Rescue dogs and what they really need - dog walks
ANY dog authority will tell you that dogs are a pack animal, more so than human beings. That they crave the company of other dogs and form a pack with whatever dogs they encounter in off lead dog parks, as long as the other dogs are not aggressive and are reasonably social.
A dog that is fearful of other dogs is not balanced and will lead a very diminished life if kept sheltered in your house or yard. The owner nor dog does not know what is best for them, yet. They have not experienced it, because of the owners fear, and the lack of regular supervised interaction.
The fear that many owners have of rescue dogs is that they little dog will get damaged, attacked etc.
And if their dog is not social and it bites out of aggression then that concern is well founded.
I don't walk any uncontrollable aggressive dogs. I do walk dogs with anxieties on leash until they have learned to be social.
NOT everyone who owns a dog can bring it BACK TO BEING SOCIAL. And the reason is that is not their job. That is not their day job that they are paid money for, they are often too attached to know when not to impart bad energy to their dog in a potentially risky situation.
The owners want to pick their dog up and shelter their dog from every threat, not knowing that this is the worst thing you can do to any dog.
Real conflicts in dog parks between dogs are rare, but just as many issues are caused by owners picking up their dogs, as there are by overly aggressive dogs trying to dominate other dogs, aggressively.
Go to the right parks, and have the right energy, and the ability to communicate calmly with other owners, and the issue usually gets resolved immediately.
By the way the dog shown in this article is Chops. he is a rescue dog that originally was not walked because of his 'aggressive behaviour'. Turned out that it was fear aggression and his lack of off lead walks or walk in parks with experienced dog people only increased his fear every day. He only walks with us ONE day a week, but that has made a huge difference to him and his owners. he now walks OFF LEAD from the moment we get into the park. He observes what the pack does and learns every day on how to be social, that there is no reason to have fear, usually. His life is better, and with less fear he will have less stress hormones and is likely to live a lot longer.
That is why we do what we do ...
