Today in dog park, a dog stared at me

[Edwpang]

I am not sure about the breed, but she is similar in size with Butter. When she stared at me, I walked in another direction, but she still stared at me. This lasted for around half a minute. The reason was probably guarding a ice cube from the water bowl. I went over to her owner and told her about her dog. I said this was a dominate behavior which should NOT be directed to human. She admitted her dog was pretty dominate to her other dog, and she left the dog park probably not so happy. Actually before this, the dog was guarding the water bowl.
Did I overreact?

[Nicholeigh]

Heck no! I wish more people would be more like you! In the dog park in my area the general attitude is unless you have something nice to say don't say anything at all.  Kudos to you.

[Edwpang]

Heck no! I wish more people would be more like you! In the dog park in my area the general attitude is unless you have something nice to say don't say anything at all.  Kudos to you.

I wouldn't mind if the dog just gave a occational stare, but not a constant stare. I read in a book staring from dog means dominance and aggression...
What would happen if I didn't notice this, and went in her direction? Growl at me and/or show her teeth?

[Care2Adopt]

You handled it well- many others would have blown up or started a fight.. or ignored it and had a potential problem develop.

Guarding a water bowl from other dogs in a neutral zone is a sign of HIGH aggression. Staring down a human from across a field because it has an icecube and thinks the human wants it... time for that dog to see a trainer, and fast.

[Guardian Angel's White lightning]

Especially guarding the water bowl...most normal mental status dogs who are resource aggressive dont claim water as a resource, at least that is what i read. Water is not something that dogs usually guard... good job, we do in fact need more people like you in the world..Dog parks are so unpredictable, people just let their dogs go and don't watch them (not everyone..just most).  So irritating...t hey don't see the problems that exist because they are "dog blind"

[lins_saving_grace]

no you didn't over react.  that dog should have had Public Dog Area behavior.  it's not HIS park. 

[ZooCrew]

I'm not going to say you overreacted b/c I wasn't there and didn't see the dog.  And if he continued staring at you even after you moved that is odd and worrying.

But there are some breeds that will stare down other animals, human alike.  I've seen many a border collie do this, as well as german shepherds.

And I just wanted to add that guarding the water bowl does not mean a highly aggressive dog.  No, they shouldn't be guarding anything at the dog park, but some dogs will.  Gunther, for example has guarded the water bowl against strange dogs that he doesn't know (of course he is not allowed to do this).  And he not even close to being an aggressive dog.

[Edwpang]

Thanks everyone for your response.

I'm not going to say you overreacted b/c I wasn't there and didn't see the dog.  And if he continued staring at you even after you moved that is odd and worrying.

But there are some breeds that will stare down other animals, human alike.  I've seen many a border collie do this, as well as german shepherds.

And I just wanted to add that guarding the water bowl does not mean a highly aggressive dog.  No, they shouldn't be guarding anything at the dog park, but some dogs will.  Gunther, for example has guarded the water bowl against strange dogs that he doesn't know (of course he is not allowed to do this).  And he not even close to being an aggressive dog.

A little bit of detail: When I saw she stared at me(a direct and hard look into my eyes) as I was approaching her about 15-20 feet away, I immediately turned and walked slowly to her right side and looked at her from time to time noticing that she was still staring at me until I walked another 15 feet... Below is a pictures of her(left, with brown and white fur)...

[Newly Newfed]

From what you've described, I don't think you over-reacted.  I'm a firm believer of going with what your gut tells you to do.  It's never steered me wrong in the past. And honestly, it's better to be safe than sorry.  I agree that there needs to be more people like you who are willing to speak up when you feel something isn't quite right.  And although she wasn't happy about it, I am happy to hear the woman didn't get all bent out of shape at you.

I work for the electric company and we send out messages to our customers with dogs every month letting them know that our meter reader will be out within two days and to please make sure their dog is secured.  This is for the protection of not only our meter readers, but of our customers pets too, because the readers are allowed to carry pepper spray to defend themselves in the event they are approached and cornered by an aggressive dog.  People call in all the time and they are absolutely FURIOUS about the calls.  They get very defensive of their dog won't listen to explanation and they won't listen when we tell them that we aren't singleing them out.  Heck, even I get the call every month and I work there!!  Maybe I should call myself and complain. 

[Edwpang]

From what you've described, I don't think you over-reacted.  I'm a firm believer of going with what your gut tells you to do.  It's never steered me wrong in the past. And honestly, it's better to be safe than sorry.  I agree that there needs to be more people like you who are willing to speak up when you feel something isn't quite right. 

I think my encounter is probably an example of following paragraph of Suzanne Clothier's THE FINE ART OF OBSERVATION, though the staring is not so subtle.
:
"With this dog, subtle changes in his breathing pattern, a compression of the lips and a constriction of the pupils gave me the only clues I needed. At that point, with no further clues and without pushing until I saw more dramatic signs, it was a simple matter to shift our activity to something less threatening and allow the dog to calm down. Ignoring these clear but subtle signs would have undoubtedly caused the behavior to escalate until perhaps we had a full blown aggressive episode ending in a bite..."

[quote author=Newly Newfed
...And although she wasn't happy about it, I am happy to hear the woman didn't get all bent out of shape at you.

I work for the electric company and we send out messages to our customers with dogs every month letting them know that our meter reader will be out within two days and to please make sure their dog is secured.  This is for the protection of not only our meter readers, but of our customers pets too, because the readers are allowed to carry pepper spray to defend themselves in the event they are approached and cornered by an aggressive dog.  People call in all the time and they are absolutely FURIOUS about the calls.  They get very defensive of their dog won't listen to explanation and they won't listen when we tell them that we aren't singleing them out.  Heck, even I get the call every month and I work there!!  Maybe I should call myself and complain. 
[/quote]

Yeah, the lady was nice and looked like responsible dog owner, and probably she did realize her dog had some issues.  Like what you said, far more people will response a lot worse unless the situation escalate to an all out aggression.