# Spent some time "passing" the dog park...



## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

.... And boy am I glad I made a decision NOT to ever put her in there again.

Nice day here in NY. Took a walk in the park. Along the way, I decided to pass the dog park. I took a bench outside the park and was an observer.

Let's see...

Three beat downs
Two pins
A little blood
Loads of humping
Some limping
An agressive GSD
A puppy with a Doberman around his neck
A submissive dog that yelped at the site of a larger dog

And FINALLY, the IDIOTIC owners, that laughed when their dog "won the fight" with a mighty Pitbulls!

Phewww.


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## Jo_in_TX (Feb 14, 2012)

Oh, gee, that sounds awful.

We have a fantastic dog park just a few minutes away, but I intend to try it out when Teddy is much older. I passed by today and saw two two retriever types playing nicely. I would never put up with what you saw.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

Anthony with his beautiful girl Kira...glad you aired on the side of caution and decided against it


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Wow! I wouldn't ever go there either, that sucks. We have terrific open space off leash parks that aren't like that all, fortunately.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

Debbie-the pics of the dog park you visit looks like a retreat!


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## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

A while back, I felt that dog parks were "good" for dogs. It took some educating, and convincing, but in the end it was the right choice.

*It's not the always the dogs, it's the people that own them. *

When I joined here 5 months ago, I didn't know too much about "signals", and "warning signs" to look for. I thought If a dog wagged it's tail, it was happy.

I watched a GSD walk over to a Lab, with it's tail raised, hacks up, head high, and eye whites exposed. I said to myself "uh-oh". The owners were about 10 feet away from the fence saying "look, they want to meet each other"..
Within a NY second, that GSD was all over that lab like a rag doll. The owner just walked over and calmly asked the dog to stop. The guy was saying: "come on buster, cut it out". Believe me, they were going at it. It was scary looking.

Finally, the owner of the lab pulled the GSD off, and left with his Lab.

I've learned so much from here, and also from the obedience schooling, that I now recognize some of these potential problems.

Since I've stopped going, I find Kira's focus so much better. She doesn't get too excited when she sees a dog anymore. She figures, why bother, it's not like she's gonna play.


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

Wow. What a "park". Glad you didn't go. I hate hearing about all of the negatives of parks because they aren't all bad, but stuff like this is just terrible!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Because of stupid owners, certain breeds will get a bad reputation too. So now the lab guy is probably badmouthing the GSD because of the clueless owner. 
Or going on about the fact that his lab beat up a big bad GSD. 
Too bad everyone that goes to dog parks don't have to go thru a class on dog communication/body language etc. It would open their eyes and help the dogs.
DJ, does your park offer such a class? 
Watching Turid Rugaas's DVD Calming Signals at the least.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Sounds more like you were walk through da 'hood.
Smart to give it a once-over before deciding whether to take part.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Stosh and I were visiting my mom in FL and I took her gsd Greta and Stosh to the dog park. It's an unusually nice set up- a small dog area, a big dog area and a solitary area. I took Stosh and Greta into solitary confinement and within seconds a dog was trying to attack Stosh through the chain link, another was tearing up and down along the fence snarling and barking its head off and a gang of dogs had assembled to charge towards the fence. The owner of the dog that had its muzzle through the fence came over and said that I should let my dogs in with the others because "they generally work it out". No thanks


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## Gracie's My Girl (May 27, 2011)

I quit going to the dog park a long time ago. While there were a few owners who cared about what their dog was doing, the majority didn't. One woman brought her "dog fight break up" bag with her. It had a spray bottle, toys, treats, and a blow horn. Way too many times she would slowly stroll over to her fighting dog and blast the horn. It didn't take me long to realize that the dog park was the last place I needed to look at for safe socialization. Like you, I will occasionally walk by...but I am always so glad I am not inside the fence.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

Gracie's My Girl said:


> I quit going to the dog park a long time ago. While there were a few owners who cared about what their dog was doing, the majority didn't. One woman brought her "dog fight break up" bag with her. It had a spray bottle, toys, treats, and a blow horn. Way too many times she would slowly stroll over to her fighting dog and blast the horn. It didn't take me long to realize that the dog park was the last place I needed to look at for safe socialization. Like you, I will occasionally walk by...but I am always so glad I am not inside the fence.


