I live in NY too and the dog park can be intimidating if your dog is not used to it. Today, there were like 10-15 dogs...big ones, too. Two giant Newfoundlands, a lab/newfie mix, a couple of those racing dogs that look like greyhounds and one other yorkie. While the small dogs were initimidated, Archie just ran around and played ball with the other dogs.
How old is your yorkie? If he's a baby then it's probably not such a great idea to let him play with bigger older dogs unless there's a mommy-baby attachment between them. But, what you might want to consider is taking your dog to the dog park when there are not too many other dogs around and letting him feel like wow..this is an OK place to be. It also helps for him to smell the other dogs that were there and become comfortable with the scents. I personally think that when dogs are separated from their litter too early and spend a lot of time with humans, they become undersocialized, so what you might want to begin doing is building up a group of litter-mates...a couple of nice dogs that he can sort of get to know and become friendly with. And I agree that it's important to sit down with all three dogs and play with them together so that your dog feels safe that you're there. |