Friday, November 7, 2014

A Dog Park Experience

We used to go to the dog park a lot, but lately, we've been a little down-trodden.

Why, you ask?

We've had some less-than-fortunate experiences while out at the city dog parks.  Everyone has good and bad experiences, I know, but we're going with the "3 Strikes" and we're out.  All the pictures from my post are from my first and second visits to the doggie park. :)

Experience #1:
I was a wee puppy (probably 4-5 months old), and we were SO excited to go to a dog park to get some socialization!  It was probably February or March when we went, so there was still snow on the ground, and it was a nice sunny day.  I was pretty submissive when all the big dogs met me at the gate, but within 5-10 minutes, I was pretty accustomed to the dogs there and had a pretty good time.  Bosses were pretty amused, and there were TONS of dogs there (probably 30-40).  All Bosses and dogs were pretty friendly.

Running with some of my new buddies last winter.  This guy was pretty nice!
Experience #2:
We told my friend, Willie, and his Bosses, that this place was pretty cool.  It had a nice open place to run, and agility equipment.  They came with us, and we had a blast!  I still was pretty submissive, but I learned to pick my playmates and have a pretty good time.  The verdict?  Success.  Dog Park was awesome.

Willie, one of my "besties" and I running like crazy puppies.  Oh wait, we ARE crazy puppies.
Experience #3:
This time, however, was not as great.  We were there on a weekend (pretty busy), probably 30-40 dogs again.  I like to go to all the humans and say hi by leaning into them and sniffing their dogs, and I did so!  I went over to a lady and her medium-sized dog, and she KICKED me.  Really, really hard.  Dad was infuriated.  And I'm not exaggerating.  Mom was in shock.  Why in the world would you KICK a 5-month-old dog?  Or any dog, for that matter?  So, Dad went over to the lady, and asked why she kicked me.  Her response?  "I don't want your dog interacting with my dog".  THEN WHY ARE YOU AT A DOG PARK?  Come on.  This has translated into my entire life: I now bark at strangers and raise my fur, because I'm a little scared of strangers at a distance.  So thank you, Lady with dog, for giving me mixed signals.

I still am a happy pup, even if we have "bad" days at the park.
Experience #4:
Another interesting experience.  We gave the dog park another try, on a less-busy day (a Tuesday around 3:30pm). We were there, and Mom met some new people, I met some new dogs, and we had a blast!  Another lady and her Australian Sheep Dog came into the park, and they were pretty nice!  We chatted, Mom and the lady chatted, and it was fun.  The lady walked over by the entrance of the park, and her dog was wandering around the open area, doing what us dogs do...play, run, etc.  10 minutes pass, and this dog bolted at Mom and BIT her leg- just about 3" up from the Achilles.  She was wearing rubber rainboots; he latched on and wouldn't let go!  She tried to get him off herself, knowing he was friendly, but he was stopping at nothing.  She realized he had herding behaviors, so she tried moving away, but he didn't let go.  He kept tightening his grip, puncturing through the rainboot and hitting her skin (she said it was hurting a lot).

Look at me, Ma!  I'm getting my zoomies out!
The people watching from the bench did NOTHING.  She was yelling "CAN ANYONE HELP ME?" and no one came to help.  Finally, after 30 seconds of yelling and struggling, someone came to help, trying to find the owner of the dog.  And there she was: facing the parking lot, texting or on the phone with someone.  We immediately left, stunned, and ticked off that Mom's adorable rainboots were not very water-proof anymore!

Experience #5:
This, was the third strike.  We went on a weekend, and it wasn't as busy in the morning.  There were maybe 15 dogs or so, and most seemed friendly.  All owners were attentive, and watching their dogs, so we figured we'd give it a try.  Now: since I've been kicked, I'm VERY submissive to other people and dogs.  Within 15 feet of entering the field, I rolled on my back and submissively peed all over the place.  Bosses were heart-broken, seeing a jubilant puppy turn into a hot mess.  Mom & Dad helped me get used to the dogs in the park, and everything was fun- met some new people, dogs, etc.  We were fetching tennis balls at the other end, getting some quality dog-chasing in, it was great!  We were about 20-30 minutes into our adventure, when a big black dog came over and wanted to play.  He looked a little more assertive than me, but he was being nice.  I started running, though, and he dashed to get me, making me run a little faster.  We both kept speeding up, and I was bolting away from the dog.  He was running so fast, and wanted me so bad, he grabbed my back leg with his mouth and cut my leg open.  Definite third strike.  Mom and Dad were livid.

I'm not so sure how I feel about this tunnel...but no worries, I learned that it was fun and skidded through it lots more!
And we have never gone to that dog park ever again.  The dog park is a pretty popular place, because it's right off a busy highway, and is visible to a lot of people.  Anyone can bring their dog there, as long as they are up-to-date on vaccines and "well-tempered".  The one thing is that it is never regulated.  It honestly never should have to be regulated, but after three times of horrible experiences, we're not going back.  After both a dog and a person get bit, that's it.  No tolerance of that, whatsoever.  We also learned that a small-breed dog died there last year, after being attacked by a bigger dog.  You can always call in an incident, but all the social stigmas of complaining and ratting out a dog in their group of friends/"regulars"?  We might as well never go back after that, anyways.

