Sadie is a bit of a bully at the dog park.  She has no concept of size and plays rough with the big dogs.  What concerns me is that 1) she attacks whatever dog the others are ganging up on 2) gets angry when she is tripped over or stepped on and 3) really pushes the "new" dog to play with her.

I'm worryied that one of these days the other dog won't understand that Sadie isn't going to hurt it and really bite her.  If that happens, there will be absolutely nothing I can do about it.

Right now, when ever Sadie gets heated up, I make her come and sit in my lap for a minute or two to cool off. Then I let her get back to it.  This seems to work and it also lets the other 'parents' know that I am paying attention to my dog.

Sadie has been playing with the big dogs for months and usually there are few playmates in the 'little dog' park.  When she does play with little dogs, she gets bored quickly, unless they are puppies. 

Right now one of her favorites is a 3 month old english bull dog named Dixie.  Dixie weighs twice what Sadie does, but they still seem to be evenly matched.  One good thing about Dixie is that she is all skin and doesn't seem to feel it when Sadie grabs her.  Sometimes when Dixie has had enough, she says so.  When Sadie doesn't listen, I have to give her a time out.

Diff

Frankly, I've heard too many tragic stories about dog parks and big dogs hurting small dogs....I wouldn't let her play with the big dogs.  You never know when one of the big ones will just grab her and not be playing.  I understand she gets bored with the little dogs but better safe than sorry.

Now, the English bulldog she plays with - they're very sweet and they know each other.  But new dogs or dogs that she doesn't know well are a different story. JMO.  I don't do dog parks and the safety factor is the number 1 reason why.

There was an episode on the dog whisperer about this (small dogs at the dog park). The small dog was charging the big dogs and irritating them and putting herself in a position of being attacked.

What I got from it was

bring a tired dog to the dog park (always exercise your dog first, don't use the dog park as exercise, think of it more as affection)

wait until your dog is calm-submissive before entering the dog park, have your dog enter the park behind you, not in front of you

the best way to prevent dog fights is to have vigilant owners watching out for aggressive, frustrated, dominant, or excited dogs at the park

Not sure if this helps!

Christine