Anyone else meet these lovely people while out with your dogs? (Bit of a long rant)

[PugandTwoFrenchies]

So last night my husband and I are out at a local park with our three dogs, and as always, we're practicing recall with the pups. One of us will stand at a certain point, and then the other further away, and we take turns calling the dogs to us and rewarding them for coming, etc.

Around the corner by a fence came a man and his boxer (?), and as my pups were running towards my husband, they saw the man and his dog, and immediately veered towards him instead.

Now, I know my pups aren't aggressive, but he didn't know that, and when my pups got about 20 feet from him, they stopped dead in their tracks (like they usually do). They then proceeded to run back towards my husband again, and that was that.

When the pups came running towards me, the man walked up to me and said, "Keep control of your f***ing dogs!!!!!" I said, "Pardon me??"

"Keep control of your f***ing dogs!!!!"

So this went back and forth for a while (he just kept repeating the same thing over and over again...like I didn't hear him the first 20 times hmy, and he then proceeded to say, "Take them to a controlled environment!!!"

"What do you consider a 'controlled environment'?"
"An off leash park that's fenced in!"
"An off leash park is far from being a 'controlled environment'. I will not take my puppies there, as they are a) too young, b) there are too many large, unpredictable dogs running around there, and c) I've already had the unpleasant experience of having my small dog attacked by a larger one without any warning or cause, so I refuse to go back there."
"Take...control...of your F****KING DOGS!!!!"

Oh...my...god...

My husband was *furious* at the way this man had approached us, and that he was refusing to listen to us when we were explaining that our dogs aren't aggressive, our dogs never *touched* him or his dog, so what was the problem???

Another lady and her husband were in the park at the same time, and the lady came running over to us explaining that she saw the whole thing, that the man was acting WAY out of line, he was being a jerk, etc. I get it, but geez... There is a way to approach a situation and resolve conflict WITHOUT getting up into your face and using profanities. Did he honestly thing that would make the situation better?

I still don't know if he thought my dogs were aggressive, or whether he had the aggressive dog. If so, IMHO you should not be walking that dog through a park where you know other dogs and people will be around. I have owned 3 aggressive dogs in my past (they came that way...they were rescues), and I would never, ever walk them through a park, period. On or off-leash. We'd stick to the sidewalks, cross the street when we saw another dog coming, etc. That's just what you do. It's called personal accountability.

Was the park we were in technically an off-leash? No. So yes, I understand this man's concern. However, if he actually stopped to listen and were willing to have a conversation about it, he would know that there wasn't any danger to him or his dog. And I'm sorry, I do not feel comfortable taking my dog to an off-leash area as there are just too many unknowns. I've had bad experiences, our trainers recommended to not ever go to one, etc., so the decision has been made not to.

A good friend of mine went through something very similar AT an off-leash park (I can't remember the circumstances - but I know her dog didn't bite anyone), but a man got up in her face and *screamed* at her which brought her to tears. Others witnessed what happened, and they were offering her condolences as this man was way out of line and his behavior was totally inappropriate.

If there was an off-leash park for small dogs, absolutely. I'd feel more comfortable taking my pups there. But that's just not an option, and as a resident I have the right to take my dogs there also. Many, MANY people take their dogs there for similar reasons; just not comfortable going to an off-leash.

Gah...people!!! My rant is over. I apologize for its lengthiness.

Has anyone else experienced this? This was my first time in 15 years of owning dogs, now that I think about it.

 

[winginit66]

Well, we don't take ours out too often. Gidget turns into a sled dog when she hits the ground (never found anything to deter her pulling until we turn around to go the other way) and it makes the whole experience not much fun. Olivia & Wilson don't pull like that, but I would never take them off leash because they would be gone. And with Wilson being partially deaf I don't want to risk it!!! However, I totally admit Frenchie-parent fail at early training - totally!!!

I have been to the dog park with them, probably can count that number on one hand. The Frenchie-type play doesn't seem to be too popular with other dogs and their humans.

 

[Squishy Walnuts]

Wow!! That man is an ***! I always keep my dogs on a leash in the parks around me. Wally is way too friendly and will wander over to everyone, and there are a lot of people who don't like dogs around these parks. I do have a few dog park stories, and they are the reason we do not go to dog parks any longer.

