lillyzmomma\";p=\"16772 said:
If you choose to take your Boxers to a dog park:
Watch your Boxers and their interactions with the other dogs closely (I recommend reading/studying the dog body language stickey in the behavior section)! React quickly if anything goes awry and don't be afraid to talk to another dogs owner if their dog is behaving inappropriately.
I took Odin to a Pensacola dog park... as Mastray stated, there were only three other dogs in the park when I went there... but even then, I had no clue who owned what dog. All three owners were sitting on benches reading magazines or talking on cell phones... not one seemed to be watching their dog or paying any attention to what the dogs were doing.
I was watching over Odin's every move, not 100% sure how he would react to untethered strange dogs while he himself was off-leash (I kept him on leash for awhile in the dog park to see how he adapted on-leash, then finally released him).
Odin interacted with all three dogs in the park... he seemed to be quite-good with the two bigger lab-mixes that were there, but was a little too-playful (in my opinion) with a dachsund, so I would call him back if he was getting rough (ruff). At no time did any of the other owners in the park seem to care about what Odin was doing with the other dogs either... they just all kept reading or talking on their cell-phones.
I had no idea which person owned which dog (I could have been sexist and assume the dachsund was owned by the only girl in the park and the two guys owned the bigger dogs).
The park itself was well-shaded, large and had water for the dogs. I was comfortable, but Odin seemed to be getting worn-down/overheated quick, so I decided to call the trip/experiment over faster then expected and take Odin home. I think I was only in the park for 15-20 minutes. I still don't think the other owners blinked the whole time I was there with Odin.
From our experiences socializing Odin, he seems to do best with dogs his own size or bigger (except maybe one certain Great Dane puppy Odin knows well). Odin does seem to get a little "bossy" with smaller dogs. Almost as-if Odin respects dogs based strictly on size.
Still, I try exposing Odin to other dogs as much as possible (under close supervision), if for nothing more then to get Odin used to differant dogs of all shapes and sizes. The more he considers seeing other dogs as "normal" rather then "an event" the better I think Odin will be.