I have a 3 year old, neutered Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. We got him from the animal shelter, so he could be a mix, but he's pretty close. Anyway, we got him at the end of last summer (about 7 months ago) and we've recently started taking him to the dog park. When we are there, he growls at the other dogs and sometimes at people. He has never gotten into any kind of fight and never bitten anyone. He's only ever snapped at someone once and it was just my husband. We think he may have some alpha-dog tendancies and he has responded well to training in our home. However, when we go out in public he continues to growl at the dogs who approach him. It seems like it may be some kind of play for him because if a dog turns and runs away, he happily gives chase. Ususally what happens, though, is the other dogs just don't play with him and some of the parents get nervous. Is this behavior normal? If not, what shoudl I do about it?
I also fell like it's important to mention the fact that my dog hardly ever barks, but seems to growl instead. If he were at the dog park barking at other dogs and people, I think that everyone's reaction would be quite different. Also, I feel like the growling may have something to do with me, like he may be trying to protect me or something. He doesn't growl nearly as much when my husband comes with us. I realize that growling is bad, and, even before this, we had planned on joinging a training class this summer, but do you think we need to keep the dog out of the dog park until then?
No, this behavior is not normal.
My first bit of advice, before I say anything else, would be that you really need to stop going to the dog park at this point. While you might think that's a great way to socialize your dog, your dog is obviously not comfortable in this environment, and you have an accident waiting to happen – your dog might bite another dog or another person.
What it sounds like to me is that you don't have an alpha dog, but a dog that is fearful aggressive.
If you watch his body language, is his tail lowered? Are his hackles up? Does he seem tensed up, with ears to the side or ears back? All of those can be signs of an anxious or fearful dog, and a lot of scared dogs go to fear aggression when they feel there's no other way to get out of a situation in which they feel cornered or threatened, such as the dog park where many dogs might crowd him or run toward him, and a lot of strange people are around and may touch him.
The first thing you should do is keep him out of this environment. Dog parks in general are not a great idea because dogs are pack animals and don't really need to socialize outside of their pack. A one-on-one play date with another dog in your neighborhood might be a much better solution and will be less overwhelming for your pup.
The other problem with dog parks is that many owners don't understand dog behavior and don't realize when their dog is being aggressive or bullying another dog, and therefore do nothing to stop it. If you have a fearful dog, exposing him to other dogs that may be out of control, can add to his fear and make him more fear aggressive.
What I would suggest is that you sign up for obedience classes somewhere in your area and make sure to address the fear aggression with a trainer there. Make sure the trainers are APDT accredited, not some facility / store employee with little training or knowledge regarding training.
A class environment will expose your dog to other dogs in a controlled environment. The goal is to get your dog working nicely on his leash even if there are other dogs around, and a good class helps tremendously with that.
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