Incident at dog park, how would you have reacted?

[Tiga's_mom]

The other thread about dog park aggression made me think about what happened yesterday so I thought I'd share. I saw something that upset me yesterday when I was at the dog park. It was a really nice day so I expected there would be a lot of people and I was right. A lot of the people there were regulars, and we all kind of know each other and the dogs. Never usually a problem there, and if there is, the owner is always good about taking the dog out.

 

Not long before I left, there was a guy that came in with his BC. This guy is fairly new to the area and hasn't been the friendliest. Well one of the regulars was there with his German Sheppard (Jenny) and his new Lab/BC cross (Allie). So the new guy comes in with his BC and of course with all those dogs, there was a bit of mayhem when he came in. A bunch of the dogs went into the holding area to greet the BC. I had Tiga next to me holding him until the new dog got in. Well I thought it was all over so I let Tiga go, but the guy with the BC was still in the holding area with his BC and Jenny. Of course Tiga ran right in there so I went over to get him out. The new guy was trying to get the 3 dogs out and grabbed Jenny by the collar and shoved her really hard toward the door and she yelped. Now this dog is no wuss, she's a full grown German Sheppard and she can hold her own, but he hurt her. I was shocked! He was super rough. Then he started to go for Tiga, but I was right there so I took care of getting Tiga in.

 

Well Jenny's owner wasn't far behind me and asked the guy what he was doing. The guy was like what do you mean? And Jenny's owner said well you just made my dog yelp. The guy just said "So what? What was your dog doing? Making the other dogs yelp." Now this wasn't true at all. Jenny was like Tiga and just went in there after all the commotion. Not that it matters anyway, I didn't think that guy should have handled Jenny that way at all! If he had touched Tiga like that I think I probably would have punched him out! So Jenny's owner took her and Allie and they left after a few choice words to the new guy. I left shortly afterwards as well.

 

After getting home, I was sort of kicking myself for not saying anything to the new guy, but I was just so shocked. I've never seen anyone over there treat any dog like that. Like I said we all kind of know each other since we're in a fairly small city. Just makes me wonder how he treats his own dog. Some people!

[Bukka Red]

You did good. Be mindful of your dog and let the owner of the abused dog handle it.

 

We had something similar at our dog park. A man showed up with two dogs. hwalked the outside perimeter of the park. Of course all our dogs barked through the fence at them. After about 20-30 min of this he brought his in and kept them on the leash (BIG mistake). All our dogs went over. We immediately grabbed willow and wren. Another BC (Hamish) went up to the dogs. Hamish is VERY sweet and very playful. he climbed on the back of one of the guys dogs. The guy hit Hamish with the plastic part of his retractable leash! it was a loud thud. Hamish didn't yelp, but he got off. I went immediately and told Hamish's Mommy. She verbally tore the man a new @#$hole. She chewed him out, then calmed a little, got him to unleash his dogs and showed him how the park works. The guy was a stoneage dog "master". We left right after that.

 

There are soem major problems with dog parks, but the good outweighs the bad.

 

clueless parents are bad, but one of my pet peeves in unsupervised children. People are bringing little kids in, not supervising them, and letting them , literally, run around. One guy even brought in his toddler with his tricycle!!! Running, unsupervised, children and a pack of herding dogs (BC's, ACD's, Ausies) is a bad mix.

 

I dont want my dogs anywhere near that place when a child is bitten.

 

Brad

 

Brad

[Snorri the Priest]

I have just seen a similar thread on another board I visit - in that case, a guy went ballistic when his Labrador puppy wouldn't stop playing with the other dogs: he lifted it by the throat and punched it in the stomach several times!

 

The poster of the story had a go at the chap, and got a load of lip in exchange, so she went home and phoned the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). For once, they got off their butts and got a court order to sieze the dog, as they had had other reports of similar incidents with the same puppy.

