terrible time at the park

[tinksmama]

...not b/c of me, but my friend,and another person there. So I met a friend at the park, I Had tinkerbell on her leash,and she had her 1 year old lab, on a (sometimes) leash. I had ds6 and she had 2 kids,3 and 6. So we walk the little woodsy trail,with a pond,etc. She lets her dog off leash, and she has a ball swimming. The problem is, her dog doesn't listen to her, at all. So we leave the pond, lab off leash, who takes off running up the trail. then we hear someone shouting loudly"get your dog,NOW! put her on a leash!"
so we run up,and see a small woman with a large,out of control dalmation(on leash) standing on the trail, the woman shouting,"my dog attacks! get your dog away!" So I pop Tink into my Tink bag on my shoulder,where she hides, friend is carrying her 3 year old, and I try my best to help friend hook her dog back to leash. (Friend weighs 90 pounds, dog at least 60) Finally I just get tough and haul her dog onto leash,and try to pull it away, this dalmation meant business,and was trying to kill the lab- Finally I told the woman she had to go back the way she came,as she couldn't get by us and prevent her dog from attacking. So she did.
After this, I told friend,"listen,honey, I wouldn't EVER let my dog loose again, she could've gottne hurt badly."
What I really wanted to say was "no responsible owner lets a dog off leash,knowing it doesn't listen to commands at all"
And I do believe the dalmation owner shouldn't be walking a dog as big and potentially nasty as that on a narrow public park walkway,without a muzzle, to protect everyone!
This was so stressful, I don't want to meet my friend to walk dogs anymore, just leave the lab at home next time, please!
Actually, I'm going to visit a dog park next week, all fenced in, I'm looking forward to that!

 

[Barb04]

I'm glad to hear the dog didn't get hurt. I agree that the dog needs to be on a leash. It's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Sheka]

That lady with the dalmatian is crazy. why would you go and bring godzilla to park full of kids and other dogs?!

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

I completely disagree about the woman with the dalmation. I HAVE a dog aggressive dog. And I DO walk that dog out in public. If an off-leash dog rushes up to my leashed, dog aggressive dog, it is NOT my fault, and if that dog gets bit, it is that dog's owner's fault, and they will be paying for any and all vet bills there may be.
Now, if this woman can't say, "leave it, let's go!" and make sure her dog won't bite, then yes, she should have a muzzle to avoid any problems, but how do you know her dog wasn't trained? Just because a dog is aggressive towards other dogs does not mean it doesn't know (and respond) to obedience commands. My dog knows sit, leave it, come, down, stay, look at me, no, hey, and much more, and she will respond 98% I say a command. We are working on her aggression, and hopefully will overcome it so she can play with a select few dogs (I'm hoping once she's over her aggression, we can find dogs she gets along with).
I have had un-leashed, un-trained dogs rush up to me. I have prevented my dog from biting them, and actually, once she has even gently sniffed noses with a boisterous, bratty dog. But if she were to attack that dog, it would not be my fault. I have told people numerous times as they're dog rushes up to me and my dog, "She WILL BITE HIM." and the answer I got was either, "Oh, he's friendly!" (uh, what the heck do I care - MY DOG WILL BITE YOUR DOG!), a "Oh my gosh, you've got a vicious dog!" look, or "That's okay, it'll do him good." (problem is, I'm trying to SOLVE my dog's aggression, not fuel it, you idiot.).

*sigh* I know I sound like some physco, but I'm tired of people immediately blaming those who's dogs have aggression issues. Just because a dog has aggression issues does not mean it's a big bad vicious beastie, or that it's owner is some idiot.

EDIT: And just because a dog is aggressive towards other dogs does *not* mean it is aggressive towards humans as well. My dog LOVES children and people in general.

 

[elegy]

i'm with gaddy- i have two dog-aggressive dogs (and i do mean DOG-aggressive. they are not remotely human-aggressive. the two are not connected.) and i walk them in public without muzzles and will continue to do so. they've been rushed by off-leash dogs and luce has been jumped several times by off-leash dogs and they've never harmed anyone. why? because they're leashed and under control at all times, and because i'm not afraid to protect them when i need to. and if it comes off as rude when i tell somebody to get their dog NOW, oh well.

if you can't call your dog back to you when it's off-leash, no matter what the circumstances, you have no business having your dog off-leash. period.

it's my right to walk my dogs unmolested in a public park. it doesn't matter if they're dog-aggressive or the friendliest dogs in the world. i don't want people's unfamiliar dogs rushing my dogs, no matter what.

