Dog park rant! Agh!

Hey everyone,
I went to the park as normal yesterday, and Maggie was barking.(she's a barker) I was trying to do my best to control it, but this one women was like really loudly "GET YOUR DOG AWAY FROM MY DOG!!" She was acting like my dog was attacking her dog! Maggie wasn't doing anything. All she was doing was basically telling the dog she wanted to play. I was just like "Lady, my dog is not attacking your dog." Her dog was laying on the ground submissively. Maggie was just barking and wagging her tail. If she KNEW body language at all she would understand how stupid the whole thing was. Nonetheless it pissed me off that she didn't have a clue about dog posture, body language, etc. There were no teeth, hackles, etc.

Maggie really is a giant wimp. If another dog responds to her barking she runs off practically crying. She's never physically attacked any dog in her life. Sometimes she jumps on them, barks, and than runs away, but thats it.

Than this one poodle came into the park and Maggie had to go chase it and bark at her too. This prissy woman was pulling her dog away from my dog and I was trying to bring Maggie over to the other side of the park.

God, I really hope I never have to see those two stupid women again. They just had NO clue about dogs.

Maggie KNOWS most of the dogs that come to the park so she doesn't normally bark at them.

It isn't like I'm just standing there passively. I'm actually doing something about it. (which these two women wouldn't know) (and bringing a trainer to the park with me to figure out WHY she is barking)

I hope this doesn't ruin my park experience. Most of the people are very understanding and know that I am working on it with mags. I see these people and their dogs nearly everyday and Maggie is perfectly fine with them.

I'm going to do my best to avoid those two women. Ugh! Stupid stupid people!

-Thea

You're doing the right thing by working on it with a trainer with Maggie. As frustrated as you were, tho, just remember those women were just worried about their pups. No, they probably didn't catch a clue on the body language.........but just give them a little leeway on their feelings. Maggie will continue to enjoy the dog park. Sometimes us gals are just a bit verbal. I confess that I've been (stupidly, most likely) intimidated by other dogs when with mine........mostly to be cautious and careful not to have a problem. Maggie sounds like a sweetie. Don't be upset by a couple people.

Hey Debi,
The woman with the poodle was the first one to react, and believe me it's not like I encouraged the behavior. I am doing my best to discourage it , and work on it because It's not my intention to make people upset or annoyed at my dog.

This one guy Tim who is always there with his dog Riley tells Maggie "no bark" and that's fine with me. He's a very understanding guy. Maggie barked at his dog at first, now she doesn't do it anymore. She actually licks his dog and runs after him with her tail wagging.

AWWWWW...Maggie will be just fine. Sounds like a loveable gal to me!! I love hearing about her.

She's a sweet dog, just not sure how to be a dog quite yet. I think she thinks that she is human.

Aw, Thea, I wish Maggie could come and play on the farm with the Monsters. They'd love her, especially Shiva, who's a big mouth, too. She sticks that big butt up in the air, chest on the ground, ears perked, head cocked sideways and gets LOUD!

Maggie sounds like Maddie sometimes, as Maddie can be VERY vocal. She usually does it when she can't contain her excitement, and/or when she wants other dogs to share it with her. Its hard for me to explain to people that she just wants to meet the new dog and romp because they, like your two ladies, think that she is going to attack their dog. I try to explain it to people, I even carried copys of a dog fancy article about 'dog language.' Sometimes its no use though, and then I think 'Oh well, I don't want my dog associating with that person anyway' and then I think up a quick prayer for the dog that has to live with them.

Don't feel bad.

The entire concept of "the dog park" is at the very least Marxist in nature. The "dog park" is a place for people to meet each other, sit on benches and let their dogs run, and talk about how much they love their dogs and possibly hook up later for a fabulous Cabernet. It's NOT a good place for dogs, IMO.

Imagine if you will, a "people park" where you are dragged by an overworked, possibly lonely and frustrated owner and let loose among 100 other people to play within the realm of a chain link fencing. Imagine the ground being a fetid, hard pack of tens of thousands of previous visitors' urine, feces, and various other leakages. Your owner looks at you and says: "Have fun sweetie!". You would look back and say: "F you, jackass, I'm an animal. I can lick myself in public and people giggle...I'll be damned if I romp around in that mutt's excriment."

Dogs HATE dog parks. It's forced bussing when the bussees are perfectly happy with their own school.

When I lived in the Bay Area I can't tell you how many failed marraiges I attended then consoled upon failure among people that met at "dog parks".

After the "first beer: here's what happened" half hour I would always ask about the dog. Invariably the dog was put up for adoption. I never gava a crap about the spouse...but I'll be durned if they didn't miss that dog.

