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Never had trouble with the dog park until..

3K views 21 replies 18 participants last post by  David Winners 
#1 ·
So I have read many peoples storied about how they refuse to do the Dog parks and never had any trouble until last night. I take my Dog to the dog park because for the time being I live in a small apartment. This couple come in with their Lab Mix dog and my GSD is 3 months old their dog is fully grown. Right off the bat their dog attacks my baby!! The couple apologizes and says "Sorry she is aggressive..." COULDNT TELL!

What really gets me is they bring their dinner!!! They brought a full meal to eat at the picnic tables... So of course my dog stops playing to go sit and watch them eat which is not the point of going to the dog park she needs to be playing so she sleeps at night and then they ask for me to get my dog away from them so their aggressive dog doesn't attack her again...... :mad: DUH PEOPLE!

just had to vent. Why bring your aggressive dog to the dog park any ways? I wouldn't even take that chance. How sad if someone would have gotten hurt!
 
#2 ·
I wouldn't take the chance with a 12 week old puppy.

At twelve weeks a puppy is liable to get injured running and playing with large dogs. A pup this age's immune system is immature and the vaccinations are neither complete nor do they cover everything that is running rampant where populations of dogs congregate. And, pup's this age are in a critical learning stage, where the learning tends to be permanent -- good socialization experiences are very good because the dog can draw on these experiences when he confronts other new or similar things. However, bad socialization experiences are very bad, because a dog can actually draw on this experience when he sees other large dogs.

In life there are few absolutes. One is that we cannot control all the other people around us. We can only control our own self. Which is to say, that there are jerks, and we cannot be certain that they will not bring their puppy-eating-crazy-lab mix to the dog park, so they can have a romantic dinner outside. Instead, we have to do what we can to protect our critters. In this case, I would say take your puppy out of the dog park at least until all the vaccinations are complete -- he will be a little older than, and the highly-effective socialization period ends about the that time, 16 weeks give or take.
 
#3 ·
I am a bit confused. After your puppy is attacked why would you let it anywhere near their dog?

Yes, I would not step foot into a dog park...we lived in houses with out fences from 1985 until we got our first fence in 2003 and always managed to find a way to take our dogs places for exercise without any kind of dog park.
 
#4 · (Edited)
You will get endless comments on dog parks from those who post here. I commented that I did not agree with dog parks ( especially with a young puppy) and I was told that I am not letting dogs be dogs- SEEMS THIS IS A REALLY HOT TOPIC- I am not going to debate the positives or negatives any further. We had a dog killed at a dog park years ago because an owner of an aggressive ,much larger dog failed to mention that the dog had attacked other dogs in the past. So unless you have lived through this, I would never take MY young puppy to a dog park. IMHO, Bob:(:(:(:mad::mad::(
 
#5 ·
I agree if their lab is aggressive and/or not good with puppies then they need to control and manage the lab and either not take into the dog park if there is a puppy there or tell you first so that you can keep your puppy away and they do the same.

To me it is more important to ensure your puppy at this very young age has only good experiences, unfortunately one bad experience may affect a puppy for life. It is also really important, even at this young age, to not rely on a dog park for exercise and socialisation, if there are no appropriate dogs there or one comes in like the one you experienced, I would leave and just do a short walk, either in a park or on a street, allowing puppy to smell all the different smells, see all the different sights etc. Sometimes when you engage their brain and nose as well as their legs - this can be very satisfying for them.
 
#9 · (Edited)
This is why im glad my dog park has "monitors" and no tables to sit down at. Our park does not allow dogs under 4 months old either and the monitors go around checking under dogs legs to make sure they are neutered or spayed..lol. sometimes they get on the members nerves but were glad they are there. . Im sorry but your dog park does not sound like a good one. If you choose to still go I would leave when this couple comes. Just wondering why you were still there after the dog attacked your dog, Im sure it was a good reason meaning you were on your way out but just curious. :D

i hope your lil guy was okay
 
#10 ·
My golden was about four months when he was attacked by a full grown Rott. It was scary and not one person helped. I never and will never go back. Thinking back people used to bring food and eat all the time. Another dangerous situation was a mom that brought her baby in a stroller. Now one might think that is fine, but their family dog growled and snapped at every dog that came near the stroller. Of course all the dogs were interested in the baby, it was very unsafe for the dogs and more importantly that baby. I got out if there pretty quick, I did not want to witness something awful happen.
 
#11 ·
Yes I defiantly left after the dog attacked my dog and Sorry she is 4 months all shots have been done and she is Spayed as well. We were on our way out but it is kind of hard to get my dog away from food so I had to wait for her to sit still so I could grab her it all happened pretty fast really. I only go to the dog park about 7:30 at night there are less dogs and it is easier to monitor I mostly go to teach her to play catch and work on off leash recalls and stuff like that so I can become confident enough to do it outside in the real world at which time I will stop going to do parks all together.

Just wanted to share my outrage with these people enjoying a dog park dinner with their aggressive dog and having the nerve to ask me to keep my dog away as if she was the problem!!
 
#13 ·
Some people are rude, unfortunately you cant change them. The best advice I can give you is to get to know the regulars at the dog park and their dogs. Be on the lookout for unknown dogs coming in and keep your dog away and/or prepare to leave preferably before they get in. if you cant train at the dog park that day use a long line and work on stays, sits and heeling.
 
#15 ·
Why bring your aggressive dog to the dog park any ways? I wouldn't even take that chance. How sad if someone would have gotten hurt!
Because some people are clueless morons and would just as soon use other folks dogs as chew toys then go threw the hassle of being responsible guardians!

Pretty much as simple as that:

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/general-behavior/431289-new-dog-very-challenging.html

More info there. :)

Plus your puppy should not be anywhere near other dogs for at least two weeks after his last puppy shot!
 
#16 ·
Our dog park has a few rules, including pick up after your dog, no in-season bitches, use the appropriate dog run (under 30# or over 30#), no children under 11 in the dog runs, no food (dog or human) in the runs, and only one dog per adult over age 18. I took Ilka once on a weekend. When the woman with her dog, her dad's dog (who was leaving little bits of runny poop everywhere), AND her three year old kid broke out the dog treats, we left, and I've never gone when there have been other people there again.
 
#17 ·
Long line + harness + treat bag = no need for a dog park.

Use your dog's energy to teach them something instead of wasting it on building bad behavior.

JMHO

David Winners
 
#19 ·
There are better places to socialize a puppy IMO. You pup should be socializing with other pups of the same age and similar temperaments. Hopefully this bad experience hasn't caused a setback in her socialization.

A pup doesn't really need that much room to run at that age anyway. Get a long line and let your pup romp around on that and/or work on training.
 
#21 ·
This is always the case at dog parks..it is fine until one irresponsible person shows up.

There are plenty of ways to socialize your dog without letting them off lead surrounded by other strange dogs off lead. Check out meetup.com and look for dog walking groups in your area. There are even people who have dog playdates at their homes. You can ask questions about the other dogs ahead of time , and the groups are usually small.
 
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