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Deëscalation at a dog park?
Here is where I turn to others without any personal expertise. I am not a dog owner and my nonviolence has been working well on humans, but dogs? I am not the dog whisperer.
Here is part of what some dog experts say:
"Don't use your body; use aversive tools.
You should always bring emergency tools to the dog park, just in case. They will prevent injury to both dogs and people. People are known to get severe and damaging bites by trying to break up dog fights with their hands and bodies, as the dog may not realize they are biting a human, and may not inhibit their bites as they normally would if they feel they’re being attacked, or think they are biting another dog. Dogs have protective coats, whereas humans just have skin, so the same bite can be much more damaging to a person than another dog.
You should always bring emergency tools to the dog park, just in case. They will prevent injury to both dogs and people. People are known to get severe and damaging bites by trying to break up dog fights with their hands and bodies, as the dog may not realize they are biting a human, and may not inhibit their bites as they normally would if they feel they’re being attacked, or think they are biting another dog. Dogs have protective coats, whereas humans just have skin, so the same bite can be much more damaging to a person than another dog.
Try tools in the following order: clapping, using a strong voice (not yelling), water/spray bottles, insert chairs or boards or other furniture, spray with a hose or dump a bucket of water, citronella spray, or set off an air horn in the faces of the fighting dogs."
OK, I confess: I laughed to myself when I thought of using the same methods with scrapping humans. Bucket brigade! Deploy citronella! Pass the lawn furniture! Clap everyone! Where's my air horn?
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