Yet ANOTHER Irresponsible Owner Story

[Konotashi]

This morning our flyball team went to our secondary park since the SchH people took our regular one, and the secondary park we use is a public park. Someone was leaving with their black GSD (gorgeous!) and a really pretty pit bull as we were setting up. Unfortunately, they weren't leashed and she had ZERO control over them.

Her GSD went into one of our dogs' crates, and one of my teammates said, "Umm, can you get your dog out of our crate?"

Meanwhile, the pit was running around, checking everything out, and I looked over and another teammate was bringing her dog down. The pit saw her and trotted over (friendly), but Sasha (assumed to be a lab/doberman) is dog aggressive with strange dogs. We all started screaming, "GET THE DOG AWAY FROM SASHA!!!"

The pit's owner did NOTHING other than call the dog, obviously to no avail. Sasha's owner kicked at the pit (didn't make contact, but was trying to avoid a fight) and was screaming at it, and the owner just stood there and yelled, "Don't kick my dog!"

I was just amazed at the absolute ignorance and stupidity of some people! When I saw she had zero control over her dogs, I carried Ozzy down in his kennel and wasn't even going to TOUCH Gracie until they were long gone.

[Mary Beth]

What a mess! Thankfully no one was hurt. There's a lot to be said for leash laws.

[AkariKuragi]

I don't understand how people can let their dogs off leash when they don't have control over them... I'm terrified to let a dog I have fairly decent control over off leash because I know I don't have 100% control over the dog and if something were to happen I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. *shakes her head* Glad no one was hurt.

[GusGus]

This story annoys me. I just want to scream at those kind of people.

[selzer]

Was this an off-lead park or an on-lead park?

If it was an off-lead park, I don't think a dog aggressive/reactive dog should be brought to such a place.

I am not a dog-park fan, but I really don't think the dogs have to have 100% obedience, they just need to be social. People who have a nice, social dogs do not realize what it is to have a dog that is fear-reactive, dog aggressive, etc.

But if it was an off-lead park, and the pit is just doing his thing and not being aggressive, then I think the people who brought a dog-reactive dog to a dog park are the ones in the wrong, whether it is a part of fly ball there or not.

[Konotashi]

On-lead. People have their dogs off-lead there all the time there though (obviously). A few people had their dogs off lead while we were practicing, but kept a good distance and had their dogs under their control. It's a huge park, so most of them stayed far enough away so the dogs weren't interested in what we were doing, and our dogs didn't care about what they were doing if they noticed them at all.
But the woman that was leaving with the GSD and the pit literally walked straight through the MIDDLE of our setup.

And when the pit ran up to Sasha, Sasha was on a leash. (Just read my original post, didn't realize I didn't state that).

[Alwaysaworkingdog]

Yet ANOTHER dog park story, well kind of. Where ever you are in public, whether it is in an off-leash area or an on-lead area, the law states that you must have CONTROL of your dog. There are no exceptions. I would only be comfortable letting my dog off leash, and I am speaking totally hypothetically, if I new my dog had perfect OB and was desensitised to dogs.BUT EVEN THEN, the last thing you'll ever see is one of these dogs loose, because of all the variables that exist, so basically, when it comes down to it, not even the highly trained owners let their dogs run loose in public. Because with education comes awareness. But I guess that kind of ideiology contradicts the very purpose of dog parks, as places for very "doggy" dogs to go and socialise with other dogs.

It's sad to keep hearing these stories, but as long as there are irresponsible dog owners, and there always will be, these incidents will keep on occurring. I just hope we can all do our best to avoid them.

Can I ask any of you why you do find it necesary to socialise your dog with other non-pack member dogs???

[selzer]

I really don't understand dog parks. I guess if I lived in a city, had just one dog, and wanted that dog to get some off-lead exercise, I might make it a point from very early on, that that is what we were going to do.

But, the problem is, I can have my dog 100% obedience trained, socialized to other dogs, bomb proof around dog and people, but I can not ensure that anyone else is doing the same. Oh, I could come here and grouse about how other people are neandrethals, and clueless. But the fact is, no one is out there forcing every person who enters the dog park to pass a CGC, and a CD and doggy day care. It just isn't happening. Yeah, someone's going to come on now and say that they know of such-n-such place that does that. Well phooey! The fact is 99.9999% of dog parks out there may have rules, and may have guidelines, but there is no one testing and no one enforcing any of it.

It is just like taking your dog to home depot. You go with your well mannered pup and you cause no problems and everyone loves on him, and all is well. But then of the 20 people that saw your dog, 17 own dogs, 13 of those realize their dogs behavior is no where near where it needs to be to make such a trip a current possibility and keep them home. 2 of the other 4 dog owners dogs are just fine to come and hang out. But the other two have clueless owners and will cause problems with their dog by either letting them soil the store or grounds, or by being scary-unsocial there. The next thing you know, Home Depot tells everyone that their dogs are not welcome.

They cannot compete if they have to pay someone to hang around the front doors giving dog owners and dogs IQ and temperament tests. And pets aren't their business.

The owner of a reactive or aggressive dog has to be that much more careful. People are idiots, yes. They see other people working with their dogs off-leash, or playing with their dogs off leash, so they think what the heck? They have no clue that the other dogs have solid recalls. It simply does not occur to them.

When you have a dog that just loves everything regardless of the number of feet it has, it is somehow inconceivable that everyone and everything will not love it.

Oh there really isn't any excuse if you own breeds like pits or rotts or GSDs, because you have to walk around in dreamland to have never experienced the effects of these breed's reputation, but there is no one at the gates of the park ensuring people are not walking around in a bubble of their own.

I own GSDs. I do not go where dogs are commonly off lead, whether it is a leashed park or an off-leash park. It is part of protecting my dogs from idiots. I have all the puppies trained, they all have good recall -- save I am not sure of the puppies around distractions, but I limit taking my dogs to places where dogs are likely to training classes and dog shows, because I can be relatively certain that in those places, the dogs will be under control.

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by Konotashi

On-lead. People have their dogs off-lead there all the time there though (obviously). A few people had their dogs off lead while we were practicing, but kept a good distance and had their dogs under their control. It's a huge park, so most of them stayed far enough away so the dogs weren't interested in what we were doing, and our dogs didn't care about what they were doing if they noticed them at all.
But the woman that was leaving with the GSD and the pit literally walked straight through the MIDDLE of our setup.

And when the pit ran up to Sasha, Sasha was on a leash. (Just read my original post, didn't realize I didn't state that).

This was a dog park where all the dogs have to be on lead all the time?

I never even knew there were such a place - never have seen one here in CA.

[selzer]

I think she said it is a public park. Some parks have off-lead areas for dogs. Others just tell you pick up after them and keep them on lead.