Incidents At The Dog Park :-(

[RazorBlade]

You also stated that you refuse to use a leash on him when you sit at cafés.

That is untrue.

Also, going out of your way to dig up an old discussion and taking a thread off topic in order to call me a menace dog owner IS a personal attack aimed at provoking and emotional response. Most people would call that trolling and as far as in aware it's pretty frowned upon these days.

Edited March 5, 2014 by RazorBlade

[Guest hankodie]

You also stated that you refuse to use a leash on him when you sit at cafés.

That is untrue.

Also, going out of your way to dig up an old discussion and taking a thread off topic in order to call me a menace dog owner IS a personal attack aimed at provoking and emotional response. Most people would call that trolling and as far as in aware it's pretty frowned upon these days.

No-one is going out of their way to dig up anything, it's a public forum and you stated your opinions in this thread (and the last one like this) publicly which is cool but I don't think anyone is trolling here.

[Steph M]

Yonjuro, I'm sorry this happened to you, your daughter and Ronin. That absolutely sucks.

The only way to avoid your dog being attacked at dog parks is to not go there. It is guaranteed at some time your dog will be attacked if you go to dog parks.

Owning dogs and taking them outside your own yard is nerve racking.

Sorry Ronin was attacked and hope he does not have lasting effects.

I do have to point out what a crap blanket statement this is.

There is no 100% this will happen at all, a lot of off lead park bashing goes on in this forum but some of us go and have no problems, enjoy our walk and come home and think nothing of it.

Gus was pretty much raised in our local off lead park and the only issue I recall us having was with a dog who broke off his leash at an on lead park and got a swift kick to the head from me.

These are valuable community resources to some of us, please don't spread fear and false statistics.

[Yonjuro]

Yonjuro, I'm sorry this happened to you, your daughter and Ronin. That absolutely sucks.

The only way to avoid your dog being attacked at dog parks is to not go there. It is guaranteed at some time your dog will be attacked if you go to dog parks.

Owning dogs and taking them outside your own yard is nerve racking.

Sorry Ronin was attacked and hope he does not have lasting effects.

I do have to point out what a crap blanket statement this is.

There is no 100% this will happen at all, a lot of off lead park bashing goes on in this forum but some of us go and have no problems, enjoy our walk and come home and think nothing of it.

Gus was pretty much raised in our local off lead park and the only issue I recall us having was with a dog who broke off his leash at an on lead park and got a swift kick to the head from me.

These are valuable community resources to some of us, please don't spread fear and false statistics.

THanks Steph :)

[HazyWal]

You also stated that you refuse to use a leash on him when you sit at cafés.

That is untrue.

Also, going out of your way to dig up an old discussion and taking a thread off topic in order to call me a menace dog owner IS a personal attack aimed at provoking and emotional response. Most people would call that trolling and as far as in aware it's pretty frowned upon these days.

Hhmmm no I didn't go out of my way to do anything. You've made it quite clear in other threads that you don't leash your dog therefore blatently breaking the law and basically telling everyone else to suck it up. Trolling is definitely frowned upon, once again we agree, especially peeps that rarely take part in any discussion until a particular topic comes up that they KNOW will get a rise and BAM! there they are.

[Ricllou]

Hi yonjuro

I give up going to parks or fields to walk my dogs. Too many idiots let their dogs off leash. I take them on pathways around my house street with a large stick for protection. I hope your dog as it is only young is not damaged by this incident. I prefer to go to dog training or obedience with the younger dogs to socialise and make it a happy experience.

[wuffles]

I just got back from the dog park where my 7 month old pup happily interacted with about 10 other dogs.

My older dog has been attacked, unprovoked, twice in her life. Both were at dog club.

Take from that what you will.

[Yonjuro]

Thanks for all the comments...

Just had a call back from the Ranger who concurred that it was an unacceptable incident. He said that he would cruse around the area and if he sees the bloke based on my description he would talk to him and issue a warning. Can't ask for more than that. :)

I had my session with my trainer this arvo and she was good about it and gave me some strategies to try should it happen again, we will also work further on Ronin's confidence after the incident and she said that he will potentially be wary of similar looking dogs but we can work around it and other techniques for socialisation.

[Rosetta]

Yonjuro, I'm sorry this happened to you, your daughter and Ronin. That absolutely sucks.

The only way to avoid your dog being attacked at dog parks is to not go there. It is guaranteed at some time your dog will be attacked if you go to dog parks.

Owning dogs and taking them outside your own yard is nerve racking.

Sorry Ronin was attacked and hope he does not have lasting effects.

I do have to point out what a crap blanket statement this is.

There is no 100% this will happen at all, a lot of off lead park bashing goes on in this forum but some of us go and have no problems, enjoy our walk and come home and think nothing of it.

Gus was pretty much raised in our local off lead park and the only issue I recall us having was with a dog who broke off his leash at an on lead park and got a swift kick to the head from me.

These are valuable community resources to some of us, please don't spread fear and false statistics.

I just have to point out what a crap statement this is. Oh sorry was that rude?

