Anna Westhoff
There's as wide an array of doggie personalities as human personalities. The dog park taught me that.
It turns out our 9-month-old puppy Pippi's a wimp. At home, she exhibits alpha-dog tendencies such as teasing the cat, attempting to jump up on people and pulling on her leash. But at the dog park I see a different side of her.
In our park visits so far, Pippi's remained silent while many of the other dogs bark, snarl and make a racket. She does not enjoy roughhousing in the midst of a whirling canine cluster. (This is understandable because, as we've seen, it can turn quickly into a fight.)
Instead, Pippi prefers to make friends with a single pooch to engage in nice, one-on-one play at the edge of the field. She prefers dogs her own size or smaller. It was a real hoot to watch leggy Pippi befriend a short and stocky English bulldog who followed her around and whose owner told us had never run for that long or that fast in her life. They were two mismatched peas in a pod.
Pippi keeps a close eye on us as she plays, and we sometimes have to run alongside her to get her in motion. Otherwise, she just hovers around our legs. Unlike at home, she is generous with her toys in the dog park, even when another dog appropriates her red Frisbee. Maybe she just trusts that we'll retrieve it before we all head back home.
All in all, the dog park has helped me see what a peach of a pup we have. She suits us, and to some degree matches our personalities.
Have you learned anything surprising about your dog after observing him or her in a group setting?
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Our first dog's park personality changed drastically from the time she was a puppy to the time she became an adult. As a pup, she would run with the pack and wrestle with anything that came our way, ignoring us entirely. As an adult, well, her preference for people -- US, especially -- was evident.
Our younger dog is still incredibly social, happy to play with any group of dogs, large, small, you name it. It's like having a teenager -- she seems SO EMBARRASSED if we try to call her over to us. It's like she's saying, "Mom, Dad, can't you SEE I'm with my FRIENDS? Oh my god just leave me aloooooone." Total opposite. And it's hysterical.
hello there. very seldom do i write to someone, but i just wanted to let you know i enjoyed your story, it was a great choose of words which you used, a teenager, i had to laugh. thank you.
k.c
I HAVE 3 AND ONLY 2 OF THEM I WOULD TRUST NOT TO TAKE OFF AT THE DOG PARK. THEY RAGE BETWEEN 2 AND 3. I AM SURE 2 OF THEM WOULD STAY BY ME, BUT MY OTHER ONE, HE LIKES TO ROAM, AND GETS VERY EXCITED WHEN HE SEE'S OTHER DOGS WERE I LIVE. SOME TIMES HE JUST WANTS TO PLAY, BUT HAVE NOTICED IF THEY ARE BIGGER THEN HIM, THERE MIGHT BE A FIGHT. AND HE IS SO FAST LIKE A FLASH HE MIGHT TAKE OFF TO VISIT ANOTHER DOG, THIS IS A CHANCE I WILL NEVER TAKE. PLUS HE SEEMS THE OLDER HE GETS HE IS PROTECTING HIS PROPERTY, AND HE IS ONLY 2, THEY ALL ARE CLOSE IN AG. THANK GOD I DID NOT GIVE BIRTH TO THEM, IT WOULD OF KILLED ME, LOL. BUT THE STORY IS REAL, HAD TO PUT THE JOKE IN THERE.
All caps? seriously?
MARC, HOW DO I GET MY CAPS LOCK TO STOP STICKING?
hit the caps lock key one more time, that should undo it...
My two both love the dog park, but my older male forgets I'm there. He plays with all the dogs and then does a run around the entire park. The younger one plays with other dogs, but keeps her eyes on me and comes back every once in awhile to make sure I'm there. She is a little shy, but friendly. On leashes, the boy loves all dogs and is a little cool towards people. The girl will bark at both other dogs and people but once she is near a person, she is all friendly. Dogs she may or may not be happy about, but seems to like them.
I have 2 Lhasa Apsos, Bob (the good witch) is boring. I call him Blob. Take him to the Dog Park and all of a sudden he morphs into Lassie the Stud! So funny, the first time I saw Casanova pouncing on the girls I'm sure my jaw had hit the grass.
