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I am currently living in a college town and attending University. The town I am in does not have a dog park, but 3 nights a week people take their dogs to an open area on campus and the dogs are allowed to run off-leash.
Tonight was my second time to take my 9 month doberman to this dog night. We were there for about 40 minutes with no problems; he gets along great with all dogs and is friendly towards people. After those 40 minutes a parent let their 3-4 year old son run through the area screaming. Wrigley, my doberman, has been around kids only a handful of times. Each time he has been around little kids he has done well, though he seems a little reserved. Wrigley was playing with the little boy and knocked him over. When the kid fell, he immediately started screaming and crying. I walked over to apologize and see if the kid was okay while my dog stood right next to me. The kid's mother came over and as she was picking up the kid, who wouldn't stop screaming, Wrigley appeared very anxious. He barked and then snapped at the kid's leg.
Wrigley has never been aggressive towards people or any other animal. I know I need to do more socializing involving kids, but I am at the age where I don't know many kids under the age of 10. What should I do? Does this mean that my dog just got too excited, a predator-prey instinct came into play, or that he chose fight instead of the flight response?
If anyone has any experience with a situation like this I would really appreciate some advice in training/socializing.
Tonight was my second time to take my 9 month doberman to this dog night. We were there for about 40 minutes with no problems; he gets along great with all dogs and is friendly towards people. After those 40 minutes a parent let their 3-4 year old son run through the area screaming. Wrigley, my doberman, has been around kids only a handful of times. Each time he has been around little kids he has done well, though he seems a little reserved. Wrigley was playing with the little boy and knocked him over. When the kid fell, he immediately started screaming and crying. I walked over to apologize and see if the kid was okay while my dog stood right next to me. The kid's mother came over and as she was picking up the kid, who wouldn't stop screaming, Wrigley appeared very anxious. He barked and then snapped at the kid's leg.
Wrigley has never been aggressive towards people or any other animal. I know I need to do more socializing involving kids, but I am at the age where I don't know many kids under the age of 10. What should I do? Does this mean that my dog just got too excited, a predator-prey instinct came into play, or that he chose fight instead of the flight response?
If anyone has any experience with a situation like this I would really appreciate some advice in training/socializing.