Reply to dog parks: how do you differentiate rambunctious but friendly from actually aggressive?

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[quote=Anonymous]You (general public) can’t. An experienced trainer can read body language, but even they can’t prevent fights (just identify that a dog is uncomfortable).

Please, don’t go.

Dogs were bred to read the body language of similar breed dogs. You’ll notice herding dogs generally get along well, retrievers mesh, hounds have similar play styles, etc. A lab will read a border collie’s stare as rude, a border collie will interpret a lab’s body forward style as inappropriate, and all hell will break loose. These are stable, solid temperament dogs.

Add in dogs with sketchy backgrounds/breeding, clueless owners, and dozens of dogs and you have created a recipe for disaster.

It just takes one bad event to create years of reactivity you have to work through. Not worth it.

If your dog needs off leash play with other dogs, I suggest finding a friend/neighbor with a similar breed mix and known temperament and doing one on one back yard play dates. All the benefit with minimal risks.

If your dog is a baby puppy (<16 weeks) I’d suggest finding a supervised puppy play session at a local trainer. They’ll split the dogs into groups with similar play styles and help you learn to read and understand dog behavior.

—trainer[/quote]

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