[Dailydrool] Interesting morning at the dogpark

[Val lbrewerzwick via Dailydrool]

I took the pack to the dogpark this morning. (there is only one on our side of the island and it is only open two mornings and Saturday each week). the bassets find it entertaining but hardly compelling. our mix breed pitbull, Ipo, on the other hand, absolutely loves it and runs and runs with other big dogs, so I take the three of them mostly for Ipo as an outing.

Today was different. There was an aggressive dog there  (about Ipo's size) who was attacking other similarly sized dogs, especially Ipo, so we left pretty quickly.  (Ipo has no teeth in the front and can't defend herself, plus is submissive). But I was intrigued by a couple of other things. 

A Wolf- Samoyed-German shepherd hybrid dog arrived (huge, the size of a Dane, absolutely gorgeous-looking and seemingly quite gentle), arrived next. One whiff or look at this dog and Mariah went bonkers.  IF it came within ten feet of her Mariah went into full attack mode and needed restraining even though the wolf hybrid showed no interest whatsoever in her ( not if it was further away--clearly something about this dog terrified her.  I don't think it was the Size per se since I have seen her be okay with Danes, or the energy either, since the dog was low key, so I am assuming if was the wolf component. I have heard similar stories on the Drool, I think. Does this ring a bell? just curious.)

FInally, I was amazed by Miss Please-everyone Mila. I had both Ipo and Mariah on leashes in short order next to me  because of the above commotion. MIla, uncharacteristically, started walking circles around our threesome barking loudly, clearly telling others in the park to steer clear of our littLe pack.  HUh. We left right after that, but I was impressed that Mila, Mariah, and Ipo seemed to me to view us all as family/one pack.  I never had that experience with Bo and Harley, though they were biological brothers and with us together much longer than these three have been together. wondering what makes dogs form alliances into a cohesive group vs. viewing themselves as individuals sharing a lodging. (Bonded vs. not?). WOuld be curious what others think.

Val vlbzwick at yahoo.com. With Mila, Mariah, and Ipo