OMG- a "dog fight break up" bag.

When our breeder was going over her information packet with us before we brought him home. She said absolutley no dog parks and listed several reasons why. I heeded that warning..have never been and will never go.


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## mssandslinger (Sep 21, 2010)

are you sure you weren't at the dog park here in AZ? sound just like it. the only reason i will go is off hours when my dogs just need to run and blow steem off. but its very seldom anymore. we mostly just go for walks


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

onyx'girl said:


> Because of stupid owners, certain breeds will get a bad reputation too. So now the lab guy is probably badmouthing the GSD because of the clueless owner.
> Or going on about the fact that his lab beat up a big bad GSD.
> Too bad everyone that goes to dog parks don't have to go thru a class on dog communication/body language etc. It would open their eyes and help the dogs.
> DJ, does your park offer such a class?
> Watching Turid Rugaas's DVD Calming Signals at the least.


We don't, but we have talked about what we will do if fights begin happening. So far we haven't had any fights, but two bites, in the year and a half we've been open... We have thought of something similar put on by a trainer like Hundeholz* or Kelly from Tip Top Tails.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Who's Hundeholz? I know who Kelly is.


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

onyx'girl said:


> Who's Hundeholz? I know who Kelly is.


 Hundeholz - Home


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

His wife came out to our SDA group with a dog of his... hmmm, they are 'trainers'? I never would have guessed she was.


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## jennyp (Jun 18, 2011)

I stopped going to the dog park too. I used to think it was great but now I know differently. I listened to all the owners who said i should "let the dogs work it out" when mine was being bullied. My biggest regret. Now Brody is reactive and I have a lot of work to do to reverse it. We're working on the LAT game. So far it's been helpful but the problem is far from being solved.


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## katdog5911 (Sep 24, 2011)

I am seriously rethinking the dog park scenario. I have had some really great experiences and some not so great. Fortunately Stella has stayed "sweet". But at some point I guess that could change. I was there a few days ago and Stella was playing nicely with 2 other dogs. A 3rd dog joined in. Stella and this dog have played before and have been ok. But this one does get a little rough. This has not been a problem before but this time Stella was rolled on her back, and couldn't get up. Pack mentality set it.....one of the other dogs grabbed her leg and started yanking it! I flew over there and got everyone sorted out. Needless to say we left. I want Stella to have fun with other dogs but at the park it seems to easy to get out of control. She does go to a doggie day camp once a week and never has a problem. All the dogs are screened for temperment and you can watch them on a web cam. Also will be starting agility next week. And I guess we will do a drive by the park every now and then. If it is not too busy and with a nice group of dogs....maybe we will stop and play.


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## katdog5911 (Sep 24, 2011)

What is LAT?


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Stosh said:


> Stosh and I were visiting my mom in FL and I took her gsd Greta and Stosh to the dog park. It's an unusually nice set up- a small dog area, a big dog area and a solitary area. I took Stosh and Greta into solitary confinement and within seconds a dog was trying to attack Stosh through the chain link, another was tearing up and down along the fence snarling and barking its head off and a gang of dogs had assembled to charge towards the fence. The owner of the dog that had its muzzle through the fence came over and said that I should let my dogs in with the others because "they generally work it out". No thanks


They're out there and they are having children.
Scary.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

katdog5911 said:


> What is LAT?


Look at That! A Counterintuitive Approach to Dealing with Reactive Dogs Dog Training for Dog Lovers Blog


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

onyx'girl said:


> His wife came out to our SDA group with a dog of his... hmmm, they are 'trainers'? I never would have guessed she was.


Oh yeah? I've never met them or heard much about them, other than the fact that a few of our members use them for training and are happy. We work with Kelly a lot (she runs classes at our office) and I use her for nosework and agility personally. She knows us well and I doubt I'd ever go to another trainer.


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## Verivus (Nov 7, 2010)

There are bad and good dog parks. I personally have only had trouble once years ago, in a dog park in Southern California I've visited several times before. The regular dogs that go to the parks I frequent are all pretty good and the owners keep an eye out. Until my dogs no longer love the dog park or the atmosphere turns bad, I will continue to go.


