palinlk

Hi, I’m fairly new to the forum and my fiancé (Chris) and I (Laura) own a rescued (he was picked up by animal control so there is no previous information on him) 4-year-old basset named Rodney who we have now had since easter, we have nearly fixed all of his “bad” behavior and he is wonderful. There is one thing that I’m not sure about though and have been weary to take any action on. Rodney never barks at home or on walks but when we take him to the dog park he wont shut up. He once barked for 2 hours strait. He barks while he is running, laying down and will even get right up in the other dogs faces and bark at them. Is this normal behavior? Or is this something I need to fix? Do your dogs do this to? I wouldn’t be so concerned but it seems to bother some of the other dog park goes and even scares some of the littler dogs into there owners arms.

Mikey T

And there you have the reason why he does it and it is a self rewarding behavior as well. Giving the caveate I have not see the behavior but going on what is describes I chaulk it up to dogs being dogs. and generally I am a believer in letting dogs act like dogs, but their is a risk to ido so. Dogs tend to be self policing in areas of dog to dog greatings. There will be times an offend dog will let Rodney know his behavior is inapproriate and it may not be as friendly a phrasing as you would hope for .

see HE JUST WANTS TO SAY "HI!
"Aggression or appropriate response to rudeness? Far too many dogs suffer because handlers & trainers don't know the difference between the two. "


Macey often has a problem with herding breeds at agility trials. As they give her the inappropriate eye. While there owners are oblivious to what their dogs are doing and the ruckus than can cause. This is not to say I approve of Macey's response and am actively working on modifying the behavior. but given the giant contect of dog comunication it is an appropriate response. But not all dog language responses are appropriate when humans are involved.

What is appropriate or not is a judgement call. That is if the behavior bothers you whether or not it is approprate in a dog v dog universe is inmaterial it is best to modify/moderate the behavior.

If interested in changing rodney's behavior Desensitizing and countercondition are the first them with teaching him appropriate greatings the last.
some Resourse



CAUTIOUS CANINE, 2ND EDITION

Counter Conditioning and Desensitization

Trying to change the behavior using punsihment is likely to back fire. What often happens instead of the dog associating the punishment with its behavior it instead associates it with the presence of another dog. If the punshiment is cause by the presence/proximity of another dog the next time Rondney encounters a dog instead of calmly and quitely greeting it , he will try even harder and snooer to run off the other dog which would avoid the punishment as the dog percieves the situation.

Beverly Anne

I defer to Mikey on all things behavioral so I've nothing to add but I just wanted to say "Welcome!"

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Francis's Bevy

Yogi's Mom

Welcome! We would love to see pictures of Rodney.

solidplatinum

I just wanted to say hi and welcome, I am fairly new myself!

Mahna

My basset does that at off leash dog parks. After the initial sniffing of all the dogs, he'll run up to one and start barking (with the tail wagging) until the other dog starts to run, and then chases after him, all the while barking and barking. So for my dog, it is how he initiates play. It is not an aggressive or angry bark. Even after he's tired of running, while at the dog park he will lay down and bark as the other dogs run around him playing until he's done resting and gets back into the game. As long as the tail is wagging, I wouldn't be concerned. Just let others int he park know while you are there that he's just loud, but not aggressive, and everything should be okay. I also know a few beagles that do the same thing.

palinlk

Thank you so much for the advice. I had a gut feeling that he was just being a dog (the barking is always paired with a waging tail and a happy demeanor) and now I have the confidence that comes from second opinions to tell the others at the dog park that he’s just being Rodney and he’s very friendly.

2hounds

I just wanted to say welcome...can't wait for some pictures!

~Heather

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Mommy to Gibbs and kitty kitty Eva

Dear sweet Lily (ATB ) you will never be forgotten.