dog park rant!!
Took Ryleigh to the dog park in Denton today. Many dog there all playing nicely with each other. This man was there with his 3 medium size mix breed dogs. They gang up on the smallest dog there, actually hurt its back leg, and he does NOTHING but watch as they keep chasing the this little dog around whos owner is trying to rescue it. She is finally able to get her dog, again as the other 3 dogs owner stands there and watches, and leaves. So they gang up on a lab puppy now. Again terrorizing this dog to death biting and snipping at it. It cant even take 2 steps without all 3 of his dogs going after it, and he stands there and does nothing! The puppies mom is walking around crying, scared to pick her dog up, and the owner just watches!  I had enough of it and go over and start yelling at his dogs to help the puppy get away and he freaking tells me to not raise my voice and leave his dogs alone! Tells me to f@^& off and to walk away!!!!! I DONT THINK SO!!!!!!! So I went at him FULL FORCE!!! Dont freaking stand there with your leashes in hand and watch your dogs gang up on a helpless puppy! If you cant or wont control your dogs then dont get mad when someone else does! And aggressive dogs shouldnt be brought to a dog park anyway!!!! I really think they need some type of dog park security to tell people whos dogs act up and are aggressive to leave the park so the rest of us can enjoy it. Ryleigh loves going and running free and playing but after today I dont know if I will ever take her back there. ok I almost feel better. Going to take awhile to get my blood pressure down.  |
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I would have done the same thing...oh right, I already have!  Just proves there are stupid and ignorant people everywhere....  |
I am so glad you stepped in and said something and didn't back down. The owner is nothing but a bully and I'm glad you didn't let him get away with it!  |
| Good for you, for sticking up for the pup and her owner! |
| This brings up a security problem with dog parks. I suspect of you contact animal control you'll get "Ain't our problem, that's city land." And the city will say, "That's animal control's job." So start the ball rolling, contact higher ups, mayor, etc newspapers, etc to determine what course of action is needed against these bullies. Pictures while it is happening and license plates later would help bring these jerks to justice. |
| Come to the new dog park in alen - 75 and Stacy Road. Yes, it's in the shopping center. It hasn't been open long, but so far I am pleased. If I was there, I would have had your back - or needed you to have mine. |
One word: iPhone Video and License Plates  |
Is that something that occurs on any regular basis  ? Our town is building a dog park, and we are all involved , covering aspects of liability, waste cleanup, immunizations, a variety of "what ifs". The project leaders have toured other parks in large cities, etc. Trying to do our homework and do it right the first time. However, an irresponsible owner is not something we've discussed  . What are some of the usual downsides to public dog parks? |
| I have taken Ryleigh 2 times to this dog park and both times there have been aggressive dog issues, not with any of them coming after her but me witnessing them going after other dogs. The first time was a boxer and a pitbull, different owners, and after there dogs continued to start fights they finally removed them. The man today was a big jerk, I imagine his kids are probably bullies in school and he sees nothing wrong with it either! My sister lives in San Antonio and stopped taking her dogs to the park there because of this same problem. So I would say this is something yall need to address and have some sort of removal policy in place. I would gladly volunteer to be a "dog park security" free of charge and remove these people if the city would give me the authority. I do plan to contact newspapers and city council to see what can be done. It should be a fun place for all,and you shouldnt leave crying and with your dog injured because some jerk found this his own sick amusement. Im sure Michael Vick is his hero!! I may look into going to the park in Allen but its about 40 miles away, this park is 5 mins from my house. I feel if I leave then the bully wins. I will probably go back a few times without Ryleigh and just with my camera. |
| oh and about the waste cleanup...dont count on it unless somewhere with authority is there watching. Most people will clean up, but a lot just leave it lying around... |
| This is truly a sad situation, ruins a wonderful concept for everyone. I'm sorry that is happening to you. I'll be certain to bring this issue up next meeting. Best to be proactive than reactive. |
