Blast from the past

Dear Fisher,

Miles here. I am a long-haired dachshund mixed with black lab. I lived on the streets before I was rescued and I taught myself how to sound like a very big dog when I bark. It could be amusing if I didn’t over do.

I love going to the dog park, but it just takes me back to the day I had to defend myself from wilder, bigger dogs. I don’t bite – I just go up to the other dogs and get in their face and bark very loud at them. Other people say, “Whose dog is that?” and my human would like to say, “I don’t know.” I think I need to change some habits here. Any ideas? I really don’t mean to make her uncomfortable.

Miles

Dear Miles,

No kidding? I would love to hear that deep big dog bark coming from you, but I do understand it could make your human very nervous. Or should I say more than a little embarrassed? One day, one of those big dogs may just decide to let you know that his bite is worse than your bark. No one wants that to happen.

Memories come into play when a new situation reminds you of a past, more serious situation. At one point in your life, you probably had to bark loudly to warn other critters to keep away from some new found food. Your mind jumps back to that situation rather than realizing the dog park pack is just there for simple play time. Your barking is no longer appropriate.

The dog park is full of new stimuli and you might just get over excited. Sometimes a dog just wants to keep others out of his space. That is not unlike the human, who becomes uncomfortable when another human gets in their face to have a conversation. The difference being, humans are more likely to step back from the intruder rather than scream in their face.

You are wise to want to curb your barking tendencies when in a group of other dogs. Some things your human can do to help are:

1. Not shouting at you – you may think she is barking along.
2. Use a command like “stop” or “enough” followed by a treat when you stop.
3. Lead you away from the new pack of friends and return when you are calm. Repeat as needed until you realize you would rather play with others than walk away from them.
4. Check out a neat exercise over at How Stuff Works that involves and empty soda can and some pennies.

I hope some of these tips will work for you so you can continue going to the park. You might also want to think about saving your big dog bark for special situations when it is really needed. If you use proper etiquette on a regular basis, your big dog bark will carry a lot more weight. A major deep “aarf“ coming from you will make everyone want to stop what they are doing a listen to what you have to say.

Your friend,

Fisher

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