# Koko attacked a dog at dog park



## Ribrustler (May 5, 2011)

Hello everybody, I am very upset with Koko. I had her at our dog park yesterday and she attacked another dog. She ignored all my commands and was completely focused on this dog. It was a Basenji type dog and I have never seen any behavior whatsoever from Koko like this before. It was quite freightining to say the least. Koko will be 8 months old on NOV 12th and I have frequented our dog park 2-3 times a week since she was 5 months old. Koko and I have become a regular at the park and she has always been a welcome dog due to her good manors. Yesterday we were at our park and Koko was playing with a Black lab and a Great Dane and an Alaskan Malamute. Everything was fine until a woman walked in with this Basenji type dog and Koko immediatly took off after her dog when they walked in. I mean Koko lowered herself like she was stalking something as this woman and her dog entered the park and as soon as her dog was in the gate about 10 feet Koko took off at a sprint -heeding my call to stop and just bulldozed her dog. It went flying about 6-7 feet in the air and then Koko pounced on her dog biting it repeatedly. All the while Im screaming at her stop yelling "leave it" while im sprinting up to get her off the poor dog. Keep in mind i was probably 70 yards away when Koko took off after dog so it took me a little bit to catch up. Once i pulled Koko off I leashed her immediatly and hooked her on the fence so i could talk to this poor woman and look her dog over. Luckily her dog did not have any major puntures but she had some scratches and some blood running down her dogs hid leg. I offered my name and phone number and recomended she go to my vet and have her dog looked at and I would cover any cost. The owner was very gracious to say the least - but I felt terrible. While i was leaving the park Koko would not break her focus away from that dog. All the way to my vehicle she kept looking back and whining staring at that dog. I have never seen her this way. I have always had control over and I train her regularly. She just completely lost focus on me and wanted that dog. I guess now i will not be able to go back to the park until i work with her some more and have her recall at 100%.


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## Rott-n-GSDs (Jul 7, 2010)

You did the responsible thing by offering to pay for vet bills. (As a side note, if the woman chooses to go to her own vet, I hope you will still pick up the bill there).

I would personally never go to a dog park again with her, even if you work on recall/obeying commands. Can you arrange private play dates with the dogs she does get along with?


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## Marnie (Oct 11, 2011)

Very frightening for you, the other dog and it's owner. There is another thread ongoing dealing with the same thing. 

It's hard to know why Koko developed such a dislike for this strange dog. The thing is, you won't ever now when she will do it again. Even if you see it coming a few seconds before the attack, it is difficult to get to your dog in time to avoid the fight. 

My pup is showing the first hints of this behavior. He loves the dog park and I hate to stop taking him there, but it isn't worth risking harm to another person's dog if mine decides to attack in earnest. This isn't something that will go away. Yes, dogs can be trained out of this, but this kind of training isn't for everyone. You don't train a dog to break off an attack by throwing cookies at it or clicking a clicker. It takes some serious training and adjustment of attitude. Since I've had my pup for less than a month, we aren't ready for that yet.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

What is the attraction to dog parks? My dog doesn't want to play with other dogs. Given the chance, she just continued to bring a toy back to me to play and completely ignored the other dog.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Thats one of the reasons the majority will say is WHY GSDs are NOT dog park dogs. Its not a controlled environment as you found out with your own dog ignoring you completely. As said previously, you did the right thing offering to pay the vet bills. I hope you use this as a learning experience and dont utilize the dog park again. too much can happen too fast and next to no control. Your dog behaved badly with ONE dog and sadly this can happen constantly. You said she was playing with some large dogs who i can roughly assume are about her size and bigger and then this smaller dog comes in. I HEAVILY suggest proper and safe socialization with dogs of all sizes in a controlled situation and step up the training with your dogs, especially the leave it and most definitely work her on leash in different distraction levels starting from lowest to highest. Unless she is 100% responsive to you on leave it in all distractions, she'll not listen when you need it the most. I'm sorry you had a negative experience.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Actually this is the 3rd thread dealing with this.
I don't get it either.
It's not a good socialization experiment when they are getting beat up or beating up other people's dogs.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Sounds like a prey type thing. Your dog saw the smaller dog as prey and he went for the kill. Same like a hunter would go after a kill in the wild. Doesn't make it right or acceptable behavior, but that seems like what it was to me based on your description.

Good for you for telling her you would pay the dogs vet bills... hopefully you cover all costs. That's the first step in the right direction.

Second step would be to never bring your dog to that or any other dog park ever again.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Jax08 said:


> What is the attraction to dog parks? My dog doesn't want to play with other dogs. Given the chance, she just continued to bring a toy back to me to play and completely ignored the other dog.