| I stopped taking Maggie and Lily because a jerk at ours. I just got fed up and decided there was no upside any longer. BUT, I do still go to dog beach. We have never had a problem there. |
auntybren wrote: Is that something that occurs on any regular basis ? Our town is building a dog park, and we are all involved , covering aspects of liability, waste cleanup, immunizations, a variety of "what ifs". The project leaders have toured other parks in large cities, etc. Trying to do our homework and do it right the first time. However, an irresponsible owner is not something we've discussed . What are some of the usual downsides to public dog parks?One thing that can be helpful is to divide the park into "large" and "small/puppy" areas. It wont prevent dumb people from bringing aggressive dogs, but it at least keeps the littler and more fragile dogs safer. |
| Good for you for standing up to the dog park bully! What I don't understand is why more of the folks there didn't join you in your censure of him and his dogs' behavior. Were there other people just standing around while this poor woman cried and tried to rescue her dog? If so, shame on them. That's what makes a community like a dog park strong, and self-sufficient. It's only as good as the folks who show up, and if people are not willing to get involved when they see situations unfolding, then it doesn't sound like a safe place to be. If more people got together and voiced their displeasure with jerks like the one you confronted, he would probably stop coming. I am a non-confrontational person by nature, but I would have backed you up as well. Laurie and Oscar |
| Good for you for sticking up for the younger and littler dogs. Don't let a bully chase you out of the park, though. I find, at our park, most people are happy to help someone with a problem dog, but it only works if the dog with the problem has an owner who is willing to listen and learn. I learned so much, as a newbie dog owner, from the other dog park folks. But sometimes there is just one jerk who is, well, a jerk. We had issues with one person and whenever that person and dog would come, we would move to another section of the park. She soon got the message. I don't like to shun someone, but if you have all tried to reason with this person and it isn't working, you have to protect your own dogs. |
auntybren wrote: Is that something that occurs on any regular basis ? Our town is building a dog park, and we are all involved , covering aspects of liability, waste cleanup, immunizations, a variety of "what ifs". The project leaders have toured other parks in large cities, etc. Trying to do our homework and do it right the first time. However, an irresponsible owner is not something we've discussed . What are some of the usual downsides to public dog parks?Biggest problems? Easy: People that are completely uneducated about normal and bad dog behavior and plain old irresponsibility. Good example of why I hate the park (but continue to torture myself by going on occasion.): I took Owen to a big park the other day by himself because we had to run some errands and he's been cooped up a lot in the cold. A couple of people had about six good size husky/malamutes that descended on Owen. Owen stood there pretty well at first but the dogs were in his face and all around him not giving him any space and, rightly so, he let them know to back off. He was trying to move away but 6 against one doesn't make it really easy to move and he got more distressed and more reactive. The other dogs started going nuts and Owen was barking back. I was holding him so nothing could escalate but no one grabbed the pack of dogs so they followed Owen. I started pulling him backwards until we finally got everyone calmed down and I heard someone say "We'd better go. That dog is really aggressive." Makes me want to facepunch. |
| The park in Denton has 3 seperate fenced in areas. 1 for small, 1 for medium, and 1 for large. But for some reason people with small and medium dogs want to put theirs in with large dogs. There wasnt any problems with the large dogs. There was 2 Great Danes, a St. Bernard, 2 German Shepards, a Boxer, a Scottish Deerhound, and several Border Collies in there, even a Pit Bull and they were all playing great together. It was the medium size dogs picking on the smaller ones in there. What just made me sooooo angry was the man just standing 3 feet away watching his dogs attack the smaller ones and not giving a ...care! He didnt even apologize to the 2 ladies who dogs they hurt. He kept saying his dogs werent doing anything wrong. And another thing that pissed me off was everybody standing around not helping. It took me yelling at these dogs before 1 other man came to help, but everyone else didnt want to get involved!! Thats what so wrong today, eveyone is scared to do anything. Just made me so mad after I helped the lady get her dog I got Ryleigh and left. But I do plan to go back with my camera and make a nice DVD for our city council and let them know something has got to be done! |
