[Justine.Jansone]

We have a 9 month old GSD/Malinois Mix. We are first time owners but knew exactly what we were getting into, did all research etc. Benji is very well trained and picks things up extremely fast. Especially body language of other dogs, giving space etc. in the local area we have a lot of dogs and some we see on a frequent basis in the park. There is a 6 month old bully who is almost always on lead. last week the owner decided to let him off so they could play (benji is mostly offlead and has great recall - and ofc as part malinois more interested in training and his humans than anything else unless given permission). the pup started jumping up at benji and even though he is 6 months he is the same size as Benji. benji gave him a warning which the other dog did not register and in the end pinned him as the pup continued to jump up at benji and me and my bf. There is also a 6 motnh old cocker spaniel (considerably smaller) who does the exact same thing. She has 0 recall and came dashing over to us from the other side of the park. She came striaght to me and my bf to say hi, jumping up at us etc. benji told her off and when she started jumping on him he pinned her. then let her go. he tried to initiate play by chasing, and trying to get her to chase him but she was more interested at jumping on us to say hi, so again he tried to correct her. We couldnt do much as her owner was still far away so i told my bf to ignore the puppy and not pet as it would encourage more jumping, and we waited for the owner to get to us.

a seperate incident was a 1yo black lab who jumped up on me, benji got inbtween us andbarked at him (no pinning as he got the hint)

My question is should I allow these corrections? I'm conserned it could lead to resource guarding toward us as he really hates when other dogs jump on us. He has never jumped on other dogs and has always been cautious when approaching, waiting to sniff the nose and start play that way.

Thank you!

 

[dogma13]

Sounds like your dog is acting appropriately. The danger lies when you and benji run across a dog that won't take no for an answer and a nasty fight ensues.The dogs and people involved are likely to be seriously hurt and your dog's attitude towards other dogs is likely to change for the worse.The safest route is to find a couple of known dogs and their owners and get together with them exclusively.

 

[Justine.Jansone]

Sounds like your dog is acting appropriately. The danger lies when you and benji run across a dog that won't take no for an answer and a nasty fight ensues.The dogs and people involved are likely to be seriously hurt and your dog's attitude towards other dogs is likely to change for the worse. The safest route is to find a couple of known dogs and their owners and get together with them exclusively.

Thank you! We have a 2yo Huntaway friend (m) who he is very respectful towards (he is very well trained) and we have frequent playdates with him. He also has a 14 month old Akita (f) friend. When the Akita gets too much for Benji (she is a lot bigger, stronger, excited - she is not trained - rescue pup) he comes back to us and goes in his recall position which is a sit between mine or my boyfriends legs. The Akita owner has worked with dogs all his life and recognises that is the sign that benji has had enough and gets the Akita back. (she is always on a long line - like i said issues as shes a rescue and had a tough beginning in life). Funnily enough the Akita is terrified of every single dog she met but somehow they became best friends with Benji. She used to watch us as we played fetch and one day the owner mentioned it so we let them meet. since then he normally brings his longline so she can play

 

[Justine.Jansone]

Sounds like your dog is acting appropriately. The danger lies when you and benji run across a dog that won't take no for an answer and a nasty fight ensues.The dogs and people involved are likely to be seriously hurt and your dog's attitude towards other dogs is likely to change for the worse.The safest route is to find a couple of known dogs and their owners and get together with them exclusively.

The issue I think is that a lot of people got puppies due to the pandemic and not a lot of them are trained or socialised properly. I am confident i can recall benji or stop him correcting another dog but like you said i have no idea how the other dog could react. as a pup he has been corrected by other dogs which we let happen so he would learn some manners (personal space and so on). Thankfully we have not yet come across the wrong dog but i will keep your comments in mind!

 

[WNGD]

My opinion?
No your dog should be taking it upon himself and no, you shouldn't allow your dog to pin other dogs simply for being poorly trained and jumping up on you and being friendly.

Other people's unruly dogs are a fact of life and it's up to us to keep our dogs out of a bad situation. If your Mal ends up biting some little jumper, you'll be at fault and he'll pay the price for it. jmo.

 

[Justine.Jansone]

My opinion?
No your dog should be taking it upon himself and no, you shouldn't allow your dog to pin other dogs simply for being poorly trained and jumping up on you and being friendly.

Other people's unruly dogs are a fact of life and it's up to us to keep our dogs out of a bad situation. If your Mal ends up biting some little jumper, you'll be at fault and he'll pay the price for it. jmo.

Thank you Any advice on how to stop the behaviour?

 

[RabanJr]

Thank you Any advice on how to stop the behaviour?

I would start by finding somewhere else to take your dog. You mentioned “park”. Is it a public park or a dog park?
If a dog park, your looking for trouble. If a public park, the dogs should probably legally be leashed. Whatever the case, I would try to find somewhere else, or go at a time when there is no one there.

Just a thought.

 

[Justine.Jansone]

I would start by finding somewhere else to take your dog. You mentioned “park”. Is it a public park or a dog park?
If a dog park, your looking for trouble. If a public park, the dogs should probably legally be leashed. Whatever the case, I would try to find somewhere else, or go at a time when there is no one there.

