This is Tweety. He is two years old. His mom (person) asked me to tell him to not over assert himself with the other dogs at the dog park. He will often growl and jump in their faces. Dog parks are not my favorite places because I feel a lot of people are not watching their dogs and they allow inappropriate behavior to happen and escalate. This is not all dog parks but many. I told Tweety’s person that I feel she shouldn’t take him because he is small and another dog could grab him and shake him or a pack prey drive attack could happen quickly. When I told Tweety he needed to be a good boy at the dog park or stay home when the bigger dogs go, he said, “When you said, ‘be a good boy at the dog park’ I have heard that before. My mom told me that before…I don’t want to stay at home. Maybe we could go for a walk around that park.”

It is important to note that just because animals understand what we are telling them, doesn’t mean they know how to stop an inappropriate behavior or implement a more positive one. That can be frustrating for us humans. Though with a different perspective we can break it down for them and teach them step by step.