A few years back I would take Bo, Bandit and Otto to Kathy's house where we would join up with OD and Shadow (Labs) and walk for about an hour in an open area along the Fox River. Bandit wasn't the friendliest at the beginning to OD or Shadow, and Otto seemed to bother both dogs by his quick darting and crashing into them, but Bo was never a problem, he enjoyed the girls company and also enjoyed walking along with us, rather than the run away and comeback that Otto exhibited.
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Otto was probably off running somewhere
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Well, today that all changed. A man was walking his dogs pretty close to our lot line. Bo was in the yard (we have an electric fense), but only one of the man's dogs was on a leash, the other walked along side him. Bo could not handle this and darted, left the yard. He tackled the dog not on a leash. They did not dogfight, Bo just knocked the dog down. Scott went out and grabbed Bo, who seemed a bit confused. Did he feel the need to defend his property? These dogs were not attempting to enter the yard. We are finding more and more times all our dogs are very possessive of our yard. That is why we have Otto on a rope, so we know where he is at all times. But Bo...he has always been the most friendly dog so this behavior seems unusual for him.
Maybe, because he doesn't socialize with dogs in general, he has become unsocial. He is by far, one of the best dogs we have ever had, this can't be his new personna. So, first I took Otto for a walk around the block, so to speak, so he would get out and get a little exercise. Then I took Bo to the Dog Park. Now that he walks so well with a harness on, I kept him on the harness until we entered the Park. We walked along the side for a while and then I removed it and we continued to walk, then we walked into the open area. A man threw a ball and three dogs chased after it. Bo reacted, saw the action and took about 10 steps towards them, then stopped and came back to me. "Good Boy," I said. Then the man did it again, this time Bo ran towards the ball, and right up to a Black Lab. They looked at each other, tails upward, then noses touched, then the lab ran back with the other dogs and Bo ran back to me. "Good Boy," I said again. Hurray, first step was a success but I didn't want to overdo it, so I gave Bo a treat, and we walked towards the exit. Bo grabbed the leash as we were about to leave, I attached it and we walked happily to the car.
I really hope to take Bo to the Dog Park at least once a week, even if it's only for 15 or 20 minutes, just so he can socialize and realize random dogs are not enemies, most are very friendly, just like Bogart has always been.
A side note, I really hate that people walking their dogs think the small subdivision park, which our backyard is attached to, is a dog park. IT IS NOT. All dogs, whether they are the best behaved in the world or really need some exercise, still should be kept on a leash. The Dog Park is off River Road, less than a mile away, run your dogs there, not in a community park.
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