Another Dog Park Question

[poodlefan]

I would report it. A dog that is aggressive to other dogs should NEVER be taken to an off-lead park. It is an accident waiting to happen.

The dog didn't behave aggressively. What is there to report?

[chellz]

Okay thats a new one!! Its the owners fault the dog attacks.. just when i thought ive heard it all..

you need to rethink what you just said and read this ' A dog is an animal' They are not human!! A friendly dog (even the most common friendly breed the labrador' can still attack another dog or a human. .

If you are going to read anything i have said(which clearly you havent done previously) ill put this simple.

1. If the owner has an agressive dog(which clearly what the owner stated "keep your dog away or it will rip its head off" it should NEVER be in an off leash area where there are other dogs or people around (like the OP said it is a well known popular dog park'

2. If the dog didnt attack or hasent attacked another person or dog then no you can report it (unless the dog is deemed dangerous it should have a MUZZLE and be on a lead)

3. You cant blame other dog owners for not having their dog under control (its in an off leash area in a popular park, they have a right to walk their dog without worrying that their is an agressive dog on the loose (which i have already pointed out an aggressive dog should be on a leash anyways and if the aggressive dog is on a leash and the owner of the friendly dog approaches then yes it would be the dog of the owner with a friendly dogs fault ) but the main point an agressive dog should not be off the lead like the OP stated.

What!? Who ELSE do you blame? The dog? The law is that OWNERS must have their dogs under effective control in a public area, not dogs must keep themselves under control and accidents happen..

4. Any dog can attack, it could be off or on the lead, a friendly, agressive or timid dog.. they are an animal and anyone who says otherwise is just plain ignorant.

I could go on but considering you probally have already got a reply in your head and are not paying attention ill end it there! I have said all these points in previous posts so feel free to go back over them..

So by your reasoning then ALL dogs better be on leash then because they all have the potential to be aggressive - not just the ones where the owner actually warns you that might. Of course any dog has the potential to attack another - if it is not under control of the owner.

Unless someone has seen this dog behead another dog, emotional conjecture about what 'could' happen in various situations have no factual basis. We can assume the owner wanted other dogs to stay away, but his choice of words "it will rip your dog's head off" seem just a tad exagerated to me. Said for effect of keeping people away, rather than a literal description of the dog's social behaviour.

In this case the dog did not aggress, the owner did.

A. All dog parks are risky - with rude, undersocialised, under exercised, and boisterous dogs who just want to say Hi

B. A lot of dog owners who frequent dog parks do not have effective control of their dogs

C. A lot of people who frequent dog parks do not consider the needs of others

If you don't like A, B and C stay in your own yard with your dog. There you can make all the rules that you want. If you go choose to a public dog park, you take your chances with the public and their dogs.

Agree 100%

All of this just reinforces my veiw that off lead dog parks are to be avoided, regardless of how friendly your dog is, or how well controlled it is.

Yep.. Accident waiting to happen IMO.

hahahha your response just clearly shows you are not reading any of my posts

So what you mean is by having a dog under control it must

a)be on a leash, i agree an agressive dog should be on a leash

b) Have a 100% recall.. umm what dog has a 100% recall.. any dog(animal) has the potential to go against the owners commands, epecially if it has the potential to harm another animal/person

I never SAID ALL DOGS SHOULD ALL BE ON A LEAD!! Stop putting down LIES or in your case not reading my post properly... i said ALL AGRESSIVE dogs should be on a lead especailly in an off leash area with other dogs around

[megan_]

so chellz, what happens when an off leash dogs approaches the on lead dog and jumps on its head, a fight ensues? Is the off leash owner responsible? Or is that nasty aggressive dog?

I have a dog that is great with other dogs unless they get right in her face. She will snap at them and they normally leave. But you do get a few dogs (certain breeds which I will not name) that just keep on persisting. "Oh, they just want to play" says the owner (I am sure that they have no recall anyway). Because my girl is small they don't worry about her attacking, but if their large breed dog retaliates she would be dead in minutes.

So....when I see one of these dogs I say "she hates XXX and attacks them" just so that they leave me alone. ANy polite requests that they give them are ignored, so I have to resort to making her out to be aggressive just to take her for a walk.

Dogs can have 100% recall. It takes training and conditioning. I can call my dogs off a prey item, and they have high prey drives. A friend has a whippet and it does the same. Most people don't train a recall though and just expect their dogs to come.

I am far less concerned about people with aggressive dogs who know their dogs boundaries and have a great recall than I am with people with overly friendly, out of control, humping, no recall dogs. They are the dogs you need to worry about.....

[natamalie]

Okay thats a new one!! Its the owners fault the dog attacks.. just when i thought ive heard it all..

you need to rethink what you just said and read this ' A dog is an animal' They are not human!! A friendly dog (even the most common friendly breed the labrador' can still attack another dog or a human. .

If you are going to read anything i have said(which clearly you havent done previously) ill put this simple.

1. If the owner has an agressive dog(which clearly what the owner stated "keep your dog away or it will rip its head off" it should NEVER be in an off leash area where there are other dogs or people around (like the OP said it is a well known popular dog park'

2. If the dog didnt attack or hasent attacked another person or dog then no you can report it (unless the dog is deemed dangerous it should have a MUZZLE and be on a lead)

3. You cant blame other dog owners for not having their dog under control (its in an off leash area in a popular park, they have a right to walk their dog without worrying that their is an agressive dog on the loose (which i have already pointed out an aggressive dog should be on a leash anyways and if the aggressive dog is on a leash and the owner of the friendly dog approaches then yes it would be the dog of the owner with a friendly dogs fault ) but the main point an agressive dog should not be off the lead like the OP stated.

What!? Who ELSE do you blame? The dog? The law is that OWNERS must have their dogs under effective control in a public area, not dogs must keep themselves under control and accidents happen..

4. Any dog can attack, it could be off or on the lead, a friendly, agressive or timid dog.. they are an animal and anyone who says otherwise is just plain ignorant.

I could go on but considering you probally have already got a reply in your head and are not paying attention ill end it there! I have said all these points in previous posts so feel free to go back over them..

So by your reasoning then ALL dogs better be on leash then because they all have the potential to be aggressive - not just the ones where the owner actually warns you that might. Of course any dog has the potential to attack another - if it is not under control of the owner.

Unless someone has seen this dog behead another dog, emotional conjecture about what 'could' happen in various situations have no factual basis. We can assume the owner wanted other dogs to stay away, but his choice of words "it will rip your dog's head off" seem just a tad exagerated to me. Said for effect of keeping people away, rather than a literal description of the dog's social behaviour.

In this case the dog did not aggress, the owner did.

A. All dog parks are risky - with rude, undersocialised, under exercised, and boisterous dogs who just want to say Hi

B. A lot of dog owners who frequent dog parks do not have effective control of their dogs

C. A lot of people who frequent dog parks do not consider the needs of others

If you don't like A, B and C stay in your own yard with your dog. There you can make all the rules that you want. If you go choose to a public dog park, you take your chances with the public and their dogs.

Agree 100%

All of this just reinforces my veiw that off lead dog parks are to be avoided, regardless of how friendly your dog is, or how well controlled it is.

Yep.. Accident waiting to happen IMO.

hahahha your response just clearly shows you are not reading any of my posts

So what you mean is by having a dog under control it must

a)be on a leash, i agree an agressive dog should be on a leash

b) Have a 100% recall.. umm what dog has a 