Dogs running amok in park

[saturdaykid]

Hi, was wondering if anyone can help with this problem? Our local park is always very busy, especially in Summer. My dog is six months old now, and at that real bouncy, running around, not coming back when called stage. He has a habit of running up to little kids and jumping up and licking their faces. He would NEVER do anything but give a quick lick hello, but, understandably, most parents don't see it that way. What to do? I can't keep him on a lead the whole time, but equally I'm getting earache off irate parents left right and centre. He used to be great at coming back when called but these days,and in the warmer weather there is just too much temptation around - he wants to say hello to EVERYBODY and is just too quick for me. Anyone got any advice?

can you take him places where there aren't kids, like over the fields instead of in the aprk where kids and parents will be?

can you walk him early in the morning or later in the evening? (so basically when there aren't so many little children around)

No not really, we live in London

Er well, take him somewhere else that's more remote if he won't do as he's told.

Sorry I don't buy into 'He would NEVER do anything but give a quick lick'. But then I was bitten by one last week that apparantly never did anything etc etc.

An extending lead.

An extending lead.

Sorry, bumpy, last message was to compo. Yes I guess so, although it seems to be busy morning till night. Hmmm. Bought him in winter so wasn't a problem until now...

whoops

Tbh I don't think he should be off his lead if he doesn't come when called reliably. If I were the parent of a small child and your dog came and jumped up, I'd be really pissed off!

What about walking him early in the morning when few children are around and work on his recall?

We've just adopted an adult dog and there's no way I'd let him off his lead until I know he'll come when called, especially when there are children around.

I second an extending lead. You could also try puppy training classes?

I would keep him on the lead TBH. Ours is now a year old and still very excitable. I keep him on the lead , even in the big field we walk in, if I see so much as one other person coming towards me. Once the person is past i let him off for a run. When we are on the footpath, he is always on the lead as he can try and jump, but I stand to one side with him

If any dog licked my child's face I would go crazy. I'm surprised the worst you have had is a bit of 'earache' tbh.

It's gotta be good old fashioned hard work. Training classes and teaching your pup when he's on the lead (or in a controlled environment) to come when called. It's an easy problem to fix in a week or so but you have to know how to do it. As much as the tone of some of the above responses is annoying, they're mostly right and you probably should get your pooch under control before you let him off the lead (for his own safety too).

you must keep him on a lead until he can recall straight away.

I have 2 very well behaved labs, but we avoid parks, as its just not fair to have them on leads when they want to run around.

However, if we are on a beach, or country walk next to river etc, I let them off the lead to run, and if they go to approach anyone I immeadiatly call them back to me.

a dog at 6months old should be able to recall imvho btw

keep treats in your pocket and begin with calling him back even if he just a metre away, and reward with treat.
gradually let him go further and then call him back until he can me 100m away and come back to you straight away.

Dogs with do anything for food

follow lily's advice on how to correct his behavior.

Why can't you keep him on the lead?

My dog doesn't have good recall so I keep her on the lead all the time. I'd prefer it and I'm sure she'd prefer it if she was off lead but no way would I inflict her running up to people, never mind kids like this. I'm taking my dog to classes to try and improve her recall, maybe you could.

Hi, thanks for responses. He has actually been trained to come back when called, and is usually very good at it, but just recently he has become disobedient about recall, if there is something more interesting than a treat to investigate, ie a child yelling excitedly, 'puppy! puppy!' HOwever, point taken that it's unacceptable to have him off lead in that case, so will walk him early in morning and later in the evening in future.

Get a training lead and teach him recall again.

Saturday, it sounds like he's going through his adolescent phase, some dogs do seem to forget their training around 6mth-18mths (age of adolescence depends on the dog) I'm afraid you will just need to concentrate on the training. Around this age my retriever became ball obsessed, so aslong as I have a ball for him to retrieve I'm much more exciting than anybody else! It might be worth a try with yours but it does depend on the dog. Persist with him, he will remember or relearn his training again.

We don't have a garden here so I take my DCs to the park.
DD2 absolutely hates dogs like this. DD2 is 11 and tiny, so any dog that jumps up, is likely to be bigger than her. She will stand there and freeze and just scream.
Please keep your dog on a lead in public places like this, where kids come to play. Not every child is as forthcoming with dogs. Dogs in the park that are on leads are just fine IMVHO. When DD2 starts to scream, all dogs are pulled away. Dogs not on leads will jump up and get excited, which makes DD2 panic all the more.

Sorry to be blunt. I love dogs myself, but DD2 doesn't.
But the thing I hate about dogs is the ones that lick your face and jump up. At least keep your paws on the ground!!!

Any dog that jumped up at my DS would be lucky if it didn't get a good kick from me. Yeah, sure, it's 'being friendly' - until it does bite someone.

Helpful. Stay the course Saturday - you'll be fine.