 

[fillyone]

I was once walking Dante through a park that has a leash law. He was about 9 months old and of course on leash. As I came down the trail a Golden puppy (about 5 months old) came bounding around a corner and slid to a stop. Dante took one look, got into a play bow and was wagging his tail so hard I thought his butt would come off. The Golden puppy was still frozen in spot obviously unsure about what to do with this large 'puppy'. Finally the owner came around the corner, the pup's leash hung around her neck. She screeched loudly when she saw Dante (still in a bow, tail still wagging furiously) that I "needed to get a muzzle on my vicious dog before it hurt someone".
I quietly told her that she needed to get a leash on her pup and learn dog behavior and language.

I too have had off leash dogs approach Dante. He's not dog aggressive but my concern is always if that other dog is or Dante 'pushes a button' and the dog might decide to lay into him. 100% recall or the dog should be on leash.

 

[tinksmama]

You know what? I agree with you... my friend had a problem to let her silly dog go running off leash- I hate when she does that-
But..this woman COULDN'T control her dog. It was dragging her, and she just couldn't get it off the path past our animals. Yes, the lab did run up to them first, but if you have a large dog, and you know it has aggression issues with other animals, if you take it walking in a public place, you should either have complete control with commands and leash,or muzzle it. It is a dangerous thing to have a dog who could do something harmful,and an owner who can't stop it.
And I don't know how big or strong you are, but GSD's are usally large and strong,and can drag a well meaning owner right to the source of trouble. Again, I agree, her dog shouldn't have been off leash...but... a comfortable muzzle for a dog that can't walk down a narrow woods path and pass other animals is not a good thing...
sorry about the mean lady who said your dog was vicious...he doesn't sound at all vicious to me...
I don't know, if i had a dog who was animal aggressive, i don't think i'd trust it near kids in a park either, they're too much like noisy little puppies and can really make a dog nutso... I'd never take a chance-

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

Maybe this woman would have had more control over her animal if your friend's dog had simply walked past calmly. I do have control over my animal. But if we're taking a walk, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a big, untrained dog speeds towards us, DUH she is going to react. She had no idea there was another dog around. It's not a, "Okay, there is another dog - ignore it!" situation, it's a "Some dog comes out of nowhere and runs towards me - defend myself and my human!" situation.

 

[canadianmandy]

My sisters dog is human/dog aggressive. But when told its ok she calms down. It only happens with certain dogs/ppl . My dog is pretty calm but when I lived in a city in Pa I liked to take her to the bike trails and roller blade (On leash). She heels pretty well. Me and My friend took Lovie to the trails (she loved it) ..Well Everything went fine, Till I started home and past ppl on their porch. Their pitbulls (three of them) Charged at Lovie grabbing for her throat. It all happen so quick. Im on roller blades and Im struggling to save my dog.. I finally get her up in my arms and They start jumpin on me and I loose my balance and Love hops from my arms now trying to protect me. She lunged at the biggest dog catching its ear Im panicking now freaky on these owners who are yelling from their porch at thier dogs and My friend is standing scared to do anything. Im temped to take my blades off and throw it at these dogs attcking my dog on her leash she has nowhere to go. I wasnt sureIf I should let her go and see if she could run for it or keep her her where she couldnt fight. Finally the owners come grab their dogs yelling and hitting them. Then they had the nerve to offer me one of the pitbulls. (two of the dogs were the puppies of the bigger one) I bee lined it outta thier and called animal control.

My dog had bite wounds on her neck but only minor I had scrapes from the fall and scratches from them jumping. .... Animal control did nothing but gave a warning ...

At least the lady in your park took responsibility of her dog and warned you I had no warning. I would blame your friends Lab .. he was off leash not the dalmation. Im glad nothing serious happened to your friends dog.

 

[princess_poppy]

poppy likes all dogs and kids and most people, some adalt men she will bark at or growl at, it's really embarasing when she barks at people.