Dog Park Rant...

[Canaqua]

We don’t go to dog parks…one of my dogs is young, timid, submissive and the other one is elderly and can be aggressive. Not the place for them. I’m not sure they are the place for any dog, given that there’s no assurance that other’s showing up have a clue.

Our dogs get their play time in with dogs we know…those of friends, neighbors and relatives. The old dog has few friends (her choice), but the young dog has lots and every play experience is positive for her because we only play with well-known dogs with good dog manners and good bite inhibition. Not that they won’t discipline her when necessary, but discipline is a growl or a “no real damage intended” soft bite or shove onto her back, not an attack. They can play very rough and tumble without anyone losing their temper or ever biting “for real”. Young dog has very good doggie manners herself from this experience…she “asks” to play rather than charging up to a new dog. If a new dog doesn’t respond positively to her play bow from a distance, she moves on. If a strange dog charges up to her without first making a play gesture, she hides behind me until we figure out what dog’s intentions are.

[wendy]

Young dog has very good doggie manners herself from this experience…she “asks” to play rather than charging up to a new dog.

yeah- and this is one (of many) peeves I have about dog parks. I think they teach dogs bad manners, and also teach dog owners to tolerate dog bad manners. If you go to a typical dog park, all of the dogs will rudely rush up to and mob any incoming dog in the rudest possible way.

Biggest complaint most people have about other people’s dogs is the dog who goes charging up to strange dogs right into the strange dog’s face. Usually accompanied by shrieks of “he’s friendly” from the owner. No, he’s not friendly, he’s RUDE and deserves to be disciplined by the dog he’s being rude to. Owners who frequent dog parks think this rude behavior is normal, but it’s not.

If you watch polite dogs approaching dogs they don’t know, they move towards each other, then stop and give “friendly” signals and watch the other dog for “friendly” response signals, then they repeat this process a few more times until they actually meet; if at any point in time, one dog doesn’t give off “friendly” signals, the dogs stop approaching each other. They don’t rush at each other willy-nilly (unless they know each other well). If you’re a polite owner of a polite dog, you also observe carefully the behavior of the strange dog(s) and owner as you approach and collect your dogs and keep moving if you don’t like what you see/hear (or if the owner says something or collects her own dogs).

[Danger_sDelight13]

I have a bigger problem with people who bring young children to the dog parks. My 10 month old border collie mix does not jump on adults but he is a high energy dog. When there is a little 5 year old girl jumping up and down with a tennis ball screaming her head off what do they think is going to happen!?

Also re: the puppy think. Why would someone bring a young 5 lb yorkie into the crowded LARGE DOG section. Why are they suprised when a group of large terriers with a high prey drive go after their dog thinking it is a rat?

[Canaqua]

[QUOTE=wendy;6319215]

If you watch polite dogs approaching dogs they don’t know, they move towards each other, then stop and give “friendly” signals and watch the other dog for “friendly” response signals, then they repeat this process a few more times until they actually meet; if at any point in time, one dog doesn’t give off “friendly” signals, the dogs stop approaching each other. They don’t rush at each other willy-nilly (unless they know each other well).[/QUOTE]

That’s exactly what Molly does, she’s great and everyone welcomes her. When she sees a new dog she’s interested in, she makes herself look smaller, puts her ears flat back against her head, “smiles” and inches toward them with her tail wagging low. If they ignore her she stands back up and returns focus to me, if they charge her, she gets scared and runs around behind me, then we have to start all over to get her to consider trusting them. We don’t meet that many other “polite” dogs, but when we do, it’s cute, it takes them a minute or more to approach each other, using that same body language. She approaches strange humans this way too, then flops on her back at their feet.

When she sees a dog who she plays with all the time, she’ll run up and jump on them…especially her “best friend”, who just happens to be the neighbor’s intact male Pit…he’s usually polite too. They fling themselves at each other full speed and start wrestling immediately, because of the trust they’ve build up over the last year.

[ThisTooShallPass]

I failed to read where the OP called 911. The pit, considered a dangerous breed in most states, attacked to the point of drawing blood, probably even caused a broken leg. CHILDREN were in DANGER trying to get their pit off the puppy. Yet you failed to call 911???

You were so concerned for your own child you chose not to get involved, yet you left the pit’s children to the mercy of the pit, the dog pile on, & their asshat of a mother???

Since you are upset enough to have posted here, I would think you would be upset enough to have called 911, & also have them get CPS involved for the saftey of those children.

I guess not.