| Good for you. I have to say after reading this thread, we're lucky with our dog park, the one right by our house that Mady visits almost every day and sometimes twice a day. We haven't had any issues with aggressive dogs. Mady *did* get bit there once on the lip, she was bleeding profusely, when she was maybe 5 months old by a Jack Russell who was on a leash. Mady was back at the park the next day and I'm glad it didn't keep us away. We've also been lucky at the giant dogapalooza dog park, where on a weekend with beautiful weather, there can be several hundred dogs. Part of it is Mady's good judgement. If she finds any dogs even a bit aggressive, she stays away, we've never run into any trouble there. But I have heard horror stories from there, dogs getting attacked and seriously injured, not surprising considering just how big and busy a dog park it is. I hope collective shaming can chase that guy away. It is so beneficial for dogs to be able to run and play off leash with other dogs. |
Thank you for so much insight into the dog parks. I feel naive and was just thinking utopia for our dog community. We have some very well traveled and spoken on our committee, certainly they will have a keen insight into these issues? I love this forum~you are the best  |
auntybren wrote: Thank you for so much insight into the dog parks. I feel naive and was just thinking utopia for our dog community. We have some very well traveled and spoken on our committee, certainly they will have a keen insight into these issues? I love this forum~you are the best It is wonderful that your community is creating something for dogs to enjoy. Every park will have its one or two 'challenging' people, but my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Even when someone is having a behavioural issue, folks help support that person. A bunch of us from the park even took a dog massage class together, it was fun! I would love to have a dog behaviouralist come to our park to explain some of our dogs' behaviours. When I first started going, when dogs played robustly I thought that they were fighting. There are times when I think that the wrong dog gets in trouble disciplines a ruder (often smaller) dog. The more I learn, the more I enjoy the park, the better I am able to avoid problem people and situations. Good luck with your park and enjoy it! |
I give you KUDOS for stepping in  Having had my own dog attacked at a dog park when he was younger, and watching the owners tell me, oh, its perfectly normal dog play, I appreciate your rant. And I applaud your involvement.We have a dog park here on Long Island that was voted as one of the safest, yet restrictive parks. There is a full time person on premesis at all time to help keep a watchful eye. You need to obtain a pass after showing proof of vacines...lots of rules that many people find annoying but I felt are an asset to those owners wanting a safe park for their dog to play in. Take a look and maybe you will find some rules to incorporate into your new dog park building.http://www.suffolkunleashed.com The womam im charge of the site and builder of the park is Gina and very helpful. |
Mady wrote: I don't like to shun someone, but if you have all tried to reason with this person and it isn't working, you have to protect your own dogs.  I agree!It is so good that you helped the poor dogs and their owners against this jerk! I used to go to dogparks a lot until a man came there and stood watching his dog terrorize other dogs. He had a big Spanish Mastif (hope thats the breed name in english) and what he liked and enjoyed was to see that he had the biggest, the toughest dog, that won every fight; He told us he had an "alfadog" or the "alfa dog"! You know this talk about alfawolfes, alfa bitch and alfa maledogs. Then there was no fun anymore for normal dogs in that park. This dogowner lived near by us and I met him now and then. He was the guy that knew all about dogs, so it wasn't possible to question his manners and what he did to his own dog! Because and this is almost funny, the dog was a kind and nice dog, he just had to show muscles when he was together with his "father" - owner. The dog lived up to his owners expectations, which was; Fight everybody elses dogs and make sure you win for me! When we met this dog together with the owners son or wife, we had no problems, he was calm and nice to my big oes dog and my lively oes bitch. He didn't really want to fight anybody. My cat stop that big dog just by looking at him. So sad these kind of dog owners goes to the dogparks. I have stopped going to the dogparks, better meeting not so many and the dogs that can have fun and goes well together.  |