Just a thought.

its a public park, and they dont have to be leashed. i would normally go earlier in the mornings to avoid dog traffic however there has been a huge increase in dog theft and i dont feel safe alone (had an incident last week of a man stalking us, taking photos and trying to recall my dog by whisling) :/

 

[RabanJr]

there has been a huge increase in dog theft and i dont feel safe alone (had an incident last week of a man stalking us, taking photos and trying to recall my dog by whisling) :/

Are there any other places to go? That park doesn’t sound like a place anyone should go to.

 

[Justine.Jansone]

Are there any other places to go? That park doesn’t sound like a place anyone should go to.

We are in lockdown and not allowed to travel, would love to take him to the peak district but there are fines for travelling outside your local area (local meaning walking distance). We have 2 parks nearby - the one where we see the puppies and the stalker (I dont go there alone anymore) and a bigger park which has children, cyclists and a lot of dogs. in the big park he is on lead all the time but it doesnt stop other dogs from running over. Today we were practicing people/dog watching (sat on a bench away from the main path) and 2 little dogs came rushing over. Owner made no attempt to recall or apologise. His dogs were patronising benji, running up and away and barking at him...(he wanted to play but i wouldnt allow him to get closer - he was on a 10m long line). We live in the city so not much choice. The shorter i made benji's long line the closer the other dogs came (but never actually within touching distance).

 

[RabanJr]

We are in lockdown and not allowed to travel, would love to take him to the peak district but there are fines for travelling outside your local area (local meaning walking distance). We have 2 parks nearby - the one where we see the puppies and the stalker (I dont go there alone anymore) and a bigger park which has children, cyclists and a lot of dogs. in the big park he is on lead all the time but it doesnt stop other dogs from running over. Today we were practicing people/dog watching (sat on a bench away from the main path) and 2 little dogs came rushing over. Owner made no attempt to recall or apologise. His dogs were patronising benji, running up and away and barking at him...(he wanted to play but i wouldnt allow him to get closer - he was on a 10m long line). We live in the city so not much choice. The shorter i made benji's long line the closer the other dogs came (but never actually within touching distance).

Ahh...I just noticed that you are in England. Yes, the whole lockdown situation does affect our way of life.
I'm sure some much more experienced than myself will chime in.

 

[Justine.Jansone]

Ahh...I just noticed that you are in England. Yes, the whole lockdown situation does affect our way of life.
I'm sure some much more experienced than myself will chime in.

Ive spoken to the lady who has the Huntaway and we will organise more playdates with her, hopefully it should slow him down a little whole situation is shitty...only reason for dog theft is bc prices of puppies have gone from 500 to 2k since last year. There are people in vans pretending to be RSPCA (animal welfare charity) who stop people on walks and say your dog matches a stolen/missing dog and they need to take them to check for a chip. Even going as far as knocking on people's doors and removign dogs from homes. Hopefully we should be easing restrictions in March/April and we can travel a little further Lady with Huntaway is training to be a dog trainer so working with her dog is perfect for benji

 

[Squidwardp]

I used to take my female (pictured) to dog parks. She loved it, and most of the experiences were good. BUT. . .I tend to side with those who say many GSDs are not a natural fit for dog parks. , I'd guess the same for Mals, though they have a little different temperament, those differences would not likely make them better dog park candidates). Eventually, I stopped going, partly due to COVID, partly due to one experience that seemed to be headed south when my girl was a puppy, and partly because formal training for me, my wife and our dogs started taking up time.

Many on this forum have stated reasons why they like dog parks, and why that is an integral part of their life with their dogs. I'm not saying that is never the case with GSDs or similar working type dogs. But I think it is a potential minefield. You can never control how other dogs and owners act. Many owners go to dog parks to socialize (at least that is the case in the US), and zone out on their cellphone or talking to other people, and become unmindful of their dogs. If a fight erupts between an unmannered Lab, Golden Doodle, or a Mutt, and a GSD, Mal (you could probably add Rott or Doberman), however the fight comes out, the dog associated with guard, military and police work is more apt to be blamed. Kind of a no-win situation. While I've never had a throw down over dog aggression, despite my sometimes chippy nature , I could easily see it happening, and I've heard of escalation between owners where one person's dog pins the other, either a fight breaks out, or some growling and posturing that sounds worse than it is. People see their dogs as their fur-bearing children, I'm guilty of it too, and they react accordingly.

I can understand the appeal of the concept. We've met some nice people, and socialized with well-mannered dogs. But I've also seen (or more often heard from a distance) any number of dog fights break out. So we tend to walk outs, on leash, take them to training 1-2 times per week, and let them off leash or on long leads when the situation allows it safely ( a big, fenced, empty baseball diamond, e.g.).

So, on balance, exceptions noted, and based on real experience, not just knee jerk prejudices against such things, I am wary of dog parks.

I do think that even the proponents of such for GSDs would have to admit any kind of real training in a dog park setting is like trying to get kids to tackle algebra at Disneyland.

 

[Squidwardp]

Geez, I should proofread: "We tend to walk OURS on leash, etc, etc.