[Arizona_DQ]

[QUOTE=chancellor2;6318169]
Actually, in a recent study (which I may need to keep at my fingertips), it was found that the majority of dog bites came from intact dogs. So, yes it IS an issue.[/QUOTE]

That study was skewed. I cannot put my fingers on the article that discussed the fallacy of the “Intact dog study”, but I know it was not based on real facts.

[Bicoastal]

[QUOTE=wendy;6319215]
yeah- and this is one (of many) peeves I have about dog parks. I think they teach dogs bad manners, and also teach dog owners to tolerate dog bad manners. If you go to a typical dog park, all of the dogs will rudely rush up to and mob any incoming dog in the rudest possible way.

Biggest complaint most people have about other people’s dogs is the dog who goes charging up to strange dogs right into the strange dog’s face. Usually accompanied by shrieks of “he’s friendly” from the owner. No, he’s not friendly, he’s RUDE and deserves to be disciplined by the dog he’s being rude to. Owners who frequent dog parks think this rude behavior is normal, but it’s not. [/QUOTE]

:yes: round of applause!

Second point to the poster who is a happy dog park regular- I’m happy for you that you have positive experiences. Yes the regulars are fine and have their own puppy and people pack. Woe betide an outsider saying hi…wait, this is a public park open to anyone whether regulars teach them the secret handshake or not.

The OP and the puppy’s owner could not control who came that day. One reason to avoid public dog parks.

[Schune]

@ThisTooShallPass;6319755

I failed to read where the OP called 911. The pit, considered a dangerous breed in most states, attacked to the point of drawing blood, probably even caused a broken leg. CHILDREN were in DANGER trying to get their pit off the puppy. Yet you failed to call 911???

You were so concerned for your own child you chose not to get involved, yet you left the pit’s children to the mercy of the pit, the dog pile on, & their asshat of a mother???

Since you are upset enough to have posted here, I would think you would be upset enough to have called 911, & also have them get CPS involved for the saftey of those children.

I guess not.

I thought I was the only one who was very confused if the OP had not done anything.

Or at least I hope the puppy’s owner insisted on getting the PB owner’s information. If the dog was wearing a tag, basic info is on their as well.

You can be sure my cell phone would have been dialing the police once I saw how severe the attack was.

[Superminion]

[QUOTE=ThisTooShallPass;6319755]
I failed to read where the OP called 911. The pit, considered a dangerous breed in most states, attacked to the point of drawing blood, probably even caused a broken leg. CHILDREN were in DANGER trying to get their pit off the puppy. Yet you failed to call 911???

You were so concerned for your own child you chose not to get involved, yet you left the pit’s children to the mercy of the pit, the dog pile on, & their asshat of a mother???

Since you are upset enough to have posted here, I would think you would be upset enough to have called 911, & also have them get CPS involved for the saftey of those children.

I guess not. [/QUOTE]

Many people already had cell phones at the ready. I didn’t feel the need to jump in as well. I kept my daughter and my dog safely in the fenced off area for smaller dogs, my dog contained on a leash, and we left as soon as things were under control, as did 95% of the other park-goers. Had nobody made a move to dial 911, I probably would have. The police can asses what happened, and determine if CPS should be involved. They are the professionals. There were an abundance of other adults and I did say that it was the puppy’s owner, who was very much an adult, that took it upon herself to seperate the two.

The dog showed no signs of agression towards the children after the fight.

I will NOT leave my 3 month old by herself to go to the rescue of another person’s child. I’m sorry if that sounds terrible, and my flame suit is zipped to my neck, so fire at will.

It wasn’t a situation where I felt comfortable approaching the pit and owner after the confrontation as I’m sure tensions were high, so we just left. We have not been back.

There is a sign at the park that states that all play is at the risk of the owners, and that females in heat are not allowed. That’s it. What happens between the puppy owner and pit owner is there own matter. It’s not my business.

I’ve never seen a dog fight of that intensity, and it opened my eyes to the impracticality of bringing my dog there. I was shocked and wanted to share what happened. I’ve gotten some great alternatives from other users, and I very much appreciate that!

[ThisTooShallPass]

I did NOT tell you to leave your child, your pet, or to any way put yourself in danger during that dog fight/pile on!!! Do not even try twisting that!

As a supposedly repsonsible adult YOU should have dialed 911! Your own words state there was blood drawn & a broken leg! You expressed concern over the Pit’s children.

Now you are suddenly “implying” that other “may have” have called 911? Funny how you made no mention of this before, or cops having shown up.

