Is This Normal Play?

[whatwoulddexterdo]

My eleven month old dog has always played really nicely with every dog she has met. She plays with one in particular several times a week and there has never been a problem until today. Today she grabbed the other dogs ear and refused to let go. I immediately told her no quite firmly and took her away, but she did it again.
I didn't look at her body language or tail, I was more concerned with getting her out of the situation. I immediately leaded her up and she was not allowed to play again.

There was no blood drawn and the other dog appeared ok and in fact kept trying to come back and instigate more play.
I feel dreadful and did apologies to the owner.

I am not sure what to do now as i don't want to stop walking here but don't want the situation to escslate.
Thanks in advance for any tips.

[whatwoulddexterdo]

can anyone help?
Quite upset about this
Thanks

[GobblersKnob]

Do you feel like it was aggressive? I have a new dog and when the two of mine play they look like they are murdering each other, but they seem to enjoy it :)

My last dog was a Stafford and when he used to play with my friends two Rottweilers it used to look terrible, they would grab big chunks of each other, usually necks but sometimes ears, legs, tails and cling on for dear life, but again all good fun for canines.

What is it that is making you feel so upset?

[SpicyPear]

It's a bit difficult to comment without any other description of body language etc. she may have just got a bit overstimulated. It's hard to say. Can you recall your dog if you see this dog and lead her until you have passed them?

[whatwoulddexterdo]

I am upset as i feel we cent walk in this park any more for fear of seeing this dog.
I am sorry that i can't comment more on my dogs body language as i was so focused on getting the ear out of her mouth. The other dog did try and come back for more twice and didnt growl or whine , however I felt that my dog was definitely being dominant and i was worried that she might tear the other dogs ear.
I don't know what has happened as they have played together so nicely for months.
I was definitely made to feel that this was my dogs problem.

[PeanutPatty]

Are you on FB? Dog Training Advice and Support FB group. Request to join. Fabulous support and advice.

What breed is your dog?

[RoseyHope]

Don't beat yourself up about it; keep an eye on her behaviour and meetings with other dogs from now on. Might be a one off. Might be that she's getting a bit bossy as she's nearing/reached adulthood. Good to get on top of it now before it develops further.

Laughing at your username! Kids named our Lab puppy Dexter because 'his fur's the same colour as Dexter's hair' meanwhile I'm trying to think when they ever watched Dexter!?

[SpicyPear]

Totally understand you were focused on other things. It wasn't a criticism.

I think it's great that you are taking it seriously and understand it's distressing, but please don't take it too much to heart or stop using the park. A dog had a go at one of mine for her ball the other day and she ended up with a cut lip in the split second before we separated them. I wouldn't expect that owner not to use the park ever again!

[whatwoulddexterdo]

Thanks for the replies!
She is a golden retriever and up to now has been brilliant with every dog we have met
I am on facebook so will look for the support pages
I wonder if its because this other dog is a female and younger than her, she is very submissive with male dogs
Walking her is my favourite time of the day an I don't want to feel anxious about it, I just don't want it to escalate, and the other walkers in the path made me feel like I had done something really wrong.

[soddinghormones]

Sounds like normal play to me - dpup's best friend is a golden retriever who's a few weeks older than him and they're constantly racing, wrestling, rolling around on the ground and there's a lot of ear tugging/biting going on but as they both have soft mouths and there's never been any blood drawn. The key thing is that it's reciprocal and they take turns

Dpup has another friend who also likes biting his ears but she's a whippet x and doesn't have such a soft mouth - she has actually drawn blood (once) and dpup will yelp if she does it too hard - he still loves playing with her though