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## Dragonwyke (Jul 21, 2011)

i also stopped going to dog parks. the last time i went i had a pair of afghan hounds with me. all they wanted to do was run, but they could never get started because of the constant aggression of other heavier dogs. they were constant being tumbled, rolled, thrown. and then some idiot brought a yorkie into the big dog section (it was halved into large dogs and small dogs sections) and it was suddenly a free for all to eat the bacon on furry legs that was turned into the park. 

we left and we've never been back. i've always made it a point, since we're renters, to find a home with lots of property so our dogs have plenty of room right at home to run. our current house has an acre of fenced property, they don't need a dog park. and with the number of dogs i have, they don't need any further socialization either.  

EXCELLENT idea to just sit and watch the goings on for awhile. isn't it amazing what ppl will allow their animals to do? they don't even stop to think how much injury they could take or cause. ya wonder where their minds are at half the time. 

dw


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## OriginalWacky (Dec 21, 2011)

Verivus said:


> There are bad and good dog parks. I personally have only had trouble once years ago, in a dog park in Southern California I've visited several times before. The regular dogs that go to the parks I frequent are all pretty good and the owners keep an eye out. Until my dogs no longer love the dog park or the atmosphere turns bad, I will continue to go.


I love dog parks for the right dogs, but I'm one to sit back and watch others first, before I bring my dogs in. I also like finding ones that are not crowded or even totally empty to use. The tiny one I use is wonderful because it's usually totally empty, so I can have treats, toys, whatever and not worry about issues. The few dogs we have met have almost always done very well with my dogs, and the owners the responsible/sensible type. 

Koshka hasn't been to a dog park yet, he doesn't need to have a bad experience, or chance picking up something there. The teeny one I like requires them to have rabies before they can go, and he hasn't had that yet either. He has met dogs at Puppy K, and it's been almost all very positive, and I want to keep it that way.


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## Pandora (Feb 29, 2012)

Zelda, spayed, will be 3 April 5, 2012. She was the star of her obedience classes, relaxed around the other dogs, was and continues to be highly responsive, quick to learn, eager to please. She is fine with people, gentle even to toddlers. She knows the difference between people who belong here and trespassers though. 
When she was 7 mos. old, she was with me sitting at heel when she was attacked by a big Standard poodle that literally scared the piss out of her. The owner did nothing to correct the situation, so I scooped Zelda up and left. We live far out in the country where she doesn't see many other dogs. The two neighbor dogs with whom she visited were older, always bossy, bullying, and dominant. Zelda gets along fine with my old small dog (also female) and the cat, but now that she is a big girl, I guess she figures that she is supposed to act the way that poodle did. She loves to ride in the car or truck, but if she sees another dog, especially those that run out in the road, she goes ballistic. It's better if my husband is driving and I am there to correct her and let her know I don't like that behavior. She minds me better anyhow.
She has had some dogs come visit. When my husband kept her leashed, she was aggressive, but as soon as I got the frisbee and released her, it was just happy playtime; she took turns with the other dog retrieving the frisbee and had fun just running around. When we went to visit some friends she played with their dog just fine out in the fields, but when she got near the house, the dog attacked her. This other dog was a rescue and probably had some hungry times, so I think she was nervous about her food.
We've visited another friend with 2 dogs, one male with whom Zelda gets along famously. The other is a rescued older female with terrible aggression towards Zelda, but Z doesn't react at all, just wants to be sure she is between me and the barking dog. At this home one time a neighbor's dog kept growling at Zelda. Z did not react. But as this dog kept inching closer to my legs under the table and amping up the growling, with the owners making no correction, Zelda finally got worried about my safety and barked at the dog to get away from me. She did not lunge or attack.
When she is boarded, the wonderful woman there matches her up with the dogs that will just run around with her since Z isn't into rassling, just running. I probably need to take there more often. I have not dared take her to dog parks, although I take her almost everywhere, including into PetSmart on days when there are classes and many other dogs. No issues there. She looks at the other dogs, but no barking. She seems worried if they approach her though. I guess she still hasn't forgotten being attacked.
Other than this issue, she is perfect, delightful, helpful, sweet, well-mannered, smart, an absolutely wonderful companion. I would like to help her get over this anxiety about other dogs. When we are out and other dogs are visible, I encourage her to look at them and praise her when she is calm. It's obviously not a protective reaction as she goes nuts when she is in the car alone and sees another dog. 
Thanks for any insights.


