We have a small dog park in our apartment complex, which is great because we know most of the people and dogs that attend. I took Kai yesterday to play with some of her friends and she was playing great with all of the dogs. Then another dog showed up (whom she had met before). This dog does not get along with the other husky in the complex at all (who was there right before she arrived). As soon as this dog entered the dog park, she went after Kai. Not really trying to dominate Kai, but yelling at her, exhibiting aggressive behavior, etc.

In the past, when dealing with dominant dogs, Kai has gone on her back and submitted. However I have never seen her exhibit the behavior she displayed. When this dog would go after her and yell at her, Kai yelled back. Then she curled her lips up, exposing her teeth with a very strange face. The hair on her back also shot up. So when the dog went after her, sometimes she ran away, other times she fought back. They got into it a couple of times.

The good news is that the dog’s owner was great. He would watch them carefully and take out his dog if she acted up. I also was very careful to be near the situation, because I had never seen Kai make that face before. As much as I worry about the other dog latching on, I was also afraid of Kai possibly retaliating to defend herself.

What do you guys think? Kai loves to play with all dogs, which is why I love to bring her to the dog park and doggy daycare. But when there is an aggressive dog, I don’t want her to also get aggressive on defense.

I think that having a dog that is willing to stand up for it's self is not a bad thing. Kaikoura was trying to communicate "What you're doing is not okay. Back off." As long as she is fine when that dog is acting nicely I don't see a problem with her defending herself.

I agree, I don't see a problem with this. I think you did what you could do and that was just monitor them closely and make sure that either dog didn't get to worked up. Some dogs just rub other dogs the wrong way. Its good that she was standing up for herself, and her showing her teeth was just a warning. You can't make all dogs get along, just like you can't make all kids on the playground get along. I would not worry about Kai's behavior at all unless it becomes a thing with a lot of other dogs.

I just read through this while looking for an illustration of the different facial expressions a dog can make on a spectrum of relaxed to reactive or aggressive. I haven't found the illustrtaion I was thinking of yet but ran across this article from the ASPCA. Scroll down a bit and check out the subheading called "The Mouth." There was a description of a "submissive grin" there with a photo example that I thought matched what I understand from your description of how Kai reacted. http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/canine-body-language

I'll keep looking for that illustration. It's a really helpful representation to help "decode" what a dog communicates with its face.