-sigh- Todlers do NOT belong in dog parks!

[Zife]

Randy (brother) and Hayden (boyfriend) went to the dogpark today, with Haydem's new foster Roxy (2 year old pointer mix), and I brought Hillary and Jackson along on-leash. When Hills and Jack got tired, Randy offered to drive them back while we kept the energy ball busy.

Anyway, about 5 minutes after Randy left, a big GSD stalks out of the bushes towards a little girl (I think around 3 or 4 years old?). I said to Hayden, " Oh my god! Hayden, it's going to attack her!) The GSD was bearing her teeth and had her hackles raised (at least I think it was a her... it had a light purple collar on.)

Anyway, the little girl squeals and starts running towards the GSD, who is around 20-25 feet away. I ran up and grabbed the little girl, and the GSD bolted at me. Hayden had to fly out at the GSD and knock her over. She bit him and it drew blood from him, but she didn't keep attacking, she got up like a little wuss and ran.

I fell on the ground, and I started to cry. I was scared out of my mind, and I could see Hayden was bleeding and the little girl was terrified. About 10 minutes later, a women comes around screaming: " LILLY! LILLY *last name here* WHERE ARE YOU?! GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!"

She sees me calming down the little girl, and she charged right up to me, and started screaming her lungs off at me. " You're a ****ing PETOPHILE! (Sp?) You F*cking trying to rape my little girl?!!!! You B!TCH!"

She grabbed her cell phone, but some elderly man with two labs came up to her and explained what happened. Instantly, I get the dirty look rolleyes and she storms off.

THEN, the owner of the GSD walks over. He was actually a really nice guy and apologized, and told us he would pay for any medical bills. He said his GSD was never like that around children before, and is really friendly towards his own 2 kids.

I didn't know what to do, so I just shrugged it off, and so did Hayden. We had lost track of Roxy during the incident, but she was nearby. Then Randy showed up, and we all went home. -sigh-

Sorry for the long post. I don't think we're going to report to the bite to AC because Hayden DID surprise her by flying at her and grabbing her, and it could have just been a reflex. He's fine now, by the way. It wasn't deep or anything.

I'm sorry, but my honest opinion is - kids DONT belong in dog parks.

 

[RD]

I couldn't agree more. There are a lot of great places to take young kids and let them roam around, but the dog park is not one of them.

That was very nice of you to protect that little girl. Hopefully her ungrateful mother figures out that if she can't supervise her kid, she should be leashed.

 

[iwantmypup]

Hi,

Oh man! So sorry to hear that!
I don't know if kids should not be in dog parks at all, but they should be supervised and the kids and parents should be smart about it. But I think if those two are in check, then kids should be allowed.

-Ali

 

[Romy]

Ahhhh!!! You are an awesome person to save her. Seriously, next time there is unsupervised small children around just call the police and report an abandoned child at the dog park. They will rip that woman a new one.

 

[RD]

^^ Agreed! My dog park has it posted in the rules that children under 12 are not to be in the park, period, but people break that rule all the time. But if I see any unsupervised kids messing with the dogs, I make a phone call... It's UNSAFE and if something is to happen to one of those unsupervised children, the DOGS will be the evil creatures at fault. I trust my dogs not to bite without provocation, but even my big dog running around can knock over and badly injure a child. A lot of people bring wildly energetic dogs to the park, and these dogs jump and slam into people and mouth others. Harmless to an adult but god, that could really hurt a youngster. It's just a bad place to take kids.

 

[709Juggalette]

WOW! And the mother thought you were "trying to rape her kid"??? People are so stupid these days.The mother should of been watching her kid in the first place.

I have a 3 yr old daughter and honestly would never ever take her to our dog park,until she is older.

 

[Paige]

I take my sister with me to the dog park. She's only seven but she is also never away from my side and knows not to pester dogs. She is never away from my side.

Bandit was getting harassed by a child at the dog park last time we went. The little boy kept running at him. Bandit howls when someone charges at him. Bandit ran to me and hid behind me not knowing what to do. The kid kept chasing him, then fell and was yanking on his ears and tail. THE MOTHER WAS RIGHT THERE AND NOT DOING ANYTHING! I crouched down to his level and told him he was not aloud to treat my dogs like that. That dogs don't like their ears being pulled anymore then he did and some dogs will bite if you are not being nice to them. Then I showed him how to properly pet a dog.