| There is a full time person on premesis at all time to help keep a watchful eye. You need to obtain a pass after showing proof of vacines...lots of rules that many people find annoying but I felt are an asset to those owners wanting a safe park for their dog to play in. This is exactly what every dog park should have. They have signs posted that your dog must be up to date on shots and aggressive dogs must be removed, but there is no one there to enforce it. I would gladly volunteer to do the job for free if the city would give me the authority I would need. |
| When I first read your post, I thought I would have been in that guys face sooooo fast and told him to get his nasty ass dogs out of there. Yeah it would have been ugly. Good for you for sticking up for these people and their dogs. I go to an "unofficial" dog park. We have met "unfriendly" dogs there. Yes I have been in unpleasant exchanges but fortunately they are rare. There are woods and hills and I mostly stick to them, which makes for few confrontations. Garfunkel has a high herding drive and chases after other dogs and nips at the hind quarters and that has caused problems and some people say he is aggressive. I muzzle him to avoid problems and explain to people that he is NOT aggressive just too boisterous. If your local officials don't give you any satisfactory response, does your local TV stations have a "help you" department, which would bring this to the attention of the public. Or see if you can get them to do a "local interest" story. Don't forget YouTube and Facebook, etc. What about Animal Organizations(check locally). Unfortunately, its the idiots that ruin it for everyone. |
| Good for you for telling the idiot. I had to do the same thing once at a dog swim. No body was claiming this dog that was clearly trying to antagonize Harry. Harry kept trying to tell the dog to leave him alone. Finally I just yelled out "Whose dog is this?" and some guy standing right there where a bunch of us were complaining about this dog said "It's mine" and picked it up like it was a baby. I looked at him and said "Well it wouldn't leave my dog alone!!" I like the idea of "shunning" the dog when an owner doesn't take action. It sort of defeats the purpose of bringing their bully of a dog to the park if nobody will let it play with their own dogs. |
On the other hand, some people CRAZY overreact if another dog even sniffs their dog-- and those people are almost as bad as the ones with rude dogs. They just don't understand what's okay behavior in a dog's mind, they can only apply human thoughts and norms. One park we had to quit going to had a bully mix dog that was obsessed with Clyde and Owen. She'd chase them and bite their necks, having a great time, but then as soon as they turned around to play that way with her, the owner went INSANE. The funny part was that the dog loved it and she'd keep coming back for them to chase her again. I tried to fix the issue by retreating to the other side of the park and keeping my dogs there but the dog would follow and the owner wouldn't do anything but she'd come screaming as soon as they tried to play with the dog again. When I finally asked her if she could just keep her dog on the side of the park that she was hanging around in, and we'd stay over here, she said that she shouldn't have to do that just because my dogs won't leave hers alone.  For the most part, I have my own pack so I prefer to just go after hours or to places where there aren't strangers' dogs. I don't need the other dogs for my dogs to have a good time! |
| I've had that experience to Jill. A dog used to chase Tiggy when she was a puppy but Tiggy was usually up for it. We didn't run into him or his owner from about 4 months to 8 months so Tiggy did some serious growing. Next time they met the chase game was back on but Tiggy did the chasing and a lot of barking. I had to grab her to stop her she was being so silly. But the other dog kept coming back and running right under her nose taunting her while I was trying to get her lead on, so I lost her twice. By this stage I was getting grumpy because I needed to go home to get to work and the other owner was way across the sports field just yelling for his dog. His dog went back to him when I finally had Tiggy on lead and behaving. He put it on lead and then came over while I was occupied picking up poop. I turned around and he was right in my face. I started to say "gee they still remember each other" and he went totally nuts at me. Screamed abuse and called Tiggy and f'ing mongrel who should be locked up. Let's just say I saw red and let him have it back. |
