The Dog Park

This weekend has been an amazing one for Jack, and therefore for me as well.  I finally got over to the city animal services office to get him licensed a couple weeks ago, so we were then officially allowed into the dog park (not that anyone is checking.) 

If you'll remember, Jack has struggled with his doggie social skills for as long as I've known him.  He loves to meet other dogs, but it has invariably lead to a scuffle - not the friendly kind, but not really the 'I'm going to kill you' kind either.  I've been a little discouraged, because he obviously wants very much to play with Molly, but she's not ever interested.  I haven't been sure of the best way to socialize him, though I've thought of a lot of options.  I've heard that the dog park isn't usually the best place to socialize a dog, simply because you don't always know what kinds of dogs you'll have in the mix; you could end up with a bunch of neurotics that have a bad influence and teach your dog all the wrong things.  It's true though, that dogs are better able to teach other dogs than people are, and I knew that getting him in with some good-natured, well-behaved dogs would be a great thing. 

Over the last few months as I've gotten to know Jack, I've learned to read his body language better, I've found some confidence in dealing with him, and I've learned to trust my instincts a little better.  In addition, I've read a lot more about dog behavior in general.  As such, I felt good about getting him some exposure to other dogs a little at a time.  So Celeste and I took him to the dog park several nights ago around 8 or so, and it was dark and empty.  This was exactly what I wanted to start out with - the opportunity for him to just run around by himself and smell all the other dogs who have been there.  He enjoyed himself I think, but he was very intense, and he was very quiet - traditional behaviors for him in the past that commonly lead to scuffles.  Celeste and I worked with him, talking to him in quiet, calm voices, and giving him praise whenever the intensity lessened.  We left after he had started to look more his happy-go-lucky self. 

With the extra time off this weekend I was excited to take him to the next step, and I had a plan for it.  When I took him to the park again on Friday morning around 11:30 or so, there were probably 8-10 other dogs there - all big dogs, Malamutes, Newfoundlands, Huskies, etc., which would be big enough to play hard with him if things worked out, and also big enough to hopefully teach him to be a bit more submissive in his interactions.  I didn't know these dogs though, nor did I want to rush into anything, so we took it very slow. 

First of all I had attached his leash to both his regular collar and his harness, to provide extra control and less worry about him coming out if he started bucking around.  We walked slowly to the outside of the fence around the park and I just worked to keep him as calm as possible - talking to him quietly when he seemed to be developing tunnel vision, making him sit (which is a more submissive position than standing), and pushing his tail down a bit.  Tails can be a good way to identify a dog's state of mind - we've all seen dogs with their tails between their legs, and we probably all know that this position of the tail usually signifies fear or timidity and definite submissiveness.  On an episode of the Dog Whisperer, the so-called Dog Whisperer was working with a dog like this - so submissive and afraid that she couldn't even function, couldn't even walk around.  He talked about how the tail going under the legs and the fear can become a vicious cycle, and that one way to help stop the cycle was to pull the tail out from under the dogs legs, again and again.  Well, I thought the opposite might be likely to be true as well, and since I already knew that a dog with their tail in a very high position (not counting the ones whose tails are just like that) are usually dominant and/or aggressive, I would just run my hand down his back and over his tail whenever he started to hyper-focus, and honestly it seemed to make a big difference, along with everything else. 

He struggled, and required a reality check every so often, usually in the form of a gentle kick with the very bottom of my shoe to his hind end (nowhere near painful or violent mind you).  He started to be calmer though, and for longer periods of time, so we continued to walk slowly toward the entrance to the park.  At this point (I realize I'm giving you a play-by-play here, but it's in large part for my own future reference) all but one of the other dogs and their owners started to leave, so we walked back to the parking lot and stayed behind a chain link fence while the other dogs were loading into the cars and stuff.  Jack was doing better and better, and was much quicker to sit when I asked him to.  This told me that he wasn't hyper-focusing anymore - that he could hear me again.  So we started toward the entrance again, and saw that the only dog left was a medium-sized puppy that was clearly interested in playing, but was timid enough that he didn't really want to leave his owner.  I figured this would be a great opportunity for us to enter the park, because I knew I could control Jack on his leash as long as there weren't dogs rushing at him at top speed.  We just went in and stood quietly away from the other dog, and just watched him.  Eventually another dog came and this one was a German Shepherd, so I was a little wary.  It was quickly obvious though that she was extremely good-natured and well-behaved.  She came over to sniff Jack for a couple of seconds, but then ran off to play - not allowing Jack's intensity level to grow.  One more dog came, a 5-month-old male Siberian Husky, and he and the Shepherd ran around and played for a little while.  During this time, Jack's demeanor had changed - he was starting to cry a little, and was clearly eager to join in the play.  Before, he never cried around other dogs - always growled - so this was a great sign.  The Shepherd could very well have noticed this change herself, because she came back and started to teach Jack how to play.  They did amazingly well, and so I asked the other owner if he would mind if I took Jack's leash off.  He had no problem, so I let Jack loose so they could play and not get tangled in the leash.  It was so amazing for me to see - I was so excited to see him!  They played so well - rough, but not too rough - such that I really had no question as to whether or not it was good and healthy play. 

The Husky joined in, and they all played together until Jack at least was starting to get a little tired, which, believe me, was another amazing thing to see!  We stayed for awhile and then left - all in all I think we were probably gone for a couple of hours. 

I took him again yesterday and then again today, and have continued to take a slow cautious approach each time as he gets used to the idea of getting along again.  It's been great - though today has led me to want to post about something else too.  That's a soap-box for another day though, so I'll finish today with a cheesy three cheers for Jack!