Dog Park Etiquette: Dog Size Differential and Over-Exuberance

I feel a little petty for this one, almost like I’m becoming a small dog person, despite my love for the big ones. But at the same time, a little awareness on the part of owners doesn’t seem like it should be too much to ask. So here we go.

When you have an over-exuberant dog, especially when that dog is easily close to 100lbs and is a Pit mix, you, as the owner, MUST be aware of how your dog’s behavior is going to effect other dogs and their owners, especially when the group of dogs your dog is running up to doesn’t contain any animal over 50lbs.

When your dog has that much energy and excitement (and the dog park is definitely an exciting place), I don’t think its too much to ask that you find a way to use up some of your dog’s energy before it bounds into the group of dogs that are all half its size.

Now, I know that at some dog parks, this can be a challenge, but at our regular park, its not. The place is huge, but there is only one area where dogs and owners tend to gather in a scrum, and only one entrance that leads directly to that area. Waiting until your dog is less than 10 yards away from that area before letting it off leash compounds the problem.

So please, if you have the option, go a direction that will let your dog run off some of its energy before it goes to play with the other dogs. Because your dog was sweet, and not actually a problem beyond over-exuberance.

But there were people with older dogs there, older dogs that had been doing really well in the group until your dog kept jumping on them, who had to separate themselves from the scrum because of your dog.

See, your dog bounded in and kept jumping on these two dogs (the two that were half his size instead of one quarter his size). The dogs didn’t like it and let your dog know with an appropriate short growl. Your dog, in his exuberance, kept jumping on them, and then when they warned him again, responded with his own growl.

You came over and called him away. He stayed away for about 30 seconds and then situation repeated itself. After about four go rounds, the people with the other dogs decided they didn’t want to risk anything more and moved away.

Your dog kept jumping on smaller dogs and making them nervous and a little frightened. You responded by telling people that your dog was a sweetheart. And I don’t doubt he is. You I’m not so sure about.

See, it was pretty obvious that your dog had too much pent up energy at that point to play appropriately with the dogs that were around him. I’ll bet a circuit around the park (or even one or two just around the lower parts of the park) would have let your dog run some energy out to the point that he wasn’t a danger to smaller dogs.

And yes, his exuberance was dangerous to dogs that much smaller than him, even if he wasn’t trying to do anything other than play. And you should know this. (And I would argue that you did know this, as he was wearing a complicated training/prong collar that you never actually removed the leash from, you just tucked it up under the collar, but in a way you could easily grab it if needed.)

Again, I think I feel worse about this because I love Pits, but especially when you are a pit owner, you must, MUST be aware of how your dogs behavior effects the dogs and owners around him.

So please, let him run off some of that energy before he comes in to pounce my 23lb dog, who thinks he’s the same size as your dog.