First time at the offleash dog park yesterday....

[Michelle]

WEll,,,
Heidi and Princess had their first experience at the offleash dog park yesterday..

I have mixed feelings about it.. First off they did enjoy it when they were not smothered by the other huge dogs...

I am a bit concerned about this place because it seems to be crawling with nothing but huge dogs!!!!!

They all were friendly to Heidi and Princess, no growling or nasty stuff. But the darn dogs just would not leave the girls alone and wanted to play with them so badly but these dogs were HUGE!!!!, and almost trampled Heidi and Princess. I had to keep picking them up so they would not get stepped on and crushed by these big dogs...

It seems, from talking to someone else there, that MOST of the dogs that go there are big breeds, not really any little dogs. We met a guy there with a beagle. and he said that his Beagle is usually the smallest dog there.. :confused:

This was the very first time he had seen dogs smaller than his beagle at the park and he has been going there for 3 years...

While we were there, there was a huge Rott, some pits, some Dobermans,
Shepards, Weimerimers, just plain ole BIG dogs,,, There was this one Boxer, and uncut male that would just NOT leave Heidi and Princess alone, he kept running after them, wanting to sniff them and just about trampled them a couple of times, his owner I don't know who he was but he just sat on his butt and called the dog to come back, but the dog would not listen to him.

It was quite irritating because I made the effort to go to the very back of the park away from all the big dogs so Heidi and Princess could be alone in the back, but the darn Boxer kept coming all the way back by us..

The dog park is next to one of our fire stations and I noticed that a lot of the huge dogs were owned by firemen that were there playing. The big Rottie called Roxy must have been over 100lbs, she was a nice dog, but was too forceful with Heidi and Princess, kept sniffing them with her snout and she just about tossed them over each time she sniffed them..

H and P were not too happy about this, and I ended up leaving after about 30 minutes..

They have a place for puppy training that is blocked off from the rest of the park, but it is not as big and is about the size of my backyard. The one fireman, Roxie's owner said that it might be safer for H and P in there, but I was like, I have the right to be in the big park too, if the dog owners would be more careful in watching their dogs. A few times, the bigger dogs would jump up onto me and Rachel as we were holding Heidi and Princess and I had to push the dogs down and the owners who ever there were did not seem to care or say anything to their dogs or to even come over and get them away from us..

So, my experience was not that great and I am hesitating on going back very much :sosad: :sosad:

[areese]

Sorry it wasn't a good experience :(
It's unfortunate people can't be more attentive to what their dogs are doing. If one of those big dogs had sniffed Laika like that, they'd have had a weenerdog hanging offa their snout! She won't put up with that sorta thing and I don't blame her, really.
Maybe you'll be able to find a day or time when there's not too many people there...

[Mama S.]

That is sooo crappy when people won't pay attention to what their dogs are doing. I can understand that they want the freedom to romp and play but if you see that your dog is intimidating a smaller dog - get off your a$$ and do something..
SAndi

[Jen]

Too bad there's not a big small dog section. A lot of the dog parks here have them--its safer for the little guys! Maybe you could petition the parks department...since clearly small dog owners are put off by the number of huge dogs there!

[oceangirls]

I'm sorry it wasn't good! Agree, they need a small dog section! Maybe you and other owners of small dogs can petition them to mark off half of it for smaller dogs. Do you have friends with small dogs or a dachshund group who would be interested?


If one of those big dogs had sniffed Laika like that, they'd have had a weenerdog hanging offa their snout!

heehee. Laika's a tough little thing, isn't she!:cheer2:

[Tanya]

We went to a dog park last week, and you are right...nothing but big dogs. Piper had to be on leash the entire time because he will get in a fight with them. We played ball with Peaches a little, but the other dogs wanted her ball which means she almost got in a fight too. We walked Piper around on the leash because he needs the socialization, but the big dogs kept running up to him and he almost got into it with a doberman and boxer. Luckily they were better than he is and didn't attack him.

I don't know of any small dog parks around here. That is why we do our warm weather meet-ups in member's backyards. If we had them at a dog park they would be smothered by big dogs.

Last summer I took Peaches to a dog park and she actually did get stepped on by a golden retriever. She freaked out, so we left and didn't go back the rest of the summer. :sosad:

[alfina]

I attended seminar by Ali Brown last weekend. It was based on her book Scaredy Dog. One of the dogs that we discussed and practiced Ali's methods on was a huge doberman. I mean he was like almost as tall as me. He was jumped on by 2 larger dogs at a dog park whle off leash. The owner said he used to b very dog friendly. Bt when this incident happened, he was screaming that's how terrified he was. He cried the whole way home in the car. Afterwards he has not being the same. He became very reactive to anything like cars, people, dogs. Just a terrified dog.

[lotsadox]

Sorry you didn't have a better experience. :sosad: The dog park here has a small dog section which is much better for dachsies. The last time we went we went in the big dog section because we had Scooter with us. It was okay. Miller and Cash did fine, but there was one big dog that jumped Scooter and his owner couldn't control him. Poor Scoots! Scared him to death.:shocked:

[Jacqueline]

I'm really sorry that you didn't have a better experience at the park. We have two areas here, one for smaller dogs, and one for larger. Of course, that doesn't keep the jerks with the bigger dogs from turning them loose in the small dog section, which is exactly what one guy with a pit bull did. Then he got on his cell phone and turned his back on his dog, and let him dig under the fence to the other side.