I hardly think people are going to stop going to dog parks because of my opinion. What statistics are you referring to? I can't see that I quoted any actually - just my opinion which I am entitled to do on this forum.

Yonjuro I didn't think you were offended at my response?

Honestly I just won't bother posting again.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Rosetta

[koalathebear]

Posting a complaint about dog parks here always results in everyone saying you should never go and it's on you for choosing to go into one ... Some people tend to be very black and white about it.

We've been going to the dog park every week for years without incident. We just exercise the same caution that we always exercise around our dogs. We go when it's not too crowded, we leave if it gets crowded. We handle 3-4 dogs between the two of us and would never try to wrangle more than 2 on our own. We put our dogs on lead and keep an eye on any new dogs that come in and if things aren't looking comfortable, we leave. We haven't had to do that because there are regulars at our dog park - humans and canine and our dogs all get along. We've found a dog park where we like the setting, the people, the dogs and we're comfortable there.

Once our foster dogs have reached an appropriate level of training, they've all been socialised at the dog park, too with no incident. We've met up at the dog park with dogs of friends and other DOLers. Although my dogs are very gentle with puppies and little dogs, I'll sometimes suggest to people they may want to move their puppy or small dog to the small dog yard if they don't want to be barrelled over.

I'd much prefer to be at a dog park where I can just leave if it's uncomfortable than be walking down the road with my dog and rushed at by an off-lead dog with nowhere to run. In terms of unpleasant dog experiences, I've only had two and they were not at the dog park. One of my dogs has been attacked twice in his life - both times was at dog club during an agility class. Both dogs were asked later to leave the class by the instructor and only return once their dog had been rehabilitated. I totally understand why people do not want to go to dog parks, that's up to them, but for those of us who are vigilant and careful about which dogs parks we go to and what we do when there, they are an excellent place for the dogs to have fun.

Edited March 5, 2014 by koalathebear

[Canisbellum]

Gee whiz people some of you really need a supply of chill pills.

Sorry about the incident you had Yonjuro, I have learnt to expect the worst from any dog approaching us.

Jonah had bad fear aggression issues when I adopted him and used to be very bad at interacting with other dogs and I stayed away from the local park because of that and started obedience training so he could interact with other calm dogs. This seems to have paid off as I had no option to visit the park last week and he was ok with most of the other dogs.

Point is there is always hope if you put in the work.

[Steph M]

Yonjuro, I'm sorry this happened to you, your daughter and Ronin. That absolutely sucks.

The only way to avoid your dog being attacked at dog parks is to not go there. It is guaranteed at some time your dog will be attacked if you go to dog parks.

Owning dogs and taking them outside your own yard is nerve racking.

Sorry Ronin was attacked and hope he does not have lasting effects.

I do have to point out what a crap blanket statement this is.

There is no 100% this will happen at all, a lot of off lead park bashing goes on in this forum but some of us go and have no problems, enjoy our walk and come home and think nothing of it.

Gus was pretty much raised in our local off lead park and the only issue I recall us having was with a dog who broke off his leash at an on lead park and got a swift kick to the head from me.

These are valuable community resources to some of us, please don't spread fear and false statistics.

I just have to point out what a crap statement this is. Oh sorry was that rude?

I hardly think people are going to stop going to dog parks because of my opinion. What statistics are you referring to? I can't see that I quoted any actually - just my opinion which I am entitled to do on this forum.

Yonjuro I didn't think you were offended at my response?

Honestly I just won't bother posting again.

That's what I was referring to, and I never said that was a crap statement, but a crap blanket statement.

I wasn't offended, nor was anyone else, I'm sure. I feel compelled to call a spade a spade, you can not promise someone that there is a guarantee their dog will be attacked at a dog park. That is, frankly, BS.

I didn't mean to offend you, but that is a false statement.

[huski]

I'm sure some people do go to dog parks without experiencing any incidents that bother them.

When I used to take my dogs to dog parks (a long time ago now) we saw frequent fights and other issues, there would be incidents on a daily basis. I'm sure this has clouded my judgement of dog parks and certainly stopped me using them.

Now however the experience I previously had in dog parks isn't the reason I don't go there, I just have no use or interest for them anymore. I don't have any desire to take my dog to a park so they can play with other dogs we encounter. It serves no purpose for me.

Edited March 5, 2014 by huski

[Yonjuro]

Yonjuro, I'm sorry this happened to you, your daughter and Ronin. That absolutely sucks.

The only way to avoid your dog being attacked at dog parks is to not go there. It is guaranteed at some time your dog will be attacked if you go to dog parks.

Owning dogs and taking them outside your own yard is nerve racking.

Sorry Ronin was attacked and hope he does not have lasting effects.

I do have to point out what a crap blanket statement this is.

There is no 100% this will happen at all, a lot of off lead park bashing goes on in this forum but some of us go and have no problems, enjoy our walk and come home and think nothing of it.

Gus was pretty much raised in our local off lead park and the only issue I recall us having was with a dog who broke off his leash at an on lead park and got a swift kick to the head from me.

These are valuable community resources to some of us, please don't spread fear and false statistics.

I just have to point out what a crap statement this is. Oh sorry was that rude?

