This is not the vent, this is background:
I am very lucky that I very, very rarely have any kind of bad experience at my dog park. It is on acreage, is a hike/walk through style rather than a congregate/Thunderdome style, I usually go at very slow/off-peak times, and you need a permit so that tends to prevent anyone and everyone from showing up. Most of the people there are very dog savvy and have dogs who are experienced and appropriate for the park, at least the people who I see there at my regular times.
Having said that, there is a dog we see there every so often who really doesn't belong at dog parks. He charges and barks like crazy at dogs who apparently (to my eye) he feels threatened by. The lady KNOWS this dog does it because she ineffectually pleads "Dog... don't bark. Dog... don't bark!" as he's creeping up on other dogs, which has no effect on the his behavior whatsoever. So far I've never seen a fight, he just seems to want to run other dogs off.
Although I always avoid them, it doesn't matter so much when I'm there with Pip because Pip really doesn't give any effs about other dogs and just ignores this dog completely, so the dog gets no reaction from him and just sort of peters out.
When I am there with Squash, though... one time when we were leaving the park I didn't see that they were between us and the exit, and the dog charged Squash and really scared him. I had to ask her to get the dog so we could leave, she was just standing around chatting with someone and letting him do whatever he liked. Since then, if I show up and her car is in the parking lot we just go and do something else, if I see them from afar after we're already in I go a different way (there are plenty of side trails through the woods so it is easy to avoid anyone in particular). Squash definitely recognizes this dog so he is perfectly happy to stay away from it.
So here is the vent.
Today, I saw them approaching as we were starting to head out. We had just passed a big fork in the path so no big deal, I call Squash back and we go down the side path. The dog starts to follow us and the woman predictably starts calling "Dog... don't bark! Dog... don't bark!" Sigh. So I put myself between Squash and the dog and as it's creeping up on us I puff up and take a few steps toward it and say NO, GO! The dog goes back to its owner, who clearly saw the whole thing, and she says... OH GOOD DOG, DOG! GOOD DOG!
Wait, whut? I think she thinks her dog listened to her begging him not to bark? Even though she saw me rebuff his approach? I mean, I know she doesn't really think her dog's behavior is a big deal in the first place, but... now she thinks he listens to her?
Le sigh.