German Shepherds Forum banner

Observation at the dog park ...moved to stories

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  volcano 
#1 · (Edited)
I always say I wouldn't bring my GSD's there or a small puppy and I still won't, but I did visit one today with my year old golden. It has a large accessible pond so separation amongst the dogs is easy to do. It also has a dry area connected to it that has some agility equipment for the dogs. I'm not a fan of going when crowded and it happened not to be today. I found most of the people to be on top of things and watch out for all the dogs. My boy favored the older labs and smaller dogs. Everyone was throwing balls for whatever dogs were waiting and three of us were in the pond(yes I was in the pond). My pup was able to bring another pup out of its shell and get her playing. The problems I seen? There were three GSD's there. The huge long coated one was a stalker and focused on certain dogs(never mine because I didn't give him a chance) The owner couldn't get him unfocused and that was because the same owner had another dog(golden retriever, maybe a mix) that was growling at dogs within 10 feet of her. She would swim to get her toy and growl with if in her mouth the whole way back. I don't think that either of those dogs belonged there. Then there was a white GSD, that one minded its own business and behaved perfectly. Then we have another female GSD that had her favorite toy and was correcting any dogs that came near her, luckily they all retreated or were just running past her anyway. The issue with that one you ask? The owner did not correct the dog and thought it was okay for the dog to growl at other dogs . I overheard her response which was, no one goes near her favorite toy. I walked away and kept quiet but kept my eye on that one. So really it was an okay experience but the owners are still a problem IMO.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
I kinda wonder that to sometimes. I think food should never be allowed. There are lots of dogs that can play nicely with toys, but if they can't then they shouldn't be there. In this case the dogs probably wouldn't just swim to swim, the ball drew them out. The labs and my golden were only interested in swimming out to the ball, they got it, brought it back and started all over. They swam back together and did do in perfect harmony, it was nice to see. Then there are the dogs that would kill another dog over a toy, that isn't so nice.
 
#5 ·
I've seen someone bring in food to a dog park. They went in with boxes of pizza and began to eat on the dog park benches. All the dogs immediately started gathering round vying for some. Lackadaisical owners not responding to their dog misbehaving and aggressive small dogs antagonizing larger dogs seem to be the most common of issues I've noticed. I know it's not a popular stance but I regularly go to dog parks with my dog and we both enjoy it despite the negatives.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top