Ganging Up at the Dog Park
Learn what to do when two dogs gang up on a third one.
Jolanta Benal, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA
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Ganging Up at the Dog Park
You’ve probably seen it happen at the dog park plenty of times: Two dogs are merrily playing “Catch me if you can!” Then another dog joins the chase – and all of a sudden it looks an awful lot as if the two chasers are ganging up on the chase-ee. Are they? Or is the dog in the lead still running for fun, not running away? This week, I’ll explain how to tell when two-on-one chase games turn into ganging up, and what to do about it.
How to Tell Play from Ganging Up
Your best guide to whether two-on-one play is really play? Watch that “one.” Say Alice and Bill are chasing Clemmie. Clemmie drops to the ground and rolls to show her belly, Alice and Bill immediately back off, and Clemmie springs up and starts chasing one of them in return. Or she gives a play-bow – front end down, rear end in the air, smiley face – and takes off running with her friends in hot pursuit. All’s good in Clemmie’s world!
Now let’s say we’ve got Clemmie and Alice chasing Bill. You notice that Bill’s tail is tucked between his legs and he’s running full tilt in a straight line, making as much distance between himself and his pursuers as he can. Clemmie and Alice catch up to him and he turns to face them, teeth bared, but they stand and bark in his face instead of backing off. You can see that Bill’s muscles are tense overall. Or maybe Bill drops to the ground much as Clemmie did in our first scenario, but again, Clemmie and Alice don’t back off; they dart in and out toward Bill, as if poking him. In both of these scenarios, Bill is not having fun.
Should Dogs Settle Their Own Disputes?
There’s a popular myth that dogs should be left to settle their own disputes. It wouldn’t be a myth if all dogs had excellent social skills, but they don’t. How to respond to dogs’ behavior toward each other depends on what the behavior is, where you are, and who the dogs belong to. Suppose Alice and Clemmie are yours, and you are hanging out at home with them. Clemmie has a chew toy, Alice sidles up to it, Clemmie curls a quick lip, and Alice backs off and goes to lie down. Assuming the dogs get along well in general and episodes like this don’t escalate, there’s no call for you to step in.
But when Alice and Clemmie gang up on Bill at the dog park, it’s a different story.
Supervise Your Dog!
The dog park is not a supervision-free zone – at least, it shouldn’t be! – so hopefully you’re keeping an eye on your girls all along.  That’s regardless of whether they’ve ever had any conflict with another dog. In the scenario where Clemmie and Alice are chasing Bill, you check out Bill’s body language and notice the signs I pointed out above – his tail is tucked and in general he looks less like he’s playing and more like he’s trying to escape.
Intervene Right Away
Ideally, you act before Bill turns and goes on the offensive or drops to the ground to show his belly and signal “stop.” Of course, you and your dogs have practiced the skill of coming when called to the point where they’ll make a U-turn as fast as they physically can, as soon as they hear your cue. Right? So call Alice and Clemmie and reward them lavishly for coming to you. Food treats may be a no-no at your dog park, because they can elicit conflict among the dogs. If you can’t give food, then praise your dogs warmly. Either way, keep them busy with play and happy talk till they’ve forgotten about Bill. At that point you can give them the okay to play again. And if they go back to harassing Bill, it’s your cue to leave for the day.
If Your Dog Doesn’t Come When Called
Oops, you say – Clemmie and Alice do come when called, most of the time, but this isn’t one of those times. In that case, step in as soon as you can. No yelling or general agitation – it may interrupt your dogs’ behavior, or it may just amp everybody up further and turn an edgy situation into outright aggression. Take your dogs gently by the collar and remove them from Bill, then leash them and walk away. Same goes if only one of the harassing dogs belongs to you – with her co-conspirator out of the picture, the other dog may leave Bill alone. Or Bill may experience the situation as less threatening and happily return to play.
Keep your dog or dogs busy for a minute or two, then give them the okay to play. As before, if they go back to bothering poor Bill, that’s it for your dog park outing today.
If Your Dog Is Being Harassed
What if Bill is your dog, and Alice and Clemmie’s guardian isn’t removing them? Unfortunately, many people will miss Bill’s “Quit it!” signals to the other dogs, or perceive him as the instigator if he turns back to face his pursuers and shows his teeth or snaps at them. It’s so tempting in this situation to yell at Alice and Clemmie or the oblivious humans attached to them, but yelling at the humans is probably unproductive for the same reason yelling at the dogs would be – it increases the potential for serious conflict.
Instead, assuming the dogs aren’t actually fighting, walk on over and ask all three to sit. If a dog only knows one cue well enough to respond to it when excited, “Sit” will be that cue. Speak mildly – you’re not trying to amp things up. Then call over to whoever’s responsible for Alice and Clemmie and ask them to collect their dogs. Be prepared for them to say the dogs “should work it out themselves” (wrong!) or that you’re being a wuss (wrong again!). Even if the dogs don’t sit and you can’t get human cooperation, your arrival on the scene may have changed the dogs’ dynamic enough to defuse it.
Still assuming here that an actual fight hasn’t broken out, another tactic is to step between Bill and the other dogs, then lead him away. Don’t be surprised if he’s reluctant to turn his back on them. It may help to keep your body between him and the other dogs and to walk at a 90-degree angle to them rather than directly away.
Put some distance between Bill and the harassing dogs. If they persist in harshing his mellow and their guardians aren’t any help, then take Bill home. Yes, it’s unfair that he’s the one whose party has to end, but it’s not much of a party when you’re being bullied anyway. Come back another time. Even if Alice and Clemmie are there, they may behave differently, and of course they can’t gang up together if only one of them is present. Let’s hope the dog park doesn’t have so many troublemakers that somebody’s always ganging up!
On the other hand, if your dogs are the party pests, or if you have one dog who seems to get involved in a lot of bullying, take a leave of absence from the dog park and seek out professional help. The solution may be as simple as bringing one dog to the park at a time, or providing off-leash exercise in the form of hikes or structured play rather than dog park outings. Dog parks supercharge some dogs and bring out the worst in them. That doesn’t make them bad dogs, any more than you’re a bad person if you get crabby at loud parties.
You can follow The Dog Trainer on Twitter, where I’m Dogalini. I’m The Dog Trainer on Facebook, and you can also write to me at dogtrainer@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email. I usually can’t reply personally, but check out past articles – I might already have answered your question. And you can find lots more helpful ideas in my book, The Dog Trainer’s Complete Guide to a Happy, Well-Behaved Pet. Thanks for reading!
About the Author
Jolanta holds professional certifications in both training and behavior counseling and belongs to the Association of Professional Dog Trainers and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. She also volunteered with Pet Help Partners, a program of the Humane Society of the United States that works to prevent pet relinquishment. Her approach is generally behaviorist (Pavlovian, Skinnerian and post-Skinnerian learning theory) with a big helping of ethology (animal behavior as observed in non-experimental settings).