Five minutes later he was chasing Spanky around doing the same thing. Good thing Spanky likes that kind of play. I still took the dogs and left.

 

[cinnamon]

I take my sister with me to the dog park. She's only seven but she is also never away from my side and knows not to pester dogs. She is never away from my side.

Bandit was getting harassed by a child at the dog park last time we went. The little boy kept running at him. Bandit howls when someone charges at him. Bandit ran to me and hid behind me not knowing what to do. The kid kept chasing him, then fell and was yanking on his ears and tail. THE MOTHER WAS RIGHT THERE AND NOT DOING ANYTHING! I crouched down to his level and told him he was not aloud to treat my dogs like that. That dogs don't like their ears being pulled anymore then he did and some dogs will bite if you are not being nice to them. Then I showed him how to properly pet a dog.

Five minutes later he was chasing Spanky around doing the same thing. Good thing Spanky likes that kind of play. I still took the dogs and left.

Well, you're a nicer person than I am. I would have told him nicely ONCE how to behave around my dog. THe next time I would tell him to go find his mom and leave my damm dog alone.

 

[bubbatd]

Dog owners and parents can both be the problem !!! They must be watched !!! It's a shame when they ruin the pleasures of others .

 

[Paige]

Well, you're a nicer person than I am. I would have told him nicely ONCE how to behave around my dog. THe next time I would tell him to go find his mom and leave my damm dog alone.

If I was to get short with anyone it would have been the parent. It is not the child's fault in that situation. It was the parent's. I wasn't in the mood to lecture otherwise I would have given her an earful.

 

[Hillside]

I wholeheartedly agree with you, though I thought when I opened the thread that it said "TOLLERS do Not belong in dog parks."

 

[Zife]

I wholeheartedly agree with you, though I thought when I opened the thread that it said "TOLLERS do Not belong in dog parks."

XD Nah, tollers are cool dogs. ^^ My aunt had when a few years back. Great dogs. ^^

 

[houndlove]

It seems like any more every time I try to go to the dog park, I have to leave prematurely because people don't understand that the dog park is for dogs and the kid park is for kids and they are not the same place.

I recently drove a half an hour (I live in a city so this is major driving and involved getting on a turnpike!) to get to a dog park that has a better fence than the one I normally go to and it was a really nice park and we were having a really great time, until an entire family comprised of teenaged boys (who are technically not little kids but UGH) plus younger boys (the JAVMA just published research finding that boys aged 6-9 are most likely to be victims of dog bites) plus their CRAZY hyped up boxer who Conrad for some reason instantly wanted to hump (it's like 1 dog in 20 is wearing a "HUMP ME" sign that only Conrad can see). I ended up having to leash Conrad because even without the "HUMP ME" thing, the entire family decided that the dog park is a great place to have a prolonged running, screaming snowball battle. Six strange humans of varying sizes and ages running around at top speed screaming and shrieking and throwing things? Way to completely freak out any dog without an absolutely bomb-proof temperament.

 

[ihartgonzo]

Wow... what a scary situation. D:

It amazes me how stupid and careless people are with their kids, at the dog park. On no sign at the dog park does it say "dogs must be friendly towards rude 4 year-olds". It does, however, say children cannot be unattended, and many have age restrictions.

I have no problem with kids... Fozzie LOVES kids... when they're polite.

The other day, this lady had her 3 or 4 year-old boy at the dog park. He was dunking his head into water buckets, jumping in puddles that dogs had peed/pooped in, and picking up poop in a bag and throwing it at dogs. His Mom finally went up to him and said, "Honey, dogs are dirty and gross! You could get diseases from their water! Go play with the doggies (aka chase them around)." I was more worried about my dog getting a disease from that filthy little boy.

 

[Lilavati]

Although I do not think toddlers should not be running around in the dog park, the problem here wasn't the presence of the kid. It was the unbelievable irresponsibility of the mother who let her small child run around unsupervised. In a dog park or a kid park, that's stupid. Really, really stupid. Slightly more stupid in the dog park, but only slightly. Kids that age can get into trouble in seconds, let alone minutes.

