Big Paws Only Dog Forums

Just returned home from the dog park.  Great weather, however, we left after only about 3 minutes.  Our 17 month old saint Max, who I would have said had not met a dog he didn't like, had issues with 2 different dogs there.  First time was soon after coming in the gate and Max was sniffing along the fence.  A black lab came over to sniff Max.  Max responded with a growling bark.  We grabbed Max and put him in a sit-down. 

Soon thereafter he went over to greet people sitting at the picnic table and starting sniffing dogs with his tail wagging.  Max then started sniffing and was being sniffed by a yellow lab, when Max responded in the same growling bark as before.  There was some forward motion from him (not exactly lunges--best way to characterize it was aggressively defensive motion), and I was about to grab his tail (I remember reading in the dog park newsletter they recommended grabbing the tail in a dog fight.  Two weekends ago, a small dog was killed by a medium size dog at the park.  We weren't there when it happened, but that was the vision going through my head).  We got Max away and decided we were leaving immediately.

My husband and I were in shock.  This may sound like a cliche, but we have never seen Max like this.  We have been going to this park for about a year since around the time we adopted him.  The other dogs did nothing that should cause Max to act the way he did.  It just doesn't make sense to us.  Many times have I described Max as the ultimate dog park dog--loves to play, gentle around small dogs, loves greeting people and dogs. 

Not to influence anyone into thinking this is the cause, but about a month ago Max injured his knee at the park after his leg became caught between two smaller dogs (seeing him go down scared me to death.  I thought he either broke a bone or tore his acl).  We have since gone to the park once since the injury (this was a week ago), but we were there too long and he started limping (walking on only 3 legs) at the end.   

He didn't appear to be in any kind of pain today or recently.  Otherwise, we would not have gone.  The vet had told us after the knee injury to wait two weeks before going back...being paranoid parents, we waited about 4.

So, any ideas on what we could do or possibly why it happened?  I have heard that some dog's behavior changes around 2 years.  Is he just changing?

Max and us absolutely love going to the dog park, but unfortunately, this is not the type of behavior we can tolerate from him if we do.

We are very open to suggestions or ideas or your thoughts.

I'd also recommend seeing if you could see the environment the dogs lives in.  We've looked at adopting from the petfinder classifieds and some ads on there are fishy.  We were interested in a newfie in Ohio.  I sent several emails with many questions.  The only response I received from the lady was that she was off from work over the weekend.  Driving 12 hours round trip without any answers to my questions...I don't think so.  Thought disappointed, it hit me that we probably shouldn't adopt from her.

As for cost, families shouldn't try to recoup the cost of the pet.  The fee they ask should be to try to ensure they are adopting to a good family.  You would be giving them a loving home.  As others mentioned, I would also figure the cost of getting her fixed her into the negotiations.  If they are worried about Gipsy not getting fixed, I know some people return a portion of the fee after they receive proof it was done.

Looking for suggestions on how to handle a dog that gets very excited when company comes over.

For example…Our in-laws came over for supper yesterday.  Max, our 16 month saint, barrels towards the front door to greet them.  They come in and he’s all over them.  He grabs my mother-in-law’s purse and then drops it, tries grabbing my father-in-laws jacket, grabs my shoe and runs (he always seems to grab a shoe when company comes over, but never when we’re home alone).  Later, he started grabbing at my mother-in-law’s pant leg and almost knocked her over.

What we’re looking for is ideas on how to handle situations like this.  Last night, I’m guessing Max had more than normal energy built up since he’s been homebound because of a knee injury two weeks ago.  However, his excitement level was pretty close to normal.  He even occasionally jumps (or tries to) on a guest.

We don’t want people to avoid coming over because a 140 pound dog forcefully greets them at the door.  He’s a growing boy, and I also don’t want either guests or Max getting hurt.

We’ve tried getting him used to people coming over by my husband or me ringing the doorbell and pretending we’re guests, but of course, we just don’t get the same response.  We’re old news. 

Any thoughts or ideas?

My husband and I temporarily fostered a dog before he made his way into rescue.  It was tough work, and we turned into absolute messes too.  Little sleep and a lot of stress pretty much summed it up. 

I think we were just so used to the house (our house of 3) running smoothly.  We were spoiled by things being easy with our dog, Max, and forgot how having a new dog in the house is a lot of work.  Even when we first got Max, it didn’t start that way.  The first two weeks with him were hard on all of us.  I remember making calls to dog trainers to see if I could get an appointment for the next day.

So, you’re allowed some breakdowns.  We certainly had our fair share. It’s hard work, but the rewards are amazing.  I wish you the best!

He is super-duper cute!

At the dog park we go to, they had a halloween party and played doggy limbo.  However, we left before that started and didn't get a chance to see how it went.

Thanks to everyone who has voted for Clyde and the Illinois St. Bernard Rescue.  It appears that we are tied for first place.  Looks like the Rescue actually has a chance to win this!  But…we still need every vote we can get because the contest doesn’t end until February 28th. 

Digging through the rescue website, I found a photo of Clyde when he was about 8 months old and came into rescue.  Thought it would be interesting to show the then and now photos. (Hopefully, this works, I've never posted a photo in a message before.)