A Fight at the Dog Park... Molly vs. Fire Hydrant
At first, everything was just fine. Molly sniffed and checked out the place, under the watchful eye of her “big” brother Bailey (Lhasa Apso).  Molly had passed the fire hydrant several times, paying no attention. Well, it must have growled and startled her because all of the sudden, she jumped and started barking her fierce territorial bark. She was not going to stand idly by and let that red thing be in her dog park. No sir, she would stand firm (at a safe distance of 30 feet away) and tell it to leave…  After being unsuccessful in making the hydrant go away--and after much coaching from mom--she moved a little closer to have a look; but just moments later, she was in attack mode again…  From this point forward, she was fixated on the hydrant. She even took a watch post under some shade and then would intermittently bark to remind the hydrant she was still watching it…  The funniest part was when she saw her brother get close to it. She took off barreling toward it frantically barking at Bailey to stop his approach on the evil hydrant…  Overall her first dog park trip was successful… we’ll just have to schedule her visits around when that pesky fire hydrant will be there! One last pic – On our way out, Molly knocked over a friend’s water bowl (more like stepped in it and did a front somersault). Bailey decided to seize the moment and took the opportunity to lounge right in the middle of the water puddle. I didn’t think I needed to bring towels to the dog park… I was wrong.   |
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| Good girl Bailey, seize the moment! Molly, what would you have done if Mom had approached that evil fire hydrant?? |
 Cindy |
| Great series of pictures. I hope no kid dresses as a hydrant for Hallowe'en... |
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 Silly girl!  As funny and cute as it is, it does indicate a strong need for continuing socialization. Some dogs take new things in stride and require next to no socialization, some require extensive socialization and never quite get past their suspiciousness. She's probably giving you a good hint of where she falls on that curve and that's a good thing, very useful information. Frankly, in the wild, that degree of suspiciousness probably had better survival rates than what we typically want to see in a companion dog today  I always say that mine would have a life span of about 20 minutes in the wild before they tried to snuggle up with something that turns around and eats them  Of course, most puppies also go through some kind of secondary fear stage, and she may have just entered that stage, which can be a huge contributor, especially for a dog who is already hyper-aware of her surroundings, but better safe than sorry - clearly she must get out more and encounter more fire hydrants and so on in their natural habitat You also don't want to get her in the habit of thinking she has to defend you and her four-legged buds against threats, because what she perceives as a threat could conceivably expand exponentionally (my first OES was like this) and it's not so cute to live with at that point. You are, of course, the natural born leader in charge, matter of fact about her silliness and not catering to it. All that said, if one of my dogs had done this I would have been LMAO too. Thanks for sharing. Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: Of course, most puppies also go through some kind of secondary fear stage, and she may have just entered that stage, which can be a huge contributor, especially for a dog who is already hyper-aware of her surroundings, but better safe than sorry - clearly she must get out more and encounter more fire hydrants and so on in their natural habitat Thanks for the advice! I'm hoping it is just a new stage. We've seen it with the neighborhood cat too--who she's very used to seeing, but recently decided it was something to bark about too. Before leaving the park, I walked her around the park and by the hydrant several times. I know when she's "in the zone" walking, she's learned to leave everything that she might typically bark at and just focus on the walk. I'm hoping that approach will work just like it did for the neighborhood kids (who, after some practice, she completely ignores now unless we stop to greet them and she sits--no longer barks  I'm happy to have the kids around though, because they actually help when I tell them she's on a "training" walk). Unfortunately, the cat doesn't hang around long enough for us to do any training!  |
| Sounds like you are on it. When you meet kids, ask them to participate in your walk.....walk with you and the dog and at some point hand the leash to the kid you trust the most. I remember when Ali handed me Delilah's leash and asked me to walk her about. ?? That pup never noticed a newbie on the end of the leash......me. We had a good time walking around the show, watching obedience trials, all the other dogs and people, etc. |
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