Pit bulls and dog parks

[Southpaw]

I took Juno to the dog park today and after a while a couple pitties showed up. One of them came over to Juno and did the play bow, wiggle butt thing and they were getting along fine, the dog wasn't much bigger than Juno and they had a similar style of play. Fine and dandy.

So we start walking away and then Juno decides she wasn't done playing, so she runs back over to the pit bull. They start chasing each other and I'm not sure what made her do this at the particular moment, but Juno then decided to flop over on her back (she normally is pretty submissive and will do this when INITIALLY meeting a dog) and the pit bull then got this rather aggressive sounding growl, started going at her neck (not sure if he was biting or what? But I don't see any signs of anything on her) and Juno just yelped and yelped and yelped, and he was not going to back off of her.

This dog's owner does NOTHING and someone else went over and pulled the dog off of Juno. I grab Juno and am putting her leash on her so we can get out asap, and both the pit bulls are all over us... at this point I guess the owner must have came over, I was too pissed off to notice and my mom asks him, "can you please grab your dog?" His response? "Don't worry, he doesn't bite." To which my mom just repeated GRAB YOUR DOG.

Now, I've read numerous places that dog-aggression in pit bulls is just something to expect and be prepared for. I always assumed, well, any dog of any breed can be DA so as long as a pit bull is properly socialized, that shouldn't be an issue. But now I'm starting to rethink that, because this dog totally initiated the play and they seemed completely fine until he just... snapped.

Sooo, opinions? Should pit bull owners be bringing their dogs to dog parks?

[Romy]

I wasn't there and didn't see it, but if he just "snapped" and started attacking her she would probably be dead. Not fine without any marks.

It sounds like the dog had bad manners and was being a pushy jerk at her when she rolled for him. The owner should have gotten his dogs away from you guys when he saw that they were mobbing you guys as you tried to leash your dog. And especially after you asked him to, that is just totally rude.

ETA: what that run run run run run run *flop* behavior means is basically "Time out! Lemme catch my breath for a second!" and he mobbed her instead of letting her catch her breath, and she didn't like it (understandable!)

[iibao]

I personally don't think a pitbull should be in a dog park.
That being said I also wouldn't trust a siberian husky off
leash. The breed of the dog does matter.

[Saeleofu]

I don't think breed matters.

If you're not comfortable with a particular breed, put your dog on a leash and take it home when one shows up.

[cricketsmygirl]

Even a Pit Bull that is very well socialized and gets along with dogs should not go to a dog park because no matter what dog starts the fight the Pit Bull will get the blame. Now I am not saying your dog cause this. Don't take it that way. As a Pit Bull owner and someone who knows the breed and it's likelihood to be DA I would NEVER put my dog up for failure by taking him to a dog park. Sure I'll take him to a friends, let him have a play-date, but in a small controlled area where I know I can take control quickly should something arise. This breed is prone to DA. VERY prone to DA. Another thing people need to realize is DA is NOT HA!

[CharlieDog]

Never trust a pitbull not to fight. You can't socialize DA out of a dog either. DA dogs don't just "snap" it develops gradually as the dog grows up. It could appear as if it came out of nowhere, but that's usually because the dogs owner misses the warning signs.

That said, it sounds like that dog was just overly pushy and rude. It seems like entering and exiting the park is usually when tensions are highest and most likely to cause problems.

[elegy]

i recently read a comment that was something like "all dogs can fight, pit bulls just tend to do it better" and that pretty much sums it up for me. imo, no, pit bulls do not belong in dog parks.

bad rap says no dog parks for pit bulls.
so does pit bull rescue central.

these are folks with tons more experience with the breed than i'll ever have, and while badrap has (especially recently) adopted the tone that all dogs are individuals and that breed is somehow a stereotype, they still don't buy into pit bulls in dog parks as a safe option.

i think there are cold pit bulls out there who would do fine in a dog park situation, but the problem is, you're testing and trusting that presumed coldness with the lives and well-being of other peoples' dogs. and if it goes wrong, you could lose your dog and i could lose my dog, because people are always looking for another good excuse to ban them.

