Dog park leaves a bad taste in my mouth

[bubbaisapig]

I have been going to the same type of dogpark with Bubba and my other 2, smaller, dogs. I know a lot of people on the small dog side and they're cool. Last 2 times I was over there, I had a very similar situation happen. Bubba was hanging around and in walks this lady and her husband (in their 50's) who had a leg cast on. As soon as he sees Bubba he says.."he's more than 20 lbs. He needs to be on the other side!" I just looked at him and said...'whatever'. They had 2 tiny white balls of s#*t for dogs. It really ticked me off. And was it Bubba that was the problem?..no but a terrier mix dog that latched onto bubba's neck skin and was trying to tear into him! Next time there..another older lady was standing there with her small dog and bubba ran up to say 'hello' and bumped her knee. She's like..'how much does he weigh?'. THat was my hurt knee! wah wah wah! I've been taking them now to the big dog side but it makes me very nervous over there! I know what you mean about throwing those kinds of people in a pile of crap! Would love to do that!

 

[SunDog]

So....here's the thing. First, is this dog park next to a freeway? Because I used to take Lupe to one juuuust like that, complete with crazy poodle owner/small area for small dogs. I wanted Lupe to get settled as a puppy before letting her into the big dog zone but we got kicked out of the small dog zone for the same reason: she's too big (Lupe was 10 months old. Seriously). I have about a dozen other dog park stories like that, including fights, crazy owners, drunk people...Sometimes I think people go to dog parks for some other reason--good or bad--than their dogs.

Between the freeway noise, the mud, un-altered dogs, and the people, I decided Lupe and I would just go for peaceful walks and have limited play time in the yard with the ball. Trust your instincts. Haven't set foot in a dog park since.

 

[izstigspunks]

I don't do dogparks too. Too many horror stories in our local news about them. Plus I don't want to step on other dogs' doo-doos.

But I know what you mean about our bullies not belonging in either section. Stig gets along best with poodles ... his bf at his daycare is a golden doodle and his gf a bull terrier. So dogs that are about his height are his preference.

 

[cali baker]

[MENTION=2101]SunDog[/MENTION], your park sounds just like the one i went but it's not that close to the fwy. This one's in the city of Pasadena.

I'm just going to stick with regular parks and if I want the boys to socialize with other dogs, I'll put them in daycamp for the time being. Too many drama queens and kings in that dog park (and i'm just talking about the owners)!

 

[BruceP]

How about trying to start a Bully meet up group in your area? You can do it online or maybe put up an ad at the grocery store. You never know, you may find several bullies to socialize with in your area. Bullies are too good to have to socialize with those little 'kick me dogs' anyway... LOL
The bully meet up group here has quite a few members and we have been to several get togethers with them.

 

[2BullyMama]

Public dog parks are just an accident waiting to happen. Most people go to them thinking they do not have to pay any attention to their dog, not to mention the loonies you describe in the poodle lady and the intact dogs. also, dogs that are not properly take care of --- shots, heartworm treatments, flea/tick treatments. It is sad, it could be a great experience if people were more responsible

 

[anatess]

We've been pretty lucky with our dog parks. We have several of them, some right on the beach. I've been to most of them and had good experiences - well, besides the owners who don't pick up the poop... There's a private dog park that is maintained regularly that we used to go to but it's getting too expensive now that our "opening discount" passes have expired.

I have a fru-fru bichon frise before we got Bullie, so we've always gone to the small dog side and I see a lot of large breed puppies there all the time and it's just cool. They're usually very frisky which is perfect for the little yippity toy dogs. My bichon is un-altered but he wears a belly band at the park.

When we got Bullie, we started going to the big dog section - even the bichon goes there now too. He's just fine because he's not a playful kinda dog. He just likes to sniff everywhere and generally stays out of the mellee. There are always the giant dogs there - Boxers, Dobies, Shepherds, Retrievers but Bullie can hold her own with them - she likes body-slamming the dogs. The owners don't mind it because they think my dog is too small to worry about.

So, yeah, so far, I haven't had to experience any drama. But yes, there are those owners who just sits in their chairs in the shade playing with their cellphones while their dogs run amok. But there are also enough dog owners there who play with all the dogs so it stays fun for everyone. And yes, Bullie lasts about 5 minutes of rough play and she's laid out flat next to me waiting to catch her breath, so we usually don't stay too long.

 

[Poppy]

I love dog parks, the dogs are typically well behaved, BUT I find that some dog people are bonkers. When we first got Poppy she was the queen of the dog park, because who could resist a 4 m.o. EB... Well one day we ran into this lady who said she loved bulldogs and *had* some of her own, and as we kept walking she came out with this: "they'll break your heart when they die!". I was so shocked I didn't even have enough time to sass her before she walked away. The nerve of this lady to do me a favor by telling my I'll be heartbroken when my dog dies, and she was just 4 MONTHS OLD!