Dedham Dog Park

     This morning, Henry visited the dog park in Dedham. As soon as I let him out of the car, he was overexcited. The prong collar was right behind his ears and I walked him around, away from the dog park until he settled down.
     We cautiously approached the 1-acre, fenced in area. Whenever he showed signs of over excitement, I would switch direction, away from the dogs, until he calmed down and then I would head back. I am getting better at recognizing the red flags, like the direction of his ears. Henry approached the fence but we did not enter the park. We walked around it, on the outside. Occasionally, a dog inside the fence would get close to us, Henry would get excited, and I would lead him away, only to return when he had relaxed. After Henry had walked around the park a few times, staying calm, and even calmly passing a few dogs that were also outside the fence, we went inside.
     I continued guiding Henry on a short leash, walking around the perimeter of the park, this time from the inside. We did not approach any dogs but we did not avoid them either. A few dogs approached Henry from behind to sniff his rear. I kept him moving forward, not letting him face them.
    Several times, when a dog approached Henry, the owner would call the dog back. They probably assume that I am holding him on a short leash because I don't want him interacting with other dogs. (Or maybe they don't want their dogs interacting with one that needs to be on a short leash.) In fact, the opposite is true. It is only by exposing Henry to other dogs that he will learn how to interact politely. When a dog approaches Henry while I am controlling him, he can learn what to do (stay relaxed) and what not to do (bark or mount).
     We walked around the perimeter several times and Henry began ignoring or responding calmly to dogs that we passed. So I gave him more leash. He stayed calm for the most part. He would only become excited if a dog nearby was running, barking or mounting. A gentle correction usually returned him to a calm state.
     I gave Henry the full 6 feet of leash and kept walking. When we passed another dog, he would sniff politely and continue to follow me. And when a few dogs started to jump and play with him I stood still and let them play. And he played very nicely. I saw him roll over on his back for another dog for the first time. He might do that at doggie day-care, but I have never seen him play submissive before, not even for Zico.  He also respected other dogs correcting him. When play got a little too rough for a beagle, the beagle barked in his face and Henry backed off.
     He was behaving so well, I put him on a 15 foot retractable lead, attached to a harness so he could run around some more. He was not ready for that. The additional freedom led him to ignore me. He started barking at dogs that were running out of his reach. So I put him back on the prong collar and 6 foot leash. But as we spent more time there, his play became more relaxed and he seem less interested in dogs that were out of reach. I tried the 15 foot lead again and he behaved well.
     After more time had passed, Henry was staying by my side instead of taking advantage of the longer lead. He was being friendly with all the dogs but not rambunctious. Probably, he was getting tired. But he was behaving so well that I let him off-leash. He continued to behave well off-leash. But he started hanging around the double gate. It looked like he was ready to go.
     We spent around 3 hours at the dog park. Later today, I was hoping to encounter some dogs as I walked him in the neighborhood, but we had no luck. I wonder how long he will retain these new social skills. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to take him to the dog park every day. But fortunately, every day shows new signs of progress.