 

The RSPCA have now taken the dog to shelter for rehoming, and the police have taken up residence in the man's house. In the UK, a person can be banned from keeping animals for life, as well as jail and fines: unfortunately, not enough jail and too small a fine!

 

Personally, I'd have to rely on "mouth", as I'm disabled, and not very good when it comes to fisticuffs. The mouth works OK, though..... :mad:

 

Snorri

Charles Bronson, NOT!)

[border colliez]

I never take my dogs to these dog parks, I've heard nothing good about them, they just seem to create problems. If I were you, I would find another area to exercise my dog, rather than deal with these not-so-nice people. Surely there are baseball fields, or somewhere like that, that you can take your dogs too.

 

I am fortunate that our dogs have 5 acres to run on, plus sheep, and they travel a lot to trials. Maybe some of you, if it's possible, should try herding with your dogs, and get away from places like these dog parks. Just a thought!

[Keith Ramsay]

I think Brad nailed it. I never let Angel get into places where she is beyond my reach (IE control), else, whatever happens to her IS totally my fault.

 

Last night I was at hurling training and she was with me. I'll hit her ball for a few fetches as we are warming up. I hit her ball out and she went to retrieve it. Two owners let loose (or failed to have control of) their dogs. A rhodesian Ridgeback and a white husky mix type of dog.

 

Angel immediately dropped her ball and returned to me with the two dogs hot on her tail. I immediately stepped between them, and distracted their attention for a few seconds. They were only interested in playing, but they had not formally been introduced or made proper BC style introductions so she was a little agitated with their behavior.

 

All said if those dogs were troublesome to me, I would have not hesitated to give one of both a thump. On the other hand if angel approached them and their owners and got thumped, i would have no one to blame but myself. I would not specifically like it, but could only fault myself for not having proper control of my dog.

 

I think you did perfect. In the future if you see the offending owner, just leave. He will get the point pretty fast when the dog park clears out when he arrives.

[Tiga's_mom]

I definitely won't stay if he comes again. I've been going there for about a year now and it's really the first incident I've encountered. Like I said it's a pretty small city, and most of us that go there have gotten to know each other and the dogs. I've just learned that if there's a lot of dogs then I hold onto Tiga when someone new comes in, I just think it's safer and that proved my point. I'm sure there are other places to go and exercise him, I take him there more for the socialization with other dogs, he loves it. It's usually pretty uneventful there.

[zorra's Pappy]

I am a frequent dog park visitor, and luckily we have a decent group of regulars. Every now and then we have new faces that show up and most of the time there are no problems. Have any of you noticed that arrogant and obnoxious people have arrogant and obnoxious dogs? There is one guy that walks in, ignores everyone and talks on his cell phone the entire time while his dog runs around like a lunatic annoying other dogs and people. Oh well, some people going through life being "that guy." I do feel sorry for their dogs!

[juliepoudrier]

I'm sure I'm going to be unpopular for these comments, but here goes. I have only ever been to a dog park once, maybe twice, and have no real desire to go to one again.

 

That said, at the parks I have seen, the holding area is the area where you're supposed to remove the leash from your dog before opening the gate and letting the dog loose into the park proper. From Tammy's description, I'm guessing not all dog parks are built this way?

 

In other words, in the parks I've seen, the dogs already in the park wouldn't be able to go up to the dogs entering the park until the recent arrivals' owner opens the gate to the holding area to let the dog out (at which point the new dog would be off leash). I assumed this was so that the recent arrivals had a secure, dog-free place in which to unleash their dogs before letting them join the general population of the park. This makes sense to me as a dog on leash may certainly feel threatened by a bunch of loose dogs approaching at a run, and yet it's not always safe to remove the leash before the dog is enclosed in the park.

 

So...is this not the case with the park you're describing? It sounds as if dogs already in the park are able to run up to entering dogs while the new dog's owner is still trying to remove the leash?