No, I already had Taffy in the car, but waited and watched to see what he was going to do. Maybe you could put up flyers at the pet stores in your area and see if you couldn't get people interested in getting the parks people to make a small pet area as well as a large pet section. If enough people started asking for it, maybe they would pay attention. Small dog owner vote too. ..... hint, hint.

[catstamm]

I'm old fashioned or over protective..... My girls are never off lead or around dogs off lead that they don't know....not a risk I am willing to take...it only takes a second for things to go bad. They really should have an area for small dogs only :shocked: I know a lot of people that are all for the dog park thing, feel thier dogs enjoy it, and it's great socialization :scratch: I don't think my girls are missing anything....just my :twocents:....I get so stressed in off lead situations that I know my girls sense my uneasilness......
Are you going to try it again?

[jenfer]

The offleash park we go have a small dog area... which is nice because first off Gigi doesn't care for other dogs (she is a people-dog) and she does not enjoy big dogs that much. So I feel safer if she is in the small dog area. And since she doesn't care about play that much we usually end up walking outside of the small dog area and walk towards to the beach and that's when I have to watch her like a hawk. But we still enjoy our park. I am :sorry: it is not a better experience. Offleash park may not work for all dogs.

[Kerie]

Sorry about your experience! I know you said that you feel you have a right to be there but you would not be the only person who feels that some dog parks aren't safe. In NYC there are some parks for the smaller breeds only. One of the small breed parks we went to is next to a regular park. So, with a small dog I was able to go back and forth and be in whichever park we wanted. So far we have seen very respoinsible owners at the dog parks we go to. However, at the beach we go to, there is one guy who has a huge dog and both the man and the dog have way too much attitude. This guy will never learn and I'm not going to let Oscar be the dog that teaches him a lesson, so I keep Oscar away when he is around. And Oscar has no fear, so I'm not just babying him.

Find out when your park is less crowded and try it once more at a different time!



WEll,,,
Heidi and Princess had their first experience at the offleash dog park yesterday..

I have mixed feelings about it.. First off they did enjoy it when they were not smothered by the other huge dogs...

I am a bit concerned about this place because it seems to be crawling with nothing but huge dogs!!!!!

They all were friendly to Heidi and Princess, no growling or nasty stuff. But the darn dogs just would not leave the girls alone and wanted to play with them so badly but these dogs were HUGE!!!!, and almost trampled Heidi and Princess. I had to keep picking them up so they would not get stepped on and crushed by these big dogs...

It seems, from talking to someone else there, that MOST of the dogs that go there are big breeds, not really any little dogs. We met a guy there with a beagle. and he said that his Beagle is usually the smallest dog there.. :confused:

This was the very first time he had seen dogs smaller than his beagle at the park and he has been going there for 3 years...

While we were there, there was a huge Rott, some pits, some Dobermans,
Shepards, Weimerimers, just plain ole BIG dogs,,, There was this one Boxer, and uncut male that would just NOT leave Heidi and Princess alone, he kept running after them, wanting to sniff them and just about trampled them a couple of times, his owner I don't know who he was but he just sat on his butt and called the dog to come back, but the dog would not listen to him.

It was quite irritating because I made the effort to go to the very back of the park away from all the big dogs so Heidi and Princess could be alone in the back, but the darn Boxer kept coming all the way back by us..

The dog park is next to one of our fire stations and I noticed that a lot of the huge dogs were owned by firemen that were there playing. The big Rottie called Roxy must have been over 100lbs, she was a nice dog, but was too forceful with Heidi and Princess, kept sniffing them with her snout and she just about tossed them over each time she sniffed them..

H and P were not too happy about this, and I ended up leaving after about 30 minutes..

They have a place for puppy training that is blocked off from the rest of the park, but it is not as big and is about the size of my backyard. The one fireman, Roxie's owner said that it might be safer for H and P in there, but I was like, I have the right to be in the big park too, if the dog owners would be more careful in watching their dogs. A few times, the bigger dogs would jump up onto me and Rachel as we were holding Heidi and Princess and I had to push the dogs down and the owners who ever there were did not seem to care or say anything to their dogs or to even come over and get them away from us..

So, my experience was not that great and I am hesitating on going back very much :sosad: :sosad:

[Michelle]

WEll, We went back to the dog park on Saturday morning at 9am. just to see how it was, there were a few big dogs there not too many, there was a huge huge german shepard there and he was with his owner playing ball, Heidi went up to him to smell him and say hello, but the dog aggressively started chasing Heidi and I let out a loud scream and the man laughed at me and mumbled something about "will not hurt it", but he did nothing to stop his dog from chasing Heidi. I was pissed off, and we quickly walked away to the other end of the park. That guy then left after a few minutes,

then within 15 minutes we had the entire park to ourselves!!!!!

Heidi and PRincess ran around chasing each other so fast and running in circles after each other, I have never seen them run so fast in my life!! Not even in our own back yard.. They had a great time, we ended up staying for an hour, then left at 10 am.

So, I think I will keep going back, but just watching the situation, When we had the park to ourselves, it was great!!!!