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## Angelina03 (Jan 9, 2012)

I've stopped going to the dog park too. I used to enjoy taking Rocco because he liked running and playing with the other dogs. However, he did sometimes get kinda scared and run under the picnic table. 

Then, after a few unpleasant occurances (not involving Rocco), I was not so excited to go as much. I would still go for him, though. And I would end up leaving shortly after getting there.

Last weekend, I went over to my friends house who has a pitbull (6yrs old) and Rocco and she fell in love. Watching them play together was soooooo awesome and it made me so happy to see Rocco "really" enjoying the company of another dog. 

That made me realize that the dog park was not providing him with a happy and healthy experience. I will not be going there anymore and visiting my friend's a lot more often. We are going this weekend.


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## Zisso (Mar 20, 2009)

I have never taken my two to a dog park, however just two days ago I decided to take Z to walk around the outer fence of one. My idea is to get him accustomed to seeing other dogs running loose, having fun and being good dogs in general so he is less and less concerned about it. I still have no intentions of taking him in there, but walking outside was good and he did great! He was more interested in sniffing new territory, smelling what other dogs have marked, etc. He did greet one yellow lab through the fence, it was a female and went off without a hitch.


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

I have been a dog park advocate, but only for the right dog and the right park.

Our park has become too popular now (only opened a year ago), and there are too many irresponsible people bringing in dogs that shouldn't be there.

All the dog park rules are being broken right and left. Tiny dogs on the big dog side. Pups on the big dog side. Even toddler humans on the big dog side. Every rule for the park is broken often.

There are volunteers there during peak hours, but they seem to not want to "confront" the people breaking the rules. They've become friends with these people, and don't seem to want to say anything.

I have a dog park dog. Super friendly. But he's intact at 10 months, and he's attracting some attention from other intact males. Bad, aggressive attention. 

I'm not being naive or making excuses for my boy, I promise. He's had several intact males of various breeds go after him. Bailey could literally be 100 feet away, but they go right after him. Meanwhile, those owners usually sit on their duff. I resent that and I correct or chase off their dogs. The owners usually give me the evil eye, and I don't care. Control your dog or I'll do it, or at least try. 

I am tired of it, though. I'm sick of these owners of poorly behaved dogs. I'm sick of people saying how the "dogs will work it out." Nonsense. I have a very dog-friendly dog, and I don't want him ruined by some dog aggressive jerk at the park. 

We still go to the park, but far less than before. We're finding other things to do and that's a big benefit to both of us.


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## Falkosmom (Jul 27, 2011)

chelle said:


> I'm sick of people saying how the "dogs will work it out." Nonsense. I have a very dog-friendly dog, and I don't want him ruined by some dog aggressive jerk at the park.


I can't help but notice the "work it out types" always have the dominant dogs.


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## 1337f0x (Feb 21, 2012)

There's 3 dog parks in Brampton, but the only dog park I'd ever visit is at High Park in Toronto. It's an off leash trail and all the animals seem well behaved.


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

I go to the dog park all the time. I've only had a few issues. I don't like having the dogs hash it out, mostly because no matter what its going to be the big bad GSD's fault. So I prevent it.

The worst is the people that bring unaltered males that are reactive to other unaltered males. Rooney is intact but could care less about another intactness...but he will stand up for himself if the other dog gets aggressive. I've even had a guy ask me if my dog was intact after his dog went bonkers on a leash as mine ran by, it was like no body but him should be allowed to bring intact males to the park. There is a certain mentality sometimes of "its my park" instead of "its everyones park."

People are funny with the things they allow their dogs to do, especially the little grumpy ones. But I don't really take it to heart, I prevent as much as I can, and will get between dogs I see aren't truly playing. My dog enjoys the park and loves to chase other dogs. If I had a yard and another dog, I probably wouldn't go at all. But things being the way they are, I love going, and won't stop.

I see more dumb drivers every day than bad dog owners at the dog park, but I still drive.


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