Your dog arrives and the volume goes up. Body slams, pinning, a smaller dog trying to leave and yours not noticing. Other owners are watching you.
This is ordinary adolescent play with no brakes on it yet. It still needs managing, because a park full of strangers is not where a dog learns brakes.
Healthy play against too-rough play
Healthy play swaps roles. Your dog chases, then gets chased. One goes down, then the other. Both dogs pause on their own, shake off, and start again.
Too-rough play runs one way. Yours is always on top, always the chaser, and does not stop when the other dog turns away, tucks in or heads behind their owner.
Interrupt before, not after
Watch for the ramp: faster, louder, no pauses, less looking at the other dog. That is the moment, not 30 seconds later.
Call your dog out of play for 10 seconds, feed them, then send them straight back. Being called should never mean play is over.
Do that 3 or 4 times in a visit, starting while play still looks good rather than once it has soured.
If your dog cannot come away at all, clip the leash on and walk 20 feet off until they can take food again.
Recall out of play is the hardest recall there is, and this stage makes it harder. Dogs show reduced responsiveness to their caregiver's cues around the onset of adolescence.
So the payment has to beat the game. Roast chicken, a thrown ball, a tug toy in your pocket. Reward-based training has been associated with higher reported responsiveness and fewer reported problem behaviours.
Shorter visits, and a proper ending
10 good minutes and out beats 40 minutes that end badly. Leave while play still looks like play.
Choose 1 or 2 steady dogs your dog already knows over an open park of strangers, wherever you can.
Finish every visit with 5 minutes of sniffing on a loose leash, and walk home rather than driving straight off.
Arousal comes down slowly and it needs somewhere to go. Relaxation is trained as a behaviour in its own right, in short repeatable sets below your dog's threshold.
Safety note
Stop the park visits and speak to a qualified behaviour professional if play has tipped into a fight. The same applies if either dog has been injured, or if another dog was frightened enough to hide or scream. Have your veterinarian check any bite, however small the puncture looks.
We are not going to tell you they will grow out of it. Play gets better when it is interrupted early and often, and that part is yours to do.
Today's version, in one line: 10 minutes at the park, 3 called check-ins paid with chicken, and a sniffing walk home.