[Pits&Pugs]

Originally Posted by Romy

I wasn't there and didn't see it, but if he just "snapped" and started attacking her she would probably be dead. Not fine without any marks.

It sounds like the dog had bad manners and was being a pushy jerk at her when she rolled for him. The owner should have gotten his dogs away from you guys when he saw that they were mobbing you guys as you tried to leash your dog. And especially after you asked him to, that is just totally rude.

ETA: what that run run run run run run *flop* behavior means is basically "Time out! Lemme catch my breath for a second!" and he mobbed her instead of letting her catch her breath, and she didn't like it (understandable!)

I agree with this !

Originally Posted by elegy

i recently read a comment that was something like "all dogs can fight, pit bulls just tend to do it better" and that pretty much sums it up for me. imo, no, pit bulls do not belong in dog parks.

bad rap says no dog parks for pit bulls.
so does pit bull rescue central.

these are folks with tons more experience with the breed than i'll ever have, and while badrap has (especially recently) adopted the tone that all dogs are individuals and that breed is somehow a stereotype, they still don't buy into pit bulls in dog parks as a safe option.

i think there are cold pit bulls out there who would do fine in a dog park situation, but the problem is, you're testing and trusting that presumed coldness with the lives and well-being of other peoples' dogs. and if it goes wrong, you could lose your dog and i could lose my dog, because people are always looking for another good excuse to ban them.

I also agree with this!

My Boston and my APBT play together all the time...I have a fenced backyard so I don't need to go to the DP (Nor do I want to)....most of the time my guys sound like they are about to murder each other...but I know them and I know what play sounds like....

With out see the situation first hand I would say that when your pup went into that submissive stance the other dog decided to push it and show off...I think if he was really going after your dog this would be a very different post....I also agree that the owner of the PB sounds like a jerk!

[xpaeanx]

Originally Posted by elegy

i recently read a comment that was something like "all dogs can fight, pit bulls just tend to do it better" and that pretty much sums it up for me. imo, no, pit bulls do not belong in dog parks.

bad rap says no dog parks for pit bulls.
so does pit bull rescue central.

these are folks with tons more experience with the breed than i'll ever have, and while badrap has (especially recently) adopted the tone that all dogs are individuals and that breed is somehow a stereotype, they still don't buy into pit bulls in dog parks as a safe option.

i think there are cold pit bulls out there who would do fine in a dog park situation, but the problem is, you're testing and trusting that presumed coldness with the lives and well-being of other peoples' dogs. and if it goes wrong, you could lose your dog and i could lose my dog, because people are always looking for another good excuse to ban them.

This.

And I only think this because even if you are one of the good responsible owners, *if* anything does happen you're just adding to the bad image of the breed.

[Romy]

To answer the pits in dog park question I will say this:

When we lived in Tucson, I would take Strider to the dog park. I stopped because people would bring their nasty aggressive dogs. He's been snarked at by danes, pointers, heelers, goldens, etc. but NEVER a pit bull. I know it's just the luck of the draw, but then maybe not since they were the most common breed in there. His best buddy in Tucson was a little blue pitty girl who looked just like Tallulah without the brindle. They were awesome friends from the start. I do not think it's "just the breed"

That being said, I don't do dog parks at all anymore. Too many dogs get killed by other dogs all the time. Ideally you would have only responsible ownesr being realistic about whether their dogs are ready for it, but they are not.

We had a big debate about this on this forum at one point, and the consensus by the end is if your dog has the potential to have some latent drive activated and harm another dog, do not bring it. When I pointed out that many sight hounds have a latent prey drive that could be triggered by smaller dogs running around, people screamed "Don't ever take a sight hound to a dog park!" So no bullies and no sight hounds. Got it. Oh, no malamutes either? So, only golden retrievers and toy dogs allowed?

Oh wait, maybe we should just restrict all dogs except the ones with nerf teeth.

On that note, I do feel that the responsible thing to do if you have a pit, is keep them out of situations where they can be blamed if a fight happens, regardless of who started it.