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Edited my original remark as it was too vague and wrongly suggested there was something wrong with people letting there dogs play in parks together. No behaviourist or anyone else for that matter has suggested i shouldn't let my dog stop and meet other dogs. What i was pointing out (perhaps not very well) was that some of the best behaved dogs i've met are still very playful however those interactions were generally briefer, and more transitional. That might be due to my dog or the relationship i want to have with her but it was intended as a suggestion of keeping the dog engaged with the owner whilst still giving it freedom.
I agree there is some crap out there when it comes to professional help. However the two we have worked with have been great and my unclear comments are a disservice to them.
jono84-
That makes more sense.
I guess there are also so many variables. In the last 6 months, Ada's gone from wanting to play with any dog she encountered, to really only being interested in playing with dogs she's already friends with + generally preferring balls or sticks. With the exception of bully type dogs who she's usually happy to have a wrestle with still.
I still tend to think most of the time it's best to let dogs sort out stuff amongst themselves as long as no one's getting picked on too badly. Seems like with bigger groups there's often some initial snapping and snarling and then they just figure out their place in things and they'll then peacefully co-exist. Annoys me when people panic and pick up their dogs the moment there's any tension as that just seems to be guaranteed to create a reactive dog in the future.
Though obviously it's easy to say all this when I have a relatively indestructible type of dog. I'll still pull her out of any interaction I'm not happy with.
ad441
Can see that maybe discouraging dogs from only interacting with one specific group of dogs that play in a specific way might possibly be worthwhile advice, but the idea (if I correctly understand what the behaviourists said) that you should always keep moving and not stop to let dogs play seems absolutely terrible.
I mean there's good dog play and bad dog play - I find 3 dogs playing often doesn't work that well, but bigger groups are fine if all the dogs are happy and if they're not, it's usually pretty clear. I guess it cuts down on risk/complication so can see why a behaviourist might suggest it, but I still think that's bad advice.
Am a bit dubious about behaviourists though. I talked to some guy who said his dog's whole personality had changed, was really stressed about it, they'd got a behaviourist in, etc. Discussing it a bit more, it seemed pretty clear the dog was around 10 months and was just a teenager. Ada's whole personality changed for a month or so around that age and she stopped listening, went and sat on her own in evenings and didn't want anything to do with us. She grew out of it shortly after. Was a bit horrified the behaviourist had agreed to take their money.