Bandit’s 1st Off Leashed Experience

After 5 puppy classes, we’ve decided to let Bandit play off leash and see if he’ll play nice with other dogs (and we can learn to facilitate his play time). At the off leash park across from our place, we met Spiky and Lucy. I was a little peeved that Spiky’s dad isn’t monitoring his dog (he was lying on the bench reading a book) and at some point Spiky was pinning Bandit and we can tell that Bandit doesn’t like it. Al had to move in to separate the two a few times. I’m glad we took Bandit to puppy class where we learned how to watch and understand what is good play and what is not. Sometimes we worry about the wrong things, like dogs mouthing each other or climbing on one another in what seems to be a dominating move. Most of the time this is just how they play with each other. We also learned to observe and take action when there is sign of trouble, such as pinning, aggressive behaviour or if your dog or the other dogs show signs that he/she is not comfortable and don’t want to play any more. I feel as a dog owner, it’s our responsibility to watch our dogs when they are playing to make sure that they are safe.