 

[Justine.Jansone]

I used to take my female (pictured) to dog parks. She loved it, and most of the experiences were good. BUT. . .I tend to side with those who say many GSDs are not a natural fit for dog parks. , I'd guess the same for Mals, though they have a little different temperament, those differences would not likely make them better dog park candidates). Eventually, I stopped going, partly due to COVID, partly due to one experience that seemed to be headed south when my girl was a puppy, and partly because formal training for me, my wife and our dogs started taking up time.

Many on this forum have stated reasons why they like dog parks, and why that is an integral part of their life with their dogs. I'm not saying that is never the case with GSDs or similar working type dogs. But I think it is a potential minefield. You can never control how other dogs and owners act. Many owners go to dog parks to socialize (at least that is the case in the US), and zone out on their cellphone or talking to other people, and become unmindful of their dogs. If a fight erupts between an unmannered Lab, Golden Doodle, or a Mutt, and a GSD, Mal (you could probably add Rott or Doberman), however the fight comes out, the dog associated with guard, military and police work is more apt to be blamed. Kind of a no-win situation. While I've never had a throw down over dog aggression, despite my sometimes chippy nature , I could easily see it happening, and I've heard of escalation between owners where one person's dog pins the other, either a fight breaks out, or some growling and posturing that sounds worse than it is. People see their dogs as their fur-bearing children, I'm guilty of it too, and they react accordingly.

I can understand the appeal of the concept. We've met some nice people, and socialized with well-mannered dogs. But I've also seen (or more often heard from a distance) any number of dog fights break out. So we tend to walk outs, on leash, take them to training 1-2 times per week, and let them off leash or on long leads when the situation allows it safely ( a big, fenced, empty baseball diamond, e.g.).

So, on balance, exceptions noted, and based on real experience, not just knee jerk prejudices against such things, I am wary of dog parks.

I do think that even the proponents of such for GSDs would have to admit any kind of real training in a dog park setting is like trying to get kids to tackle algebra at Disneyland.

Thank you this is very helpful! thats the biggest issue - people not focusing on their dogs. I try to avoid chatting to other owners so i can focus on my dog. I wish there was somewhere we could go for him to unwind but due to covid all training facilities are closed. He is very good at staying with us and not running off but as you said i have no control over other dogs or owners, and if anything did go wrong benji would be classed as an aggressive/dangerous dog and may be put down :/ for now i will keep him on lead anyway (due to thefts i mentioned) and we will people/dog watch from a distance. I'm looking into some agility equipment for him that we can set up in our back garden for training.

 

[Whiteshepherds]

My question is should I allow these corrections? I'm conserned it could lead to resource guarding toward us as he really hates when other dogs jump on us. He has never jumped on other dogs and has always been cautious when approaching, waiting to sniff the nose and start play that way.
Thank you!

I wouldn't be surprised if it gets worse as he gets older because it seems like you're giving him permission to decide who gets to be near you. If it was me no, I wouldn't allow him to correct another dog for jumping on me, especially if those other dogs are puppies.

 

[RabanJr]

I wouldn't be surprised if it gets worse as he gets older because it seems like you're giving him permission to decide who gets to be near you. If it was me no, I wouldn't allow him to correct another dog for jumping on me, especially if those other dogs are puppies.

My thoughts exactly

 

[Justine.Jansone]

I wouldn't be surprised if it gets worse as he gets older because it seems like you're giving him permission to decide who gets to be near you. If it was me no, I wouldn't allow him to correct another dog for jumping on me, especially if those other dogs are puppies.

Thank you! I can see how this behavior could escalate as i thought it is related to resource guarding (i.e. not allowing others to approach us)

 

[tim_s_adams]

Thank you! I can see how this behavior could escalate as i thought it is related to resource guarding (i.e. not allowing others to approach us)

I don't want to put words in anyone else's mouth, but unless I misunderstood @Whiteshepherds statement, it sounded like what was said was more directed at your dog's behavior, not the puppy's.

From my perspective it's helpful to think about what you want your dog to be long-term. If you react to his behavior by keeping him away from puppies and/or other dogs, he learns nothing about reacting appropriately in the future.

If, on the other hand, you steer him to stop the behavior now, you can extinguish it for future encounters. And keeping him away from jumping puppies now won't allow you to teach him that!

If it were me, and I have been in this same situation with my own dog and others, I would just verbally correct him while you continue to pet and interact with the puppy.

I also would not allow a dog to show any type of jealousy, like trying to get between you and another friendly dog. With my own dog, I would just calmly dissuade the jealous behavior of my own dog verbally, or even by gently pushing her away, while continuing to pet and interact with the other dog (which I do and always have, frequently).

She now knows, if I'm petting or interacting with another dog, leave me and that dog alone. Which is exactly the behavior I was after!

So again, it all depends on where you want to get with your dog in the future.

 

[wolfy dog]

Your dog needs you more than he needs other dogs for play. You also are likely to run into trouble with other owners who do not understand behavior and think that everything goes because their dog is "just a puppy". I stay clear of dog parks.