Dog Park Problems and Tips For The Bully Breed

It’s seven in the evening and you’ve had an exhausting day at work. So exhausting in fact you’re too tired to take Butch your two year old American Bully for his customary three mile jaunt around the neighborhood.

Butch is already an overly excited hyper dog and without daily exercise his exuberance goes from cute to unbearable in a New York City minute. He definitely needs to release his energy somehow and exercise is the key. As you set your keys down you remember something in the paper about a newly developed dog park in your city. It’s over five acres of fun and from the write up it seemed to be a great way to have your pet release energy. You switch into some sweat pants and head for the door with Butch close behind you!

Now dog parks are great in theory. After all it’s a huge space for dogs to run off leash and interact with other dogs. If you’ve ever seen one on television they always look like one large happy family. The owners mingle while holding ice lattes or frothy fancy cappuccinos.

It’s a regular episode of the eighties sitcom Cheers where everybody knows your name and is glad that you and Butch came. The issue with dog park problems and bully breeds isn’t that bully breeds shouldn’t be allowed at dog parks, but I definitely believe the park is not necessarily made for us in mind.

First of all a lot of bully breed dogs play rough. They like to throw their weight around. They bump, tackle and wrestle and often times they are really good at it. They have a tendency to be clowns and their jovial personalities often lend to an annoying habit of pushing and poking dogs that otherwise just come to the park to walk around it’s fenced perimeter.

The class clown approach although comical can push other breeds right over the ledge causing dog park problems. It’s not unusual to see another breed snap or growl at a bully to let them know they don’t particularly care for the rough housing or wrestle games the bully enjoys so much. The moment the other breed snaps or growls all eyes go to the bully and generally these eyes are followed by comments that bullies shouldn’t be allowed at the park.

The main reason for dog park problems and some dogs don’t do well at dog parks has little to do with the dogs there, but the owners. There is a large amount of dog owners that frequent dog parks that have literally and absolutely no control over their pet. They think that little Lucifer mounting another dog is a funny thing.

The fact that their little dog “Lucifer” barks and chases the big dogs is a comical crazy thing. In fact generally it’s the other owners dogs that are truly displaying dominant behavior that goes unchecked while at the park. Dogs are quick to recognize a place, or piece of property as their territory. Once this happens at a dog park, dog fights and other dog park problems are bound to happen and more dog park problems. Bull Breeds generally will be blamed if a fight occurs regard.

Other Things That May Cause Dog Park Problems

Territory is a huge factor, but so is pack. If the same group of people frequent the same park on the same day at the same time for a week a pack will be established. This group of dogs will form their own pack and establish their own pecking order sometimes causing dog park problems. As new dogs enter the dog park you will see the established pack gang up on newcomers and dominate them. This type of pack mentality does not go over well with most bully breeds. The end result is often bad fights and skirmishes that again result in negative press for the bully breeds involved.

Now don’t get me wrong there are several examples of bullies doing well at dog parks without dog park problems. In fact most of you adolescent bullies will fit in just fine and have the time of their life while running free at dog parks. As the dog matures however so does it’s tolerance for threat displays and being challenged also wanes. So be aware of dog behavior and truly evaluate not only your dog, but the park before taking your bully into the chain linked play arena and possible dog park problems!