 

I'm not saying the new guy's behavior toward the shepherd was acceptable, but I do wonder about people already in the park allowing their dogs to run up willy-nilly to a newcomer without allowing that newcomer the time/space to remove the leash off his own dog and get into the park. The one time I went to the dog park, that's exactly what happened to me, with the rushing dogs being rottweilers. It made it doubly difficult for me to get my dogs off their leashes and out of the way when I was being stampeded by someone else's dogs. It did piss me off, though I blamed the owners and not the dogs for the behavior. As soon as I was able to muscle my way past the pack of rottweilers, I took my dogs to the other side of the park away from the unruly mob. So maybe for the future folks who are already in the park should consider that when a new person and dog are trying to enter the park. It seems to me that this would be appropriate behavior even if you know the person and dog entering (that is, anyone entering the park ought to be allowed a little space to get in there before being mobbed by dogs, be they friends or strangers). JMO, and if I have misunderstood the situation, forgive me.

 

J.

[sea4th]

A dog park is basically for the dogs. Interaction with other dogs is to be expected. Interaction with other dogs is the reason I take my dogs to dog parks. If the dogs are just being dogs--this excludes aggression --- and one has a problem with it, don't go to a dog park. Period.

 

Watching your dog carefully as well as watching the other dogs, the dynamics in the area, is a must for anyone taking their dog to a dog park.

 

However, it appears that most problems arise when the owner 1) doesn't watch their dog; 2) is clueless about canine language and expect their dog to live up to it's title "furbaby/kid", 3) dogs being macho extensions of some testosterone pumped dude.

 

In any one of those situations, if my dog was just being a dog, was just interacting benignly with another dog, resulted in my dog being hit, I'd light into the person who dared to lay his hands on my dog. IF I saw the potential for a problem, whether on my dog's part or another dog's part, I'd remove my dog. If that potential continued to exist, we would leave. If a person's knee jerk reaction is to smack other dogs away, it doesn't make sense to go to a DOG park. Maybe a hike on some primitive trails would better serve this type of person.

 

One time, I walked into a dog park with my Maggie, an intense dog with a lot of eye, a working fool. Three F-g boxers jumped her. I didn't hesitate to punch them, but the owners were right on them and pulled them off. Maggie was unhurt. It happened so fast, I don't think the owner's expected it. I took Maggs to the far end of the park away from that situation.

 

I have dogs who are not dog park dogs. I don't take them there, at least when other dogs are there. I have no problem with the others though, running wildly in a pack, being the greeters at the gate, telling off another for obnoxious behavior or being told off themselves for obnoxious behavior--and if the behavior continues on either dogs' part, I remove ourselves for that day.

 

Personally, I would not have left that dog park without saying something to the new guy, aka, the jerk. If you cast human expectations on dogs, or react with physical corrections, you're not ready for a dog park.

[Tiga's_mom]

The park that I go to is like what you described. What happened is, the owner got into the holding area and removed the lease, but some of the dogs went over to the gate to greet the new dog coming in. When the new owner opened the gate to let himself and his dog in, some of the dogs went into the holding area. They were all off leases. There was some comotion and the dogs left the holding area. I thought all the dogs and the owner were inside the park because the bulk of the mob had gone and so did Jenny's owner so we released our dogs, but the gate to the holding area was still opened and both our dogs went in there where the new guy and his dog were and that's when he grabbed Jenny and shoved her.

 

Most of us try to keep our dogs away from all of this until the new dog gets in and is able to run if they want to, some people don't do this. Sometimes I can't get to Tiga in time if I'm at the other side of the park picking up after him, but his recall is pretty good, so most of the time he'll come to me anyway.

 

I agree 100% that new people coming into the park should have some room which is why I held Tiga when the guy came. I just don't think they guy should have touched Jenny at all. When that has happened to me in the past I just patiently herd them all back in. They will eventually all go, but I would never lay my hands on a dog the way he did.