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@ZaneB I agree with @MariaS – spot on! And, also what she said – you can check in and see how to help him going forward. One of my favorite recommendations to dog park users is to call the dog 20x more than necessary, reward with high value food or play and then release the dog back to enjoy what they were doing. It’s because RECALL=LEAVING that dogs start going, “No, thanks! I’m having WAY too much fun!” and the fix is to set the dog up for successful practice when we don’t NEED them to come so that we can release them again. Also, if we’re only leashing 1/20th of the time, and highly rewarding/releasing 19/20 of the time, the dog learns the gamble is probably worth it. Finally, when practicing, be sure the tone and where he is in the park is no different for leashing than not! Dogs pick up on the tiniest of variables!
Thanks for bringing this great question to working with the clients – and super great job on empathy and meeting the client where they are. Well done!