I'll admit that the attraction for me was completely social. I wanted to meet new dog owners and while Raven enjoyed it as a pup even then, she only ever liked one on one play and at around a year, she only wanted to play ball with me and ignored other dogs.


OP, I'm sorry you went through that. Dogs sometimes just don't like each other. You should keep her out of the dog park setting from now on and only socialize with dogs that she is known to get along with. Though, I disagree that you can't use a clicker and treats to work through this problem.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Other dog owners I meet are often so woefully undereducated, by their own choice, it's frustrating to me, so I don't generally seek them out.


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## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

Wow, how scary for you and the other dog owner. Sorry it is the end of the sweet, innocent puppy phase. We used to love to go to dog park too, our dog was the darling of the park until she was attacked at about 10-11 months old by another female GSD. Then she was more cautious. However, at this age, as she started to mature, she did start showing aggressive signs herself. For some reason she just did not like this white, Alaskian type dog, we had to leave the park when he entered. We also did a lot of prong collar training and walked her around (leashed) a lot of people and other dogs, like over-exposure. For our dog it seemed like she had a naughty phase from 11-17 months old.

I'm glad you will continue training, but you may have to wait a couple years before your dog has 100% recall with distractions. While we are waiting for our intermediate class at the trainers, we sometimes observe the Masters Class. These dogs will do anything upon command, but I'd say these dogs are at least 2 years old or older and have had intense training all their lives.


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## MustLoveGSDs (Oct 31, 2008)

It sounds like Koko's dog park days are over. It is likely that her personality is changing some as she matures and you do not want to put any other people's dogs at risk for serious injury or death, and you certainly don't want your GSD to be in the negative headlines. Sometimes all the socialization in the world as a puppy won't matter once the dog starts to reach maturity. Please don't kid yourself that more training will fix it(not trying to be rude, just speaking from experience). Some dogs just change. People are so sue happy these days. If someone is looking for a bomb-proof stellar dog social and friendly pet I always suggest adopting an adult dog whose temperament is known if you want a dog park dog. I feel horrible for you


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

Yeah, this will be something that is hard to train out of your dog. Sadly once they get in that prey driven fenzy there is nothing you can do. Its like they turn off all their senses. Until your dog is 100% recall you won't be able to an off leash situation, and 100% recall usually means they are completely concentrated on you and could care less about other dogs, and by then they don't really need a dog park because they are so into being with you. I'd really be interested as to what truly set her off, but without being there, there wouldn't be any way of knowing. If you could figure out the catalyst of this reaction you could possibly teach her not to react to it, but a dog breed/size is usually not a catalyst so without knowing more about the situation there is no way for anyone to tell you what she could've reacted to.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

gsdraven said:


> I'll admit that the attraction for me was completely social. I wanted to meet new dog owners and while Raven enjoyed it as a pup even then, she only ever liked one on one play and at around a year, she only wanted to play ball with me and ignored other dogs.
> OP, I'm sorry you went through that. Dogs sometimes just don't like each other. You should keep her out of the dog park setting from now on and only socialize with dogs that she is known to get along with. Though, I disagree that you can't use a clicker and treats to work through this problem.


I wouldn't recommend most dog parks to most GSD owners. At least with my own dogs over the years, perhaps 2 out of the 7/8 ones that we had would have been ok as adults in a dog park. Couple that with the other owners that we have come across and I would have to say "No thanks" to them as too risky!

As far as training it out of them - good luck with a seriously "dominant" dog. From what I have seen, this is especially true with just treats and a clicker, don't know if many owners can do it even with a more intense approach.


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## Stella's Mom (Mar 8, 2011)

I have stopped taking Stella to the dog park. Too many breeds, too many occasion for something to happen as it did to you.

The folks at Shutzhund really frowned on the idea of taking the dog to the park, spoke to me about it and after a lot of consideration I have agreed it is best not to go.


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## Ribrustler (May 5, 2011)

I definetly will not be going to the dog park any time soon - if ever again. The other dog was ok as far as we could tell- I still have not received a phone call. I think the initial blow that Koko did to the dog hurt it more than any thing. She literally ran full charge and hit the dog on its side with her head. This sent the dog flying in the air and then she was on top of it. She was not biting full force but actually grabbing legs and skin and tugging. Thank god she did not go for the head. This dogs head was the size of a Coke can. I can honestly say this is my first shepherd - but my third dog i have had in my life and I have never seen a dog act the way Koko did. Koko has never shown any aggression toward anything (except our city trash can - she hates that thing). I will be watching her closely and going heavy the re-call and leave it training.


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