[piaffequeen]

OMG-I would have gone off on the person sitting onthe bench and called AC.

I used to take my dog to a local dog park in NJ. 98% of the dog owners were awesome-watching out for everyone’s dog. Once day we had a new person come in with a rottwieler cross (although she said it was a full blooded rottie-it had a tail) I was at one end of the park where my dog was playing with a pit bull, a boxer and a Great Dane.

All of a sudden this rottie pounces aggressively onto the pit bull and attacks it. The pit bull didn’t fight back and then goes after the boxer pinning it. It drew blood on the boxer. I ended up kicking the rottie in the jewels to get him off the poor boxer and the s&*t owner yells at me about kicking her dog :mad:-now mind you she was doing nothing to get her dog off the boxer. I told her off along with a bunch of others and called AC but she left before they came. She tried to come back another day but they wouldn’t let her dog come in-the dog park patrons told that if she did they would call AC.

When I first brought my dog to the dogpark I wasn’t sure how she would react so I kept her on the outside of the fence-where she barked and wagged her tail. I then brought her in and kept her on the leash for about 30 minutes to gauge her reaction. Fortunately the time I picked there werent’ many dogs in the park and I told the owners that my dog might be aggressive so they all put there dogs on leashes and let them come smell Dolly. Within 40 minutes they were all playing together.

I miss the dogpark in NJ. We had a lot of great characters there!

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=piaffequeen;6320021]
OMG-I would have gone off on the person sitting onthe bench and called AC.

I used to take my dog to a local dog park in NJ. 98% of the dog owners were awesome-watching out for everyone’s dog. Once day we had a new person come in with a rottwieler cross (although she said it was a full blooded rottie-it had a tail) I was at one end of the park where my dog was playing with a pit bull, a boxer and a Great Dane.

All of a sudden this rottie pounces aggressively onto the pit bull and attacks it. The pit bull didn’t fight back and then goes after the boxer pinning it. It drew blood on the boxer. I ended up kicking the rottie in the jewels to get him off the poor boxer and the s&*t owner yells at me about kicking her dog :mad:-now mind you she was doing nothing to get her dog off the boxer. I told her off along with a bunch of others and called AC but she left before they came. She tried to come back another day but they wouldn’t let her dog come in-the dog park patrons told that if she did they would call AC.

When I first brought my dog to the dogpark I wasn’t sure how she would react so I kept her on the outside of the fence-where she barked and wagged her tail. I then brought her in and kept her on the leash for about 30 minutes to gauge her reaction. Fortunately the time I picked there werent’ many dogs in the park and I told the owners that my dog might be aggressive so they all put there dogs on leashes and let them come smell Dolly. Within 40 minutes they were all playing together.

I miss the dogpark in NJ. We had a lot of great characters there![/QUOTE]

Uh, what? Rotties aren’t born with their tails docked, ya know.

[Superminion]

I had no intention of twisting anything, and I’m sorry if it was taken that way. I simply stated that it wasn’t somthing that I was willing to do.

If the police had shown up or not, I don’t know. I promptly left as soon as the situation was defused.

I’m sorry if I have offended you, and I’m going to bow out of this argument, because clearly I won’t be winning it.

[MistyBlue]

Calling 911 for a dog fight in a dog park has a 98% chance of being ignored. Regardless of children being present or not. Unless dog(s) are actively harassing or biting children, a response is highly unlikely.

I also cannot fault a mom for placing her own child above other peoples’ children.

911 is not the place to call for “what ifs”…as in a dog attacking another dog in a dog park might lead to said dog biting the children trying to control it.

[ThisTooShallPass]

Calling 911 & stating it is a PIT BULL is very likely to get a response, when honestly say it has drawn blood, has broken the leg of another dog & there are children involved.

I agree to disagree with you on this MistyBlue.

[vacation1]

People simply don’t use dog parks appropriately. They’re a place to allow a dog to run off-leash. That’s it. They were not really intended to be either a doggie socialization pen or a canine playground where mommies and daddies stood around chatting and paying minimal attention. You were supposed to come in with your dog and without your kids, your book or your iPod, let Fido loose and let him run around to get exercise. Then you were supposed to leave. But people don’t want to understand that. It’s so much handier to exercise your dog and have some quality time with the kiddos. Or take in a soccer match. Or chat with your dog park buds over coffee.