I hardly think people are going to stop going to dog parks because of my opinion. What statistics are you referring to? I can't see that I quoted any actually - just my opinion which I am entitled to do on this forum.

Yonjuro I didn't think you were offended at my response?

Honestly I just won't bother posting again.

I didn't see anything to be offended at, I appreciate you making comments. :)

[Staffyluv]

I'm sure some people do go to dog parks without experiencing any incidents that bother them.

When I used to take my dogs to dog parks (a long time ago now) we saw frequent fights and other issues, there would be incidents on a daily basis. I'm sure this has clouded my judgement of dog parks and certainly stopped me using them.

Now however the experience I previously had in dog parks isn't the reason I don't go there, I just have no use or interest for them anymore. I don't have any desire to take my dog to a park so they can play with other dogs we encounter. It serves no purpose for me.

I did as well Huski, when I first started going - but I was going when the park was at its busiest time..

If you choose your times and the company you choose to keep - there is rarely an incident..

Every single time I have witnessed something bad happen, it has been at peak times.

To me peak times (at a dog park) are before and after work/school times.

I find going any time from 6am to 7.30am is fine and we have no problem at all.

After following all the great training advice I got from Steve and you (and lots of the other wonderful trainers here), Zig no longer goes to the park to play with other dogs - he goes to have a good off lead run, with me, playing ball and just having fun.

He greets dogs nicely if they come over but he shows no real interest in playing with them (unless it's a puppy, he is happy to play with pups)..

We meet up with a group of a morning and mostly their dogs are all the same - they come to run their dogs off lead and play with their own dogs. All these dogs get along, if they are near each other but mostly, we all do our own thing..

It is a very different story if we go in peak times (which is very, very rare these days) - there are usually dogs all over the place and people not taking much notice of what their dogs are doing.. To me, this is where and when issues arise.

We end up going for an on lead walk in the town park when the off lead park is busy - it just isn't worth his safety or my sanity to stay there in times like those.

[huski]

Oh I am sure if you go at 'off peak' times, you are statistically less likely to run into issues as there will be less dogs around. There are obviously ways to minimize the risk, but as I said the reason I don't go to dog parks now is because I just don't have any reason or desire to go there. It serves no purpose to me to have my dogs run around off leash with strange dogs. If I want to exercise them I take them for a walk or jog with me; swim them; there's a quiet open field I often use to let them run around; we also use treadmills and FitPaws equipment to develop core strength and muscle etc.

I understand other people like to use dog parks and that's up to them if they want to use them - but it's not my cup of tea.

[JulesP]

Had an 'incident' today. A dog body slammed Amber. I didn't even see it coming. If I had known this dog was off lead I wouldn't have gone to the off lead section as I had already observed it not walking very well.

The owner apologised but got quite shitty when I said it wasn't appropriate behavior and that the dog shouldn't be off lead.

I broke my rules of going to the off lead section on a public holiday!

[Dame Aussie]

I'm sure some people do go to dog parks without experiencing any incidents that bother them.

When I used to take my dogs to dog parks (a long time ago now) we saw frequent fights and other issues, there would be incidents on a daily basis. I'm sure this has clouded my judgement of dog parks and certainly stopped me using them.

Now however the experience I previously had in dog parks isn't the reason I don't go there, I just have no use or interest for them anymore. I don't have any desire to take my dog to a park so they can play with other dogs we encounter. It serves no purpose for me.

This is similar to my experiences, they have been more bad than good so I avoid dog parks myself.

I think if other people want to use them go for it, just be aware, which I'm sure most people on here are already :)

[Yonjuro]

A happy update

I took Ronin to an open day at the Western Australian Sled dog association, for a chance to meet some dogs in public. It went really well, Ronin got told off my a larger dog which was perfect. He settled down and I stayed wi the group for an hour or so. Ronin was relaxed and laid down reasonably close to the dog that told him off. All went great, I gave Ronin plenty of small treats to keep him calm and in a settled position.

So stage 2.

I took a drive by a new purpose built, fenced in off leash dog park yesterday, that TT put me onto. and there was no one there, so this afternoon we decided to take Ronin tree for a gallop around. There was a lady there with an Aussie and I think a pinscher??, We were deciding whether to risk taking Ronin in and up came a nice couple with a 10 month old Akita. I talked to them for a bit about my concerns after the previous incident, and the two dogs seemed good together. She said that it was a really good place and she knew the other dogs there so we decided to give it a go....

I had Ronin on leash for a few seconds so I could quickly get him out of there if needed. All the dogs came up to him so I dropped the lead so he could get away if needed. Anyway, all I can say it went brilliantly, Ronin had a ball chasing and being chased. The next thing I know another 8 dogs roll up, some labs, and other medium sized mixes including a labradoodle. I was a bit worried but I had no need. Everyone got on really well. The couple with the Akita decided their dog was getting pretty excited so they put her on leash ready to go. We also decided to take the opportunity to leave on a really positive note.

I cannot tell you how happy and relieved I was with the afternoon, we all had a ball and I have one tired Husky! Man it is beautiful to see him run at full stride.