first time dog park

k8ieharley

i took my new 11 week old puppy to the dog park today and he was very good with all the other dogs wasen't overly aggressive and layed on his back wile playing with them (a sign of submission) but when he came home and played with us humans he was a lot more biteyer. before he would only mouth our hands but after the park he would actually bite down and when we got up to go away from him he jumped up at us. this is the first time he has acted this way but i would like to correct this behavior ASAP, eccpecially because he is a lab pitbull mix. i have read when dogs are biting you are supposed to walk away like you have no interest in him any more but now he just follows nipping our leg, so we switched to putting him in his crate for a minute and playing with him..if he plays nicely good...if he stars biteing we give him another 'timeout' any other tips? should i not take him to the dog park for a wile and focus on people parks?

fawkese1

well 11weeks is a bit young for a dog park imo... it is really really important to socialize him, but the dog park, might be too much for him. also you would want him to be fully vaccinated first as dog parks are like pre-schools, they are just swarming with doggy germs... do you know anyone with a healthy, well tempered dog that you could arrange play dates with?

as far as the biting, the walking away thing has to be distinctive... i would make a yelping noise then walk away immediately... if he is playing chase with you when you do this, then stop moving, keep your arms crossed and turn up your nose away from him, like a snob, keep turning away from him until he gives up... also make sure that you aren't playing rough with him at all, no pushing him around, nothing! this will only encourage him to bite. it is a good idea to have lots of toys around, and to use the toy to play with him so that you can shove it in his mouth if he seems like he is about to bite... that way you sorta create a win... eventually he will pick up on 2 key things 1, when i bite the person, the fun stops 2, if i bite and play with the toys, i get to play longer, with the person!

Mikey

Welcome

Ditto Fawkeses
I agree-hold off on the dog park until maybe 4-5 months-definitely after all vaccines are done too. Start socializing with dogs that you know-in groups of 2 or 3 at most. And allow the pup nap time after-it almost sounds like he's over stimulated.

oliwa

I wanted to add a point about the crate. I never use the crate as a punishment for my puppy because I always want her to feel comfortable and willing to go in there when I need her to. I've only done a "timeout" with her once and I used a small bathroom with a baby gate to separate her...she could still see us, but she wasn't apart of the action, and I only had her in there for about 1 or 2 minutes.

Mikey

Good point and ditto Oliwa.

you want the crate to be a happy den for the dog-if you put the dog in there as punishment what's the difference between that and when you need to put him in when you leave for work? There isn't one and your dog will start to resist the crate. If your going to do a punishment timeout (as opposed to a settle timeout) you'll want to choose maybe a bathroom or bedroom for that. Again-not somewhere you'd otherwise want your dog to accept -so if you bath in that bathroom-don't timeout there either