And to cover up the lack of responsible action, suddenly dog parks became about socialization. If your dog Poochy gets attacked, it’s because he doesn’t know how to socialize appropriately. Meaning, Poochy didn’t enjoy the dog park clique leader’s 110lb Lab bowling him over within the first 4 seconds, and snapped at him. See, knocking another dog off his feet is totally normal, non-aggressive, teaching behavior. If only you’d stay out of it, and let the dogs sort it out! :rolleyes:

[QUOTE=Where’sMyWhite;6317488]
And is the issue really the breed of this dog or really intact male dog with owner of what appears to be very limited/poor judgement???[/QUOTE]

Since pit bulls were developed and continue to be bred for a high degree of agression toward other dogs, it actually is an issue that someone brought one into a dog park rather than an equally nasty intact male dog of a different breed type. There is a small and very nearly responsible segment of the pit bull world that flatly says the breed has no place in a dog park because of their background, like you’d say a Yorkie is not a good dog for a family with a house rabbit.

[EquusArtist]

I wouldn’t be caught dead with my rottweilers in a dog park for pretty much all of the reasons listed here. My guys are socialized well in training and the obedience/agility trials they go to. They have no need to run amok with unfamiliar dogs with no manners or training. They understand good dog manners and would probably give someone the “what-for” for being rude. Of course then, my dogs would get blamed for being snarky over some moron’s rude dog pouncing on them uninvited. So, I have no desire to go there and set my dogs up to fail in an environment that is beyond my control or with dog owners who couldn’t be bothered with watching their own dogs while they run amok.

I hear tons more bad experience about dog parks than good. It’s a risk I’m not willing to take with my boys.

[piaffequeen]

[QUOTE=sublimequine;6320045]
Uh, what? Rotties aren’t born with their tails docked, ya know. :D[/QUOTE]

Yeah I know-it was just weird seeing one with a full tail! :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[TB7]

My parents have 2 greyhounds - they have both been to a local dog park without issues. My dad takes them during the day on weekdays occasionally - really it’s just to run around since one of the greys didn’t get the memo that she is a greyhound (couch potato) and not a jack russell terrier.

There have at most been 2 other dogs at the park and we make sure to leash our active grey so she doesn’t initiate a snap in her face. If everything is ok, we’ll let her off again - mostly she’ll just want to race the other dog - though she tends to have weird herding tendencies so she cuts the other dogs off to make them go her way. She did bowl over a smaller dog she was racing once, we felt bad about that, but the dog was not injured.

Our other grey is very polite and errs on the side of caution with other dogs. Mostly she’ll just stay by my dad’s side unless prompted enough to race by the jack russell grey.

They spend maybe a half hour at the park, then go home. They really only go to the park after it’s rained quite a bit so they don’t tear up our own fenced back yard where they normally play. Sometimes they go just so my dad, who is retired, gets out of the house.

There used to be a great football field that was about 99% fenced in (and we could block off the entrances with trash barrels) that people would occasionally take their dogs to - we took ours there before we fenced in our yard. They stopped allowing people to bring dogs after a while though. I don’t know if it was a seasonal thing where they didn’t want them tearing up the grass before football season - even though the school wasn’t even a school anymore and cleats tear up a field way more than a dog occasionally running around - but whatever.

The woman with the pit in the OP’s post could definitely be charged with negligence and successfully sued for the entire cost of vet bills and then some. What an idiot -I’d love to slap her across her lazy face.

[chancellor2]

[QUOTE=vacation1;6320557]

Since pit bulls were developed and continue to be bred for a high degree of agression toward other dogs, it actually is an issue that someone brought one into a dog park rather than an equally nasty intact male dog of a different breed type. There is a small and very nearly responsible segment of the pit bull world that flatly says the breed has no place in a dog park because of their background, like you’d say a Yorkie is not a good dog for a family with a house rabbit.[/QUOTE]

I’ve been trying hard not to jump on the fact that this is a pit bull dog. But your statement above along with many other statements you have made on this board regarding pit bulls is just.plain.wrong. YES. SOME breeders of pit bulls DO breed for aggression. BUT there are A TON of breeders out there who breed for what the AKC standard is…a companion dog. The American Staffordshire terrier (a member of the pit bull group) is now and has been bred to be a companion for many many years.

There are many many pit bull owners out there who won’t take their dogs to dog parks because of hysterical people who will automatically blame the dog simply because of its breed. And frankly, those of us who ARE responsible would rather avoid hysterical people altogether.

That said, I would feel quite confident bringing my pit bull into a group. She is quite good with other dogs so long as no one tries to boss her around. Even then, it goes as far as growling…and that is it.