When Wally was 5 months old he ran to a group of people to say hello. They had a boxer with them that pounced on Wally and batted him around with its paws. The dog was jealous. The owners blamed us saying that my dog wanted to fight. It was such a ridiculous thought considering how small Wally was at the time I laughed in their faces as their boxer was huge. They called me names and then started to 'threaten' us with their dog. Again, I laughed which made them even more upset. They eventually left.

When Wally was 1 year old the same boxer ran at him when neither of us knew it was there, and the owner was smiling so clearly she got the dog to attack Wally on purpose. I pushed her dog off of Wally and she came running up to me as if I was hurting her dog. I knew quite a few people there and they ganged up on her until she left. From what I heard her, her family and her dog is banned from the park as Wally wasn't her first run-in.

Last time Wally ran to a group of puppies to play, and everyone was getting along great. Then a husky mix jumped in and next thing I know it had Wally's head in its mouth. I have never seen Wally get angry like that and he bit back, hard! We left the park and I never went back. Wally got a bite on his head but it healed up easily.

I know how hard Wally plays but none of these instances had anything to do with his playing style. When I first started to go the dog park when Uma was a puppy I never had any issues. It was usually big dogs that may get into some kind of scuffle. But as the years went on I noticed that less and less people paid any attention to their dogs and those are the dogs that usually needed to be watched. I found I playing 'referee' with everyone's dogs and most of them I didn't even know. It got to be too stressful so now my dogs just play with each other or other doggy friends when they come over. I wish I knew people with Frenchies or Bostons as they seem to play well with their own breed.

 

[Cbrugs]

The only time I have taken Jax to a dog park has been for Frenchie meet ups. One of them is actually in a fenced in area for the "smaller" dogs. The other one was at a beach and there was no separate area. Jax kept running off to play with the big dogs. Jax prefers to play with big dogs and usually ignores the Frenchies and other smaller dogs. I'll still take him every now and then (more for me than for him cause I like to see all the Frenchies) but now I just send him to daycare once a week so he can get his playing in.

And I would never be able to take him to a park that wasn't fenced in because he would definitely run off.

 

[PugandTwoFrenchies]

I mean, of course, I will definitely assess the situation at the park before I consider taking the leash off of those two. At the time we arrived, there was no one else there. It's one of those sticky situations where you want to train your dog, but you can't train a puppy at an off-leash environment. Too many distractions, too unpredictable, etc., so you train them where it's quieter, where there's less risk. (And my yard is in no way big enough to practice recalling)

Their recall is pretty good in a large area when there is no one else around. Once you add people or other dogs into the mix, that's where we don't get the results we want 100%. lol (They're good 80% of the time at this point, I'd say)

I don't know, I've just been having a bad run lately both at work and at home with people coming out of the blue and just being *mean*. Enough is enough, you know? It just gets tiring.

 

[Julie Stevenson]

I'm sorry you had to experience such a man. People come in all kinds. We regularly take our boys out and they are always off leash, but we watch them constantly and we make sure if they get too "in your face" with other dogs we pick them up and redirect their attention or remove them from the area.

People like that guy are scared that his dogs are going to get injured. My advise, if you encounter someone like that again, politely let them know my dogs are under controlled and they are behaving like dogs which is NORMAL for them to want to come say hello. If you are uncomfortable with canine behavior, I recommend you take a few canine obedience courses and learn more about dog behavior so you might become more familiar with what is and what is not normal behavior. My dogs are not aggressive and did nothing wrong. This conversation is over. Good day. Then walk away and go back to your afternoon and enjoy your pooches.

People need to educate themselves. Dogs will be dogs. They are SOCIAL animals and want to say hello and play with each other. Nothing wrong with that. If they are not socialized and are aggressive then that's a different story.

 

[PugandTwoFrenchies]

So well said, Julie. Thank you so much for your kind words. So true. Dogs are extremely social creatures (particularly mine!), and if they weren't, that's a sign of a problem.

 

[winginit66]

There are also lots of little kids at the dog park the times I have been, running around and I was scared to death they were going to fall on one of mine... I am just too nerved to do it, especially with 3.

 

[Tgirl]

Wow, I can't think of hardly any situation where his actions would be acceptable. That's terrible. I'm sorry you had to deal with that.

 

[blushy]

What an a$$hat.

I wouldn't have even been able to control my temper. I would've cussed him out x100 of what he thought he could cuss me out.

Sorry that jerk got under your skin.

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