Me, my stepdaughter and one of her friends took one of our dogs (the beagle) to the dog park today. Our local dog park has a "large dog" side and a "small dog" side.
First, Hamlet thinks he
is a big dog. Also, being a beagle, our dog likes to get down on his front paws, raise his hindquarters and bark at other dogs. Then he likes to "dive bomb" them by running up and nudging them. It's his way of getting them to play with him.
So, first we go to the small dog side. There's one lady in there with her three dogs. Hamlet runs in and does his thing and the lady looks annoyed. Apparently we were ruining her game of fetch. I look over to the large dog side and there seems to be 7-8 dogs over there. Hamlet's not afraid of a big dog or two, so we head over there.
He surprised me - he started by just wandering around the pen, sniffing. I expected him to immediately find a big dog to play with. He eventually sees some dogs that he thinks would be fun to play with and "does his thing", barking and "dive bombing" a couple of dogs. The dogs' owners weren't sure what to make of it, so I say "He's just playing...as long as tails are wagging, I'm not worried." They don't seem too sure, but they don't say anything.
Finally, one of their dogs decides "I'll show this little beagle who's boss!" He turns playfully growls at Hamlet and then chases him. It's great. They ended up playing that game for a while and hanging out. It was fun to watch. That's why I love the dog park!
I've never seen a truly nasty confrontation at the dog park. Dogs growl at each other, they bark at each other, and sometimes they even playfully bite one another - all while their tails are wagging. Don't bring your dog to the dog park if you don't want to let them play.