Is your dog secretly stressed? The subtle signs most owners miss at the dog park

1 week ago 7

Melissa Fyfe

Each week, Good Weekend’s how-to column shares expert advice on how to navigate some of modern life’s big – and small – challenges. This week: How to behave at a dog park.

Photo: Illustration by Simon Letch

“If I happen to go into a dog park at peak hour,” says dog trainer Antonia Goodfellow, “often what I’ll see is a lot of really stressed dogs.” Er, what? How can this be? Dog parks are such joyful places, full of magical connections, both human and canine. There’s even a whole new ABC drama series about these special places called, unsurprisingly, Dog Park. And although the main character is anti-dog and, let’s face it, anti-human, no pet seems particularly stressed.

But dog behaviour experts such as Goodfellow, who runs Pup Ruckus in Melbourne’s inner-north, are often down on dog parks because of the potential for dog-on-dog aggression. “It’s a lot like children playing around a swimming pool. You need to observe them at all times to make sure they’re not getting themselves into strife,” she says.

So here’s the drill: if you must use a dog park, do so at quiet times. Before entering, survey the scene. Are the dogs attentive to their owners while exhibiting soft, loose body language (happy dogs)? Or are they out-of-control, scary-looking and tense with a hard stare (unhappy dogs)?

And are the humans distracted, on their phones? Are they standing around gossiping to each other while their dogs sit bored and idle? This is when dog tensions can rise, says Goodfellow. The best thing is to walk and talk, like they do on The West Wing, with eyes on your four-legged friend at all times. Also, apart from the obvious – pick up the poo! – you need basic dog-training skills: to be able to recall your dog (not easy with an excited puppy, I know) and have it take a play break, even for a few seconds.

If your beloved mutt has any sort of bite history, they shouldn’t be in a dog park, says Goodfellow, and she takes a pretty hard line on humping, too. It should be discouraged, she says, because it signals overstimulation. And while some humpees will endure the unwanted affection, others might retaliate. Remember, consent training is yet to make its way into dog world.

Watch the play. Is a group ganging up on one poor little fluffy thing? Know what good play looks like (a classic is two dogs role-switching: chasing and then being chased). And remember that dogs are not built for interactions with lots of unfamiliar dogs. Expecting your dog to get along with all other dogs is like expecting our child to be friends with everyone in the playground. Ain’t gonna happen. Many older dogs are a bit like all of us post-COVID: slightly anti-social. Let your pet play with one or two known and well-matched dogs size-wise, says Goodfellow. And then leave, with your dog fully intact, hopefully.