And then screaming at you about raping her child? What, in front of all those witnesses? Another woman? This person has her priorities and realities completely screwed up. Appearently, leaving her child unsupervised in a dog park is fine, but another woman touching her child is rape. Idiot.

I'm just glad the GSD didn't hurt the kid, for the kid's sake, the dogs sake, and the owner's sake.

I'm not really in support of banning children from dog parks, even little ones. But parents have to be responsible. If enough of them can't be . . .well, I guess I won't get any more cute pictures of children playing with their family dogs in the dog park. Of course, speaking of paranoid parents, or paranoia about paranoid parents, I always ask people's permission before taking a picture of their kid, even if the kid and my dog are in the same frame. Sigh.

 

[Storee's Mom]

When we do take Nathan, I watch him closely, and avoid groups of dogs as much as possible. When he does go near other dogs I tell him to leave the dog alone or we'll leave, and say that that doggie doesn't like kids.

One thing that I have done in the past when I've had a parent who has gone to the dog park to entertain their children and the child is chasing after the dogs and so on: Grab the dog by the muzzle and explain to the dumb parent that your dog is not good with kids (even if they are) and that he's been known to snap at them. And you'd hate to see their cute child's face with a scar. Then I explain that I wouldn't expect people to take their kid to the dog park unless they were under control, that chasing strange dogs and grabbing at them isn't the greatest idea - it's not like superdogs or a petting zoo where the animals/dogs are used to kids or not there. Then I let my 'child biter' go and carry on with my walk (the dog in question at the time was pretty good with kids, and did superdogs, however on a walk with a toddler trying to play 'horsey' I wouldn't blame him for snapping!).

Same issue at work, people bring their kids to the boarding kennel to see the doggies.... one parent was pretty lax about watching his kid until I said that there was a (insert big bad dog breed here) in one of the kennels which was why I didn't want the kid going down there. Then the guy decided to get the kid out of there....

Lana

 

[Julie]

I personally would never try to scare a child from a dog. As in "that dog doesnt' like kids... or a certain breed is dangerous. I have taught my kids to respect dogs and not to show ANY attention to a strange dog no matter what the breed or size! Unless I know a dog personally and approve, no matter what an owner says will sway my rules. Do not pet or show attention to a strange dog.
As for a dog park... I would never take dogs to one.... Why would I take my kids.

 

[cinmo7]

I work at a store and believe me alot of people leave their kids unattended. Say you have a child climbing on a rack no parent in sight you go over and get the kid down, all of a sudden you have a angry parent screaming at you. Children today are seldom taught respect. My kids when they were small were always told a stray dog was working and not to be messed with. Since I have always worked my dogs they understood this and never attempted to pet a stray or leashed dog. Also I have seen it the other way we take my 2 g-sons to the park by their apt and we see dogs running around all the time guess where they like to poop yep in the sand where the kids play. Playing catch with my g-sons is totally out of the question.

 

[corgi_love]

I absolutely hate going to the dog park and seeing unattended children. Even in the "small dog" side. A 20 lb dog versus a toddler could end in a fall. My boy Regis is 28 lbs and if he were to jump on any 2 year old it would result badly! What scares me the most is when I see kids on the big dog sides. I mean there are Danes in there running around rough housing, and I have witnessed at least 7 dog fights on that side. And whats worse is that there is usually at least a 10 year old running around doing his thing over there. Parents are so stupid sometimes. I think it's fine if you have a child in the small dog section, as long as they are next to you and you can watch what they are doing the entire time. It's just too easy for a small child to get hurt!

 

[houndlove]

I don't like to go the route of just coming right out and saying "My dog will BITE your kid" because instantly now I have a vicious dangerous horrible aggressive dog who should never again be let out of the house. People seriously think that any dog who does not stand for kids climbing all over them, chasing them, screaming at them and grabbing them is dangerous and vicious and aggressive. And I don't want my dog labeled that, especially if there is an accident and now I'm the "lady who knew her dog was vicious and aggressive but brought him to the dog park anyway!"