Bad dog park experience

Saya

Love it Lady brings her two dogs to the dog park lets them into the small dog side they go running on the fence all excited and stuff.

The dogs on the large dog area get excited and run the fence too. One of the dogs on the small dog side growl and snarl.

Then the owner goes and lets the two in the big dog side. Of coarse all the dogs are now tense and excited from the fence running and snarling and the lady's dog greeted Saya too forcefully I mean too in your face or something like that..

Saya corrects this dog to back off she wasn't mean she she doesn't bite the dogs or anything when she tells them to back off.

So the lady's dog I think a chocolate lab mix just went right for Saya had her on her back with his/her body right on Saya.

I was close so I went right for her to help her got the big dog off.

Then the Lady's other dog went for Saya, but I stopped him/her before the dog got to Saya and she was able to walk away.

Coarse this owner did nothing not even run over to the fight to stop her dogs.

I went to the far end of the dog park away from the two dogs and had fun walking over there Saya greeted Gus(boxer) and Gurdy(basset hound mix) just fine with no issues.

Before the two dogs came Saya did fine with the 6 or 8 other dogs I believe it was 6 not including Bella. She did corrected some dogs for getting too in your face on greetings and those dogs backed off or walked away and after a bit they even got her to play..

After the event with Saya and we went to the far end to walk around a bit before leaving another fight or argument broke out same Lady's dogs and some other dog not sure what the fight was about.

My mom heard the Lady say if you put a room full of 40 people not everyone is going to get along..

One thing it was 8 or 9 dogs or so not 40! Two your two dogs shouldn't be there if they're so quick to get into fights.

Other dogs did just fine with mine when Saya told them to back off they did they didn't get into it and get on top of Saya.. To me that is not even a correction more like a argument or fight..

I'll most likely not even go anymore or just leave when I see her coming.

All the dog owners I met before would remove their dogs if they were annoying the other dog or not behaving.

Saya was even playing with a white husky and played a bit with a American bull dog.

On the way out she even met a GSD puppy and did good the GSD wasn't too in your face wanting to play right away so that might been why..

I dunno if Saya was in the wrong or not she corrected the dog she didn't bite or latch onto it before the dog went for Saya.

I've left a message about my incident at the dog park forum and one person did message me and asked who the owner might be.

From sounds of things this owner's dog has a bit of history.. Maybe with my message she'll be warned to keep her dogs under control..

I mean if a dog get into an argument or fight shouldn't the dogs leave? Chances of an argument starting again is high I think since their blood is pumping from the argument/fight.. I know when Junior would go for Pearly or Dink over a resource we had to keep him separated for a few minutes before bringing him back out or he'd still be tense and likely to go at them again.

Sorry for the bad writing and stuff.

I dunno maybe it was Saya's fault it happened, but the two dogs being let in the small dog side then after the dogs ran along the fenced growling and making mean sounds, then bringing the two in with all the now excited dogs seemed like a recipe for disaster.

My main beef is she didn't intervene with her dogs on the first argument or second one and made excuses for her dog actions.

Bella is a big dog if she gets to rough or excited with a young dog or small dog I call her to me and she comes then calms down though she rarely gets overly excited since they get walks before going to the dog park.

I'll most likely be not coming back if this is allowed at the dog park.

sukoshi_mom

Check to see what the dog park rules are about "repeat offenders" such as this lady and her dogs. Some parks have procedures for banning a dog if he/she is consistently aggressive with other dogs.

Otherwise, if you see her and her dogs, I would just leave.

Losech

Yeah, check the rules. My dog park states no aggressive dogs, and dogs that continuously act aggressive or fight have to leave. If people with mean dogs refuse to leave then I will (and tell the park staff... I'm mean) I'm not willing to let other people's dogs attack mine even if it means I have to cut dog park time down.

Megaen

This is why I never take my shibas to a dog park there just seems to be so many people out there that take a dog to a park that shouldn't even be at a park. Then of course owners doing nothing at all... Nope I'll keep mine away from that, though I do applaud anyone here that takes there dog(s) to a dog park your're braver then me

Though as people said there should be some sort of "repeat offender" thing I know they have those rules at the dog parks around here....

Heidi

Sure, if you put 40 people in a room, they may not like each other. Normal people know not to start fights, though, and so do normal dogs. That lady sounds seriously annoying. I've been really lucky with our dog run. Nothing more than a minor tiff now and again - but dogs are allowed to correct each other as far as I'm concerned.

tjbart17

I think it's normal for a Shiba to correct when a bigger dog gets in their face. Mei would definitely correct another dog. Heck may checked a Jindo big time who tried to get in her face in what I thought was a very aggressive manner. I let her, and I don't feel bad about it. She didn't bite her. She just made sure that punk knew not to bully her ever again.

I've noticed that people like this at a dog park with responsible owners are weeded out.

Saya

Well another dog was attacked at the same dog park Sadly the dog is now a three legged dog now.. She looks like a whippet or greyhoundish type dog.

I might have met her before there is a few greyhounds that go.

Coarse no one got the name of the guy who owned the dog.. Sounds of it there were other people there.