However, there IS hope- we found a different dog park that is a bit closer to our house, that is just short of being a dog sanctuary (it's so peaceful).  We'll have to write another post about that one- we've never had a bad experience.

Here I come, Ma!
What are your dog park experiences?

Chow!

What do you do at the dog park?  I run around with one of my bff's, Willie! :)


13 comments:

  1. I'm sorry you've had such bad experiences at that park! I would never go back, either. Barley can't go to dog parks because she's reactive and has a very high prey drive, so I know it wouldn't be safe for anyone for her to go there. Glad you were able to find a better place to romp and play!

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    1. We love the new dog park- it's not as open as the first one we tried (as in there are more forest and prairies to walk through rather than a large plot of land with a fence around it). The first park has so many cool things and there are really nice people who go there, but the negatives just outweigh the positives :( We're bummed. But, at least there are alternatives!

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  2. That's so unfortunate you had so many bad experiences, but I think that's about par for the course nowadays, sad to say. We don't go dog parks for just these reasons, owners who don't pay attention and dogs who shouldn't really be there. Luckily, my seniors don't really care, but socialization is so important for a pup. Structure playdates with selected friends is what I would do if I had a pup.

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    1. I'm afraid you're absolutely right. There are so many wonderful and responsible owners out there, but it's the pile of irresponsible owners out there that make the dog park a painful experience. The dog park we go to these days is great- it's basically a forest with a giant communal field at the entry. You'd never know there were 20 dogs in there at one time because everyone is out hiking! It's completely off-leash, and is fully-fenced in. And, if you feel like leaving, you can open the gate to a wonderful 2-mile walk/jog/biking loop around a lake! I'm glad we found a new park- the old park just gave me a bad feeling about dog parks, but there is hope. Most people don't know about this park, and those who do are very friendly and are 100% responsible with their pets. Most of the time, though, we just invite our puppy friends over for a playdate instead! I'm also very fortunate to have a wonderful foster puppy family- I get to see my littermates, momma, and daddy once a month or so and play with them. :)

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  3. We only go to big dog parks and during weekdays when they are pretty empty. I can be a bit reactive, don't like all those strangers sniffin' me up. Dog parks can be fun, but they can be a bad experience as well.

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    1. We've started doing more weekday dog park visits to our "small neighborhood dog park", which has worked pretty well. We don't stay too long, and we usually do the hiking trails rather than waiting for other dogs to come around and play with. Weekends are usually dog-time with Mom/Dad's friends and their dogs, so it works out perfectly! :)

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  4. I'm so sorry you were kicked and had so many bad experiences at dog parks. That really sucks and I wish it were different but that's pretty much been our experience, too. Zoe was hit by someone one time and I've witnessed enough dog fights that I just don't go anymore. I will go to the big 1,000+ acre park that is dog friendly and there tend to be tons of dogs out there but the park is so big it's easy to get away from everyone.

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    1. Sorry to hear about your experiences, too! Zoe and I are in the same boat. I bet the 1,000+ acre park is fantastic! Now that my Mom/Dad's friends are all adopting dogs, having our own private "puppy party" is pretty easy! :) So that's really nice, too.

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  5. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry about those bad experiences. I kept gasping as I read on. We rarely go to dog parks since you just don't ever know how well the humans are trained. Rocco loves to play with his pals, but we're able to arrange smaller play dates.

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    1. You're right- most of the "bad" experiences had derived from irresponsible pet parenting. We go rarely these days, just because Mom/Dad have so many friends with dogs that we can just all congregate at a house and have fun that way :)

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  6. Oh, that's just so awful! The problem with dog parks seems to be that there are too many stupid people who aren't watching their dogs. I'm glad at the end to hear that you found another park that is nicer.
    We have our own fenced in yard and multiple dogs so we don't feel the need to go to one. There hasn't been one close by anyway, though they are now trying to build one in the town next to us. I'm not sure if we'll ever try to go there or not.
    Lots of wags and woofs from the crew at Wag n Woof Pets

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    1. We've been working on the fenced-in yard, but Mom and Dad have kept on saying they're "saving up Moo-lah" (whatever that is)(apparently fencing in a large property isn't as easy as it seems)! But someday, our house will have the proper dog-friendly set-up! :)

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  7. I am not a fan of dog parks. We never do them. If our puppies need play time with other dogs, we control who it is with and even then, once they are about a year old, playtime with other dogs is over. Unless it is chasing. (We let Thunder and Storm fetching kongs together because Thunder will always let Storm have it, but we would never let them play fetching kongs with other dogs.) A long time breeder (35+) years told me that the worst dog fights he ever saw started off with the dogs playing then one gets mad and the fight is on. Those words stuck with me.

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