Tip 1. State Parks: Go camping with your mutt. Let him or her smell NATURE. Take the time. It's worth it. I'm sorry I didn't...fortunately I'm older and know better now.
Tip 2. Farmers. Meet them. They feel your pain. I don't care if you live on Flatbush in Brooklyn: you are not more than 40 minutes from THE COUNTRY. Meet people who will let your dog run his or her butt off in a paddock or fenced field.
Tip 3. Speak your mind. If Cruella DeVille's Standard is cautauing to your dogs innocent barking, let her (the owner) know she's an uptight *****.
Tip 4. Avoid dog parks, dog park people, and dog park attitude. How would you feel if someone laid a 1 acre restriction on YOUR desire to just be you.

Dog parks suck.

/rant.

-Kev

I've never been to a dog park. There weren't any dog parks when I lived in CA, none in Wilmington, NC, and there are still none here.

I've never actually sat down and thought about them; thanks to Gum-Bro' and that post the concept is sinking through. I guess they're better than nothing if you live in a very urban area, and when you consider that it's not safe to just take a walk in most places anymore (unless you've got Monsters - lol - I'd walk anywhere - rofl) you do have to consider a dog park as one place your dog can run.

He's hit the nail on the head, though. Take your dogs to state and national parks. Even if you don't camp. Take a picnic, walk on the hiking trails. It'll do as much for you as it does for your dog, and you'll get even more out of it when you see that best bud stopping to sniff, roll on the clean earth, alert on something moving in the brush.

Be sure to obey all the leash regulations, for your dog's safety more than any other reason, unless your dog is completely obedient and there aren't any rangers around. Even then, don't let your dog off the leash the first time you're there. I've always taken my dogs camping and hiking in the parks, but Bear is the only one I've ever allowed to walk off the leash.

Farms are great - as long as your dog doesn't chase livestock. And be very circumspect about taking your sighthound to a farm to run. Remember, if there's an electric fence and your dog gets bit, he's going to freak and run who-knows-where - hopefully to the car, though. And you'd better check on the farmer's dogs and do proper introductions!

I personally hate dog parks too. The people there are extremely uptight and bitchy..especially when it comes to their dogs. Everyone thinks that they know everything about dogs, dog behavior, dog body language, pet care..etc...yet half of them are feeding their dogs IAMS because the ads say its GOOD FOR LIFE....Pffftt!

And I completely agree. Dogs don't need to go into a park full of strange people, or strange dogs for that matter, to get some good ol exercise. To be honest with you, dog parks are probably the best place for fights or other accidents to occur. Its like a great big bomb waiting to explode. Probably only a couple of days until the next fight occurs..whether it be between two dogs or their owners for that matter. I say...if you want to go to a dog park just to watch other people's dogs for the heck of it..go ahead..I do that occassionally I have to admit. I just love watching dog owners share their great "knowledge" (yeah right) of dogs...its quite amusing..but heck no..I never take my dog to one (I used to when she was young, however, she is a PIT BULL, and pit bull owners SHOULD NOT go to dog parks, END OF STORY, NO EXCUSES, THANK GOODNESS I STOPPED WHEN SHE WAS YOUNGER).

There are alot of other great places you can exercise your dog..go to an old grassy baseball field...or a big azz park that's usually deserted during the mornings or early afternoons...wanna let your dog check out other dogs? Go take him to petsmart on the weekends and let him sniff around ONLEASH..there's more than enough things and places for your dogs to check out without worrying about the risk of getting caught in an unpleasant situation..which dog parks are quite well known for.

Those are great ideas. I think im gonna start taking my dog to the mountain and go hiking with them. That would be really fun and it might help them socialize with people. Thats what i really want to happen.

I kind of understand where those two women were coming from - hear me out.

While you knew that your dog just wanted to play and was familiar with that body language of Maggie's, they weren't. They didn't know for sure if this meant something else...

That reminds me of about a year ago I walked across the street with my son (then 7) to the mailbox and my new neighbor's dog came running out of their open front door, barking and running right for us. This was a medium sized dog. I grabbed my son, and the woman came running out saying "Oh, she's all bark..." Well, how did I know that? She knew that, but I didn't.

To be honest I'd probably say the same thing at the dog park, but then again I wouldn't go to a dog park because I'd just be scared a big dog would bite Sophie's head off. She doesn't know that she's not the big dog and one of these days I'm worried that another dog will show her just who the big dog is. LOL

The back end of a dog will generally tell you more than the front end.

...especially after eating habeneros.