I don't get why don't people report this crap?

Mom has talked to some people and they knew the lady she was talking about and they say she causes issues a lot. I'm like then why wasn't she reported people need stop turning a blind eye with things like this or the dog park here is going to go down hill.

I kicked myself for not reporting the lady I should have taken Saya and Bella to the car then confronted her and got her name, but after the second dog argument I had enough.

Saya is still more defensive with new dogs, but she does get a long with dogs I know if she is introduced slowly.

Luckily she wasn't hurt like the dog that got recently attacked.

Luckily I live where I am so Saya doesn't need dog parks for place to run off leash.

Kuma123

I am sorry you had a bad experience. You can still report it- just describe the dogs and the lady to the park staff.

We avoid dog parks at all costs. Initially I thought it sounded great but I spent a few days watching from a distance as we walked the walking trails and played ball in the field (they built the dog park in the center of the park so you can see it from all different points of the park).... I heard/saw many fights and knew instantly that it was something I would not be taking my dogs to.... I am not going to put them in a position where they have to defend themselves/each other or me.

They are perfectly happy walking the trails, playing in the ponds and playing ball and they have numerous dog pals they get to socialize and play with without going to the dog park, thankfully!

I think Saya had every right to correct the dogs. She was trying to tell them to back off and she was not being aggressive about it even though the dogs were being rudely invasive- well done, Saya!

Saya

Thanks.

I did report it, but since I didn't know the dogs name or owners name breed description wasn't enough.

They just sent out an email stating any aggressive behavior needs to remove the dog from the park via email.

I'm fine with not going I've been going to this dog walk thing it's every Sunday, but I miss some days sometimes, but it's nice we go on trails or parks and walk together. I've explained how Saya is defensive so others make sure their dog doesn't try initiate play or anything.

Saya doing good with the walks and is getting better with the dogs on the walks.

I wish I knew there were so many rude owners before joining never had issues till this lady. Ah well it's in the past now I've learned from it.

StaticNfuzz

So glad Saya is doing better. Maybe there is a group of friendly dogs that can safely play together at another location by invite. The sooner you can get your dog to interact with friendly dogs after an incident the better. I don't like to give them too much time to dwell.

Dog parks are such tricky places and you have to be on alert to problematic animals and people. I no longer frequent them with my dogs and I think they are happier in not having to deal with rude dogs and wacky clueless owners stepping on them when people aren't paying attention sipping coffee or whatever, nor kids running around trying to hug all the cute doggies.

Most people at the park (at least some near us) have no clue at all about their dogs social interactions nor their own physical movements. If anyone is curious about the dynamics of dog play, Nichole Wilde has great dvd "Dissecting the Dynamics of Dog-Dog Play" and comments about dog parks. She filmed most of the shots from a dog park.

Not getting any kickbacks from the DVD just pointing out how helpful it is in deciphering the interactions.

Snf

shibamistress

A dog lost it's leg after a fight at a dog park?!!! My god, that's awful!

Saya

I know I so hope someone was able to get the owners info to report them if not I'm very pissed with the dog park people. It's like they complain on the dog park site, but never report a thing..

Owner hasn't written anything back at the moment, but I'll never ever go to this dog park had so many issues with it it's sad.

I've had pretty good experiences with the one in Madison WI the five or six times we gone to it.

I'm glad there is a dog walk group in my area so we can enjoy walking and people are not ignoring their dog doing collage home work..

Saya's incident happened in July 2011, but I did go when it wasn't so busy, but now I won't be going at all waste of money. I rather spend it on food for the dogs or something useful.

cezieg

I read that article you posted and from the picture + description it sounds like the dog is only temporarily lame. Since if a dog comes in limping the injury is titled "lameness", which doesn't mean it's permanent. So hopefully that dog is only temporarily limping and will heal up, it takes a pretty serious attack for it to be permanent! I'm glad the local dog parks here are all free so we can go a few times, leaving if there are dogs that are too wild/reactive, and not be wasting money. Some people think the dog park is just dog daycare, walk in, unleash the dog, and then just chat on the phone while completely ignoring what the dog is doing. So many dogs aren't properly socialized that they build up irritation in other dogs until there's a fight, which could have been avoided by just monitoring the animals.

Tsune got into a pretty serious fight with a one year old pitbull because the other dog would keep pushing Tsune around and bumping him in the face, continuously intruding in his space, and just pushing him into objects even though there was plenty of space. So after 15 minutes of being pushed around, continuously warning the pitbull with mean faces and short growl + walk away, he'd had enough. At first I figured they'd work it out, but when I noticed the pitbull was walking directly over to him specifically to bump him I decided to go collect him, in hindsight I should have stepped in sooner. Then I saw that look on his face of "Ok I'm pissed off!" and he started with the pit. Tsune ended up with no injuries while the pit was bleeding, I think it was his tongue because Tsune had some blood rubbed off on his side. After that it was no more dog park except when there was no one there and we could have the run of the field (mid morning/noon), otherwise we would just walk the trails on-leash outside of the dog enclosure then hang out in the shade with a good book.