Rubin ( the VERY bad witch) has bitten a little boy that had just hit Blob, Rubin bit him on the ankle. Rubin now has a record. At times he would not let my ex get on the bid. In retrospect I owe him a BIG thank you. Opening night of the Summer Olympics while he was sleeping I grabbed his collar to get him off the sofa. Bad move. He ripped into me, numerous times. 58 stitches on my wrist. I now have a scar that looks like I tried to take my own life. I have to hide it when I go on interviews.
Rubin is (really) on puppy Prozac.
Anyway, when I take him to the Dog Park, what a baby. He will not leave my side, he has to be touching me at all times. At home he is a terror with the big dogs. Here, maybe he realizes that he is outnumbered.
I know I am!!!
The family picked out our dog at the pound, unaware she was alone in her cage while all other cages had 2-3 dogs per. She was already about a year old and was never told of her past. She tried to become the alfa "person" in the family and eventually learned-after over $ a thousand dollers of damage she caused, that the humane mom was the alfa. When taken to dog obedience school we learned her breeds and the typical temperment that comes with those breeds. We also learned in the group setting that she does not bark or growel--even for a warning, but if any dog any size comes to close she will very quickly try to nip or bite. We were surprised by this, now thinking back to the real reason why she was int he pound cage alone. Though she turned out to be a great family pet she has proven her worth by sensing people through the house front door before its opened and warns us if we are to be cautious or not. When our youngest daughter plays hide and seek with her she sneeks up very quietly behind you and you never knew she was there. Often we think she should have been a K-9 cop dog! High jumper and quick to grab the backside in a chase. If we let her. And very sneeky! She loves to work by pulling us on sleds or bikes or skates. But still, even on walks she refuses to let other dogs come near even in friendly gestures. She loves cats and bunnies! odd dog! But we love her.
Must be the name- our male dog Pippin (who we affectionately call Pippi) acts the exact same way when we go to the dog park!
I have noticed that the more crowded the dog park is (one which is fenced in as most are), the more likely fights are. I just leave or do not go in if it's like that. yes; some dogs do pick and choose their friends more carefully than others. I'm not an expert to know why this is, but I do give them enormous credit. I think they know a tremendous amount via their sense of smell about what is around them, about other dogs (and people!). in the night time park when few are there, one dog will stasnd watch while a couple of others play, then they sort of take turns. I've never seen this fail! glad that Tippi has found herself some friends. she evidently chooses carefully!
Pippi reminds me of myself when I was a child. Be prepared for many years of psychotherapy ahead for her. :)
hi,
jumping up is rarely a dominance ("alpha") behavior. i bet if you squat down the first thing your dog will do is try to lick your face, which is why she's jumping up - to reach your face. face licking is a greeting behavior which says 'i'm your friend, or 'glad you're back, please throw up some food for me.'
if she's pulling on her leash, it's because she's learned that pulling gets her where she wants to go, not because she's trying to 'be the boss'. if you had dead stopped every time she pulled, she would have stopped pulling because she would have learned that pulling doesn't work.
i foster and all of the fosters i get pull and almost all of them stop in about a week because i dead stop and most importantly, i heavily reinforce the right behavior (not pulling) because it is very important that dogs know what we want them to do, it is always easier to teach a dog to do something (keep a loose lead) than it is to teach a dog not to do something (do not pull).
all the behaviors we don't like are not "alpha" behaviors. we need to be careful about labeling behaviors.
listen to what dr. david mechs, who coined the phrase 'alpha' has to say about it now that he's spent years observing wild wolf packs and has learned what mistakes he made in his early years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNtFgdwTsbU
augusta
My girl, Hannah is a great dog! I am however afraid to take her to a dog park. She is always great with my neighbors' dogs, she seems to love when Stewie the pit, gets out and comes over for a visit. I think I am more worried about the other dogs. What do you think? Should I just take her and toughen up?
Thanks for any advice!
Mr. Westhoff, I think I might have an idea about the other breed. There are only about 500 in the US. Please contact me at your earliest convienience.