Gail is being a jerk at the dog park. She loves other dogs, plays really well with them, but once she gets a hold of a ball (possibly other toys as well, she just hasn't had access to them), she becomes aggressive if she perceives another dog as trying to take it from her. I guess just to describe a scenario: someone at the dog park threw a ball for Gail. She catches it and continues running with it. Another dog (or multiple dogs, sometimes) will run after her, not necessarily trying to take the ball, but just to run after her because that's how they play. Gail will start lunging at these dogs, and
continue to chase and lunge at them even after the other dogs have decided to leave her alone. A fight will ensue, it gets broken up, and no serious injuries have occurred. Again, this only happens if Gail has a ball. Without a ball, she's perfectly happy being chased or chasing others as a form of play.
As many of you know, she ran off in December and was missing for 2 weeks. Understandably, I don't trust her off the leash in non-fenced areas. She loves going to the dog park; it's a large, safe, and fenced area and she's able to get her energy out. Like I said, the majority of the time she plays really nicely and enjoys the company of other dogs. I would prefer to keep the dog park as an option if I can. I may be moving in a few months to a house with a fenced in yard, but until then, she still needs a place to run around. Regardless of whether we "need" the dog park, I'd rather have a dog that isn't possessive with other dogs in the first place.
She's the first dog I've had on my own, so I'm not entirely dog training-savvy. She's otherwise a well behaved dog and there's nothing really about her that's out of the ordinary. Does anyone have suggestions? Obedience classes, maybe? Should I talk to the vet? Get a trainer or something? We are moving at the end of July, so perhaps I shouldn't start anything major until then. I will likely have August completely off, which would probably be a good time. It all depends on what I should do.
In the meantime, no worries, I am not taking her back to the dog park. There is a non-fenced park around the corner from my home where I will play fetch with her--she doesn't run from me there (or ever, usually..), but of course there is always the risk. I guess I'm willing to take that risk so that she has an outlet for her energy. I don't want to keep her cooped up.
Also, some additional information, in case anyone finds it helpful: she's about 2 years old, 40 pounds, pit mix. I adopted her in August 2016, so I have not yet had her for a year. The shelter she came from did not have any background information on her other than her spay and vaccination records that she had done while in their care. She was found roaming as a stray.
Thanks