Dog park behavior question

[mila]

Hey Pit Bull Guardians,
My Mila was at a dog park yesterday , she is 10months old and has always been palyfull and nice. A beagle came , barking and howling constatly at every dog. This really annoyed Mila. She sat by me and seemed agitated not intested in playing which is unusual. The beagle was a male and tried to mount her at one point, Mila turned and barked nipping him but good. behavor ive not seen. She then showed her teeth at another dog , no growling, who attemped to mount her, I corrected that and she restrained herself on the next encounter but i could sense her anxieity. so we left. Is this normal or is Mila becoming aggresive.?
???

[emilys]

it's perfectly normal for female dogs to snark at dogs that try to mount her. If the male dog doesn't respect her warning, there could be a fight. It's extremely rude of the male dogs.. and extremely stupid of their owners to allow their dogs to do that. Don't correct your girl when she appropriately reprimands a rude dog.. a growl/bark/nip is ok (if it's an overthetop attack, that would be something else). But DO protect her.. if you see a dog about to try mounting her, push him off (and yell at his owner). And if she seems agitated, I would take her out of the park. There may just be too much excitement for her to handle. Dog parks are not great ideas because of the behavior you describe.. and the problem if Mila had responded more strongly, SHE would have been accused of aggression. Pit bull get no slack for even appropriate behavior.

[mila]

Thanks for the advice I wont correct that behavior again . People seen to think any dog behavior at these parks is OK . I hear them all the time saying "its OK were in a dog park".
I'm seriously thinking of not making these dog parks part of her life but I want her to socialize ..

[emilys]

Sept 9, 2010 22:27:34 GMT -5 mila said:

Thanks for the advice I wont correct that behavior again . People seen to think any dog behavior at these parks is OK . I hear them all the time saying "its OK were in a dog park".

which is exactly why dogparks can be such dangerous places.. it's a place for dogs to practice BAD behavior and to learn bad behavior from others)!
Best thing is to find a compatible dogfriend and set up playdates in some other safe location (or maybe nobody uses the dogpark at certain hours...)

[adoptapitbull]

Yes, dog parks and pit bulls is often a bad idea. No matter what, your dog will be blamed because she's a pittie. I used to take mine sometimes, until a cocker spaniel got sh!tty and its owners and I got into it. I was literally in a screaming match with a 50 year old guy, and I'm a 24 year old girl! Needless to say, the dog left because it started crap with another dog. Immediately people will assume your dog is the "bad" one. A rottie actually killed a pom at the park I used to go to, and the rottie was deported or else he would have been euth'd. Of course, the pom started the fight, but the rottie got the blame and the legal action. You just have to be super super careful with your dog in public, even though she's not the one misbehaving!

[sugar]

I agree with the playdate idea fully. Problem with dog parks (especially ones I've seen) people let their dogs go hog wild "because its a dog park and thats just how dogs play". I've seen dog fights in the making and their owners just sigh and coo gently "Baby, be nice" from like 30 feet away. Its better if you make friends with someone that your dog gets along with and set up play dates because then you both know each others dogs (and very importantly that both dogs are fixed and up to date on shots!). To me dog parks are like throwing together 20 different people from different backgrounds. They won't always get along (which is natural and understandable) and if a fight does break out (even if you dog is defending herself) Mila and you will both get the blame.
Plus remember that pitbulls can be prone to developing dog aggression as they mature so you need to be watchful.