Dogs bred for purpose & the dog park struggles

One of the biggest areas people with working type dogs in pet homes struggle is in the dog park. Their dogs get frustrated, react poorly and the owners feel shit about themselves and the situation. It’s just not a good experience for a lot of dogs, especially when it comes to our dogs who haven’t been bred with dog parks in mind. 

Sociability is a spectrum.

Some dogs might be the happy go lucky type that just loves everyone they meet and are always up for a party at the park - the disco dogs.

Others are happier in their own space, and would happily just hang with the humans all day - the library dogs.

Most dogs sit somewhere in the middle where they are generally able to be social or at least happily co-exist with members of their in-group (family, special friends etc), but don’t want to be besties with every random dog who crosses their path. This makes sense given their thousands of years of development in family groups.

Sociability can evolve as dogs mature too, just like with humans going from childhood to adult life and finding what they really enjoy and what they don’t.

And when it comes to our dogs bred for purposes such as stock work, hunting etc rather than purely as companions for town life, they have generally been bred for their working ability first and foremost - not their ability to tolerate bullshit from other dogs. Their ancestors have needed a certain level of sociability to coexist in a multi dog situation such as on the farm or hunting kennels, but anything beyond that is just a bonus. In fact, the dogs that do better as working dogs  are typically those that are more focused on their humans and getting the work done rather than worried about playing with other dogs. Just because your dog is in a pet home, the genes their ancestors were selected for are still there. 

The next layer to consider is play styles. Dogs bred for purpose typically have quite different play styles that often veer towards what they were bred for. My kelpie loves a silent stalk and chase game that looks a lot like working sheep, but not so much of the full body rough and tumble. Bully breeds tend to like a bit more of the rough and tumble - that play conflict is what they often thrive on. Put those play styles together unchecked and there’s sometimes a mismatch between what one dogs idea of fun and another dogs, which can leave both dogs feeling a frustrated. Neither style is inherently right or wrong provided it’s safe and everyone is enjoying themselves, they’re just speaking different play languages. We can guide them towards a happy medium by teaching appropriate social skills through what is and is not acceptable, and manage energy levels to keep everyone in a clear headspace but what we can’t do - or more accurately shouldn’t - is expect them to change who they are as individuals to fit the happy go lucky Disney dog image we might have in our minds.

So what does this mean for us? As owners of purpose bred dogs (and really, any dog), we need to be aware of their needs and preferences, and set them up for success. This looks like a lot of different things.

Sometimes it means choosing our situations wisely.
If I know a dog is likely to get over aroused and fall into some less desirable behaviours in a hectic dog park situation, I’m not going to keep putting them in that situation - regardless of if the other owners ~should~ have their dogs under control. We’ll find a nice trail somewhere where they can have their space and easily move on from other dogs we might encounter. If that’s not an option, we might choose our times to use the dog park more selectively (when it’s super quiet, or if we know there’s a particular dog or two who is a good fit for our dog) or just opt for a long line walk around an on lead park for that decompression time.

Sometimes it means advocating for our dogs.
If we know our dog doesn’t enjoy rowdy play, I’m going to step in front of that pushy young dog sprinting up to us and address the situation myself so my dog doesn’t have to. They can rely on me to deal with the situation and they don’t need to stress about it or practice that behaviour.

And as a safe bet, it means educating ourselves and our dogs so we can spot and interrupt any potential issues before they start and navigate through whatever social situations we find ourselves in.