Mim wrote: I turned around and he was right in my face. I started to say "gee they still remember each other" and he went totally nuts at me. Screamed abuse and called Tiggy and f'ing mongrel who should be locked up. Let's just say I saw red and let him have it back. Do you even remember where the unmarked grave is now? I'm really thankful we haven't had anyone scream at me or at Mady. Mady is such a marshmellow though, there is a 3 month Bouvier puppy at her dog park now who (like most puppies) loves Mady. This is mainly because Mady has infinite patience with puppies and can't say no to them. So typically, this puppy is biting at Mady all over getting mouthfuls of fur, and her owner keeps trying to say "no biting!" |
Baba wrote: Mim wrote: I turned around and he was right in my face. I started to say "gee they still remember each other" and he went totally nuts at me. Screamed abuse and called Tiggy and f'ing mongrel who should be locked up. Let's just say I saw red and let him have it back. Do you even remember where the unmarked grave is now? I'm really thankful we haven't had anyone scream at me or at Mady. Mady is such a marshmellow though, there is a 3 month Bouvier puppy at her dog park now who (like most puppies) loves Mady. This is mainly because Mady has infinite patience with puppies and can't say no to them. So typically, this puppy is biting at Mady all over getting mouthfuls of fur, and her owner keeps trying to say "no biting!" You're just Canadian, though. Life is different for your people. I think single dogs versus multiple dog families do make a huge difference in a lot of situations, though. Sometimes I think single dogs really savor time with other dogs and tolerate crazy amounts of stuff just because it's new and so exciting to them to have a dog playmate (some of course, have the exact opposite reaction). With multiple dogs at home, they don't really care about new dogs because they party together all day long (especially when you're trying to watch a movie or clean the kitchen). Clyde and Owen will play with some other dogs but, ultimately, they really like each other the best. Clyde likes puppies a lot, too, though. On occasion we'll get one here that we watch for a friend (who watches them for our breeder) and he likes letting the puppies crawl all over him and he loves chasing them around. Owen gets jealous, pouts, ignores the puppies and follows even closer to me (is that's possible). Bear likes people best and I'm pretty sure he wishes the sheepdogs were dead. If dogs could roll their eyes, I don't think it would ever stop for Bear and his general attitude toward sheepdog hi jinks. |
ButtersStotch wrote: Baba wrote: Mim wrote: I turned around and he was right in my face. I started to say "gee they still remember each other" and he went totally nuts at me. Screamed abuse and called Tiggy and f'ing mongrel who should be locked up. Let's just say I saw red and let him have it back. Do you even remember where the unmarked grave is now? I'm really thankful we haven't had anyone scream at me or at Mady. Mady is such a marshmellow though, there is a 3 month Bouvier puppy at her dog park now who (like most puppies) loves Mady. This is mainly because Mady has infinite patience with puppies and can't say no to them. So typically, this puppy is biting at Mady all over getting mouthfuls of fur, and her owner keeps trying to say "no biting!" You're just Canadian, though. Life is different for your people. I think single dogs versus multiple dog families do make a huge difference in a lot of situations, though. Sometimes I think single dogs really savor time with other dogs and tolerate crazy amounts of stuff just because it's new and so exciting to them to have a dog playmate (some of course, have the exact opposite reaction). With multiple dogs at home, they don't really care about new dogs because they party together all day long (especially when you're trying to watch a movie or clean the kitchen). Clyde and Owen will play with some other dogs but, ultimately, they really like each other the best. Clyde likes puppies a lot, too, though. On occasion we'll get one here that we watch for a friend (who watches them for our breeder) and he likes letting the puppies crawl all over him and he loves chasing them around. Owen gets jealous, pouts, ignores the puppies and follows even closer to me (is that's possible). Bear likes people best and I'm pretty sure he wishes the sheepdogs were dead. If dogs could roll their eyes, I don't think it would ever stop for Bear and his general attitude toward sheepdog hi jinks. Oh you painted such a perfect picture of your dogs personalities! I can just imagine Bear! |
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