for a place to happen.

[katdog5911]

Both of my dogs have been attacked at dog parks...different times....different parks.

I think that when a dog park is good....it is great.
But when it is bad.....it is horrible.

We no longer go except for outside the park for some obedience training. Or I have gone when no one is there just for some off leash time besides in the yard.

Doggie daycare worked will for us up until a few weeks ago. And my dog was the aggressor.

Obedience class, nose work etc keep her occupied now. And hopefully in the spring we can get together with some doggie friends....