Not Welcome?
So its been getting warmer here and I started taking my FurFace back to the dog park. We were at the dog park by ourselves for a little while and then more people started showing up... There was this lady who brought two small dogs. And of course FurFace was SUPER excited to see other puppies and ran up to them. He was happily yapping away wagging his little cinammon bun,thats what I call his tail 
. I didnt think he was doing anything wrong , and then the lady started screaming at him to shut up and waving him away!!!That made him more excited. Then she picked up her dogs and started kicking him away!! I ran over to her and picked up my poor puppy and told her that he was just excited and he wouldnt hurt her dogs. She was too busy calling FurFace a "stupid dog"and that I should take him and leave and she wouldnt listen to anything I said!! Im afraid to take him back to the dog park after that. I hate to imagine anyone else reacting like that..
Comments
There's a lot of pro's and con's about the dog park. One of the con's is other dog owners. Some owners are just uptight and worry too much about their pups. If I were you, I wouldn't let my dog react like that and let him keep barking at the new dogs coming in. There should be a greeting period, where I let my dogs sniff out the other dogs and whatnot. But if Furface was constantly barking at the other dogs, I would have stepped in after a minute. I dont' think in any way the other owner should have started to kick your dog. That is a little over the top. If anything she should have asked you to please make your dog stop or she should have moved away.
The dog park is great for socialization and to let your dog run free, but its not the safest place. Some dogs react differently to other dogs. Portia has a problem where she gets fixated on tiny dogs and paws at them and tends to play too rough. So I would keep very close eye on her if there were very small dogs in the park. I would see her start watching them and then I would re-direct her attention to me. I would allow her to sniff, but once she started getting excited I would get her attention and move her away. I wouldn't let this incident keep you from going to the dog park.
A lot of people don't understand the behavior of Japanese Breeds. I've seen some Shiba in the dog parks running after other dogs and wrestling with them screaming like a banshee, it sounds horrible, but the owner just let the other dog owner know that his dog wasn't hurting her's and thats just what his shiba does when he is excited. A thing I did a lot was just ask. "Is she playing too rough, I can move her away?" or "Is she bothering you, I can move her away". Some said yes, some said no. I always think its best to approach the owner and start a little chit chat and if I notice my dogs bullying or playing a little rough, I just ask them right away. Its also good if you know how your dog reacts to certain other dogs. For instance, this situation, You know now that furface barks at other dogs coming in and gets really excited. Next time, when you see other dogs coming in, allow him to sniff them but once he starts getting excited and barking, correct him...start talking to the owner, if furface begins again, explain to them that he's harmless and is just really excited. If they have a problem with it, they will most likely say so.
Thats my 2 cents.
Jeez, that's hectic! That lady needs to chill a bit.
To really make a judgment on the situation tho I would need to know more info - how did FurFace react to the other dogs? Was he just barking at that lady's dogs or all of them? How was the lady's dogs reacting to FurFace?
As Romi wrote, most of the time in dog parks it's the owners that are the issue and not the dog.
Tell her when you see her next time to stop going to the dog park if she doesn't want other dogs around hers.
Who brings itty bitty dogs like that in there anyway? If she can't handle FurFace around them, what is she going to do when the giant Lab, Doberman, Saint Bernard, or German Shepherd puppy tries to tackle and play with them?
He does great with other dogs.. I have been taking him to that same dog park since he was 4 months old, everyday if I can. I had never seen that lady there before and Im there ALOT. He goes up to them and sniffs all of them first and vise versa..but he liked to bark to try and get them to play and Im always very close around to distract him with a toy like a tennis ball..if he gets TOO excited. I remember the lady had a Scottish Terrier and the other was a small beagle. So she didnt have like teacup chihuahuas or anything!! She is the only person there that ever got mad at FurFace, usually everyone is so excited because they have never seen a Shiba before..that was the first time someone was actually screaming at my dog so I guess it just got to me
She's jeleous your dog is 100 times cuter than hers.
Maybe they need to see a little of Ahi action at the dogpark, that will get them to freak out a little.
I love the dogparks, but as everyone says the other owners can be a problem. One thing that your dog might appreciate better is the Dog Daycare. When I didnt have Niko or Sasha, I thought a Dog Daycare was a joke. If you can afford it every once and a while it is very helpful and fun. Being you don't have to worry about other owners, and as long as its a good daycare the employees know who the rowdy dogs are to watch.
If someone kicked Ahi, or any of my dogs for that matter, at the dog park I would not need to do anything. Ahi would clear up the situation pretty quickly.
I agree tho, this lady sound like a bitch - next time you see her tell her to leave and make a big scene so the other owners hear you yelling "This lady kicked my puppy!". Point at her and say "Animal abuser!".
lol - Jen had an even better suggestion... figure out a way to get a picture of her and post signs with her picture around the park saying she kicked your dog and you just want other owners to be aware that she is a "Puppy Kicker".
I'm not sure that's legal, but I think it would be pretty funny. lol.
There is a previous post that we had the animal cops called on me and a friend because her rott barked too loud and was attacking the other dogs (completing NOT true). Even said my Sasha was fighting....
http://www.nihonken.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=366&page=1#Item_10
This is something I WOULD of flipped out about with OR without Chad. I WOULD go Rachael circa 1998 on them!
Lol I love the "puppy kicker" sign idea..maybe I should just sketch a picture myself! I could put it on the bulltin board they have there...but I dont think shes takes her dogs there that often, Oh any FurFace was like a THOUSAND times cuter than her dogs...
I would definitely not sweat her too much. If she shows up again and hassles you, simply point out that if she doesn't leave you will call the police and have her arrested for assaulting your dog.
I hate people that come to dog parks and get annoyed when dogs act like...dogs.