What do you consider play or too aggressive?

[Wayne@Genesis]

What do you consider a dog playing between a dog being aggressive.

Backstory: I have taken my dog to a dog park near my home a few times... Usually the owners are pretty chill and let the dogs play around. If things start to get a little out of hand, the owners usually step in and take control of the situation. The 5th time i took my dog there, an owner brought 3 dogs to the park with him. First off, he takes his dogs to the corner and plays with them only. After a few minutes his dogs go running off and start playing with other dogs, mine included. Another few mintues go by, and he has herded his 3 dogs onto a table in the other side of the park. I noticed someone else dog go up to the table and his dog started going ape shit and snapping at the one dog... I didn't say anything about... Anyways, 10 minutes later all the dogs are running around playing and stuff... One of his dogs lays down on his back and 3 dogs are over him/her pawing, barking, etc... including my dog... Well, my dog is doing a playful gnawing (looks like playful, its not a full on bite) at his dogs ear/neck area, i noticed my dog doing it so i step in and pull my dog off... As i'm getting my dog, he starts bitching at me about how my dog is biting his and that my dog is too aggressive. I mutter something back to him and to avoid further confrontation, i just remove my dog and we leave.

Now, my question. Is my dog just playing, or is she being aggressive?

[mike]

If it was aggressive, the other dog would be freaking out and your dog would be doing a lot more damage. They are dogs, its what they do. The play around, nip bark, growl all to lay down who is the dominant one of the moment. If the other guy thinks his dogs are being picked on, then he shouldn't go to the dog park.

[Socal]

were your dogs hackles up? from your story its sounds like they are playing and that guy is just overreacting. side note who takes their dog to the dog park and dosnt want the dogs to play.

[Wayne@Genesis]

I don't rememeber if her hackles were up, it was like a month ago. I haven't taken my dog back to the park since then. I talked to a few other owners and they said she was playing and they usually let it go. I know, it annoyed me that he took his dogs to the park and tried to keep them seperated from the rest of the dogs.

[GTiGirl]

What are hackles?

[TOYr32]

I imagine she was just playing, because the tone of bark and growl change with aggression. Also, her ears would be a dead give away also.

My boxer was the same way, but I always just let him be him. Once there was a dobey that got too rough with him and he bit her and she yelped. It was the other dogs fault and the owner was cool about it, but it could have been a bad situation.

[paultakeda]

What are hackles?

The hairs on the back between the shoulders. They raise up when the dog is alert, typically because they think something isn't right. In this case, the question points to a dog not being comfortable.

[danielface]

was it a little dog park? i noticed that a lot (not all) little dog owners are really up tight. why even bring your dog out if you don't want them to play. when ever i bring my dog (7month old) to a park she always finds another dog of the same age to rough it out with but if anything happens the pack swarms and you know its time to defuse the situation.

[gtiador]

Sounds like the other owner is either a dog park noob or kind of a hermit altogether. That explains his dog flipping out when another dog came close to "their table." Chances are if he's being antisocial, his dogs are used to a similar lifestyle. It would also explain why he would think that playful biting would be more than just playful. My dogs often sound like their murdering each other but they're just messing around. If a couple dogs are actually getting into it, EVERYONE will know haha. That other owner needs to take a chill pill or better yet, not be so tense and actually let his guard down and enjoy the company of other dogs/owners so he and his dogs can relax.

[danielface]

yah ive seen a couple dog fights at the park, and you can tell that somethings going to happen right when the dog and owner walk thru the gate. a lot of tense owners out there. dogs really feed off that energy.
too bad that owner cant read this thread right now ahhaa

[gtiador]

He's probably sitting at his own little table in the corner of the internet watching us right now

[GTiGirl]

The hairs on the back between the shoulders. They raise up when the dog is alert, typically because they think something isn't right. In this case, the question points to a dog not being comfortable.

Oh ok, I didn't know they had a technical name. Haley does that when people walk by our house.

[Wayne@Genesis]

It was a seperated dog park, little dogs in their own area and big dogs in another. His dog is a weimramer(sp?) and mine is a doberman/sheperd mix. I'm glad to think everyone else thinks it was just play, and not aggression. Most of the other owners at the park are chill and let dogs play and stuff, they only step in if it gets out of hand, but this douchebag was another story.

[bugzy]

Usually the dog owners are the ones that are more concerned. Usually if the dog is not barking back at your dog, usually they seem to enjoy it.

My dog loves to wrestle and nibble at behind other dogs ear. Usually I check with the other dog owner, because there's a lot of ignorant dog owners out there, that thing its "aggressive".

But it all depends on the owner.

[CALL AAA]

It sounds like his dog was pretty submissive. A lot of the time, when people bring a submissive dog to the park, every other dog zeroes in on it, right away. Even dogs who aren't normally dominant will do it. From the sound of it, you did nothing wrong and the other guy is a jackass. If your dog plays kind of crazy, with a dog who also plays crazy, it's probably just that your dog found the same energy level to play with. My big one is very quiet, except with 2 dogs in particular. With those 2, he growls, snarls, play bites, tackles. The owners and I know this, and we only split them up if they get a little carried away or if they get close to innocent bystanders. I also talk to the owners to make sure they know he's just playing.
If yours tries to domainate a sumbissive dog, do what you can to stop him, but the dogs should be able to sort it out, or he shouldn't bring the submissive dog.

It's pretty normal to see dogs chewing on each others' heads/faces. Dogs will actually relax each other by doing it. I've seen my Bichon's head in the mouth of a large pit bull, but you could see my dog smiling. (tongue hanging out the side of his mouth) He loves it. But when the chewee bares his teeth or snarls, or if the chewer has to catch the other dog to do it, that's trouble.
With that said, I never trust anyone who brings a dog to the park and segregates their dogs. It completely defeats the purpose of the park and dog socialization. I always like when my big dog steals toys from people like that. The owners always say the same thing, "Who owns this dog? He has my dog's toy. Can you get it from him."
I always reply, "Sorry, I talked with him about that, but I don't think he was listening. Probably because he's a dog."

[Ivan]

So do dogs go buck wild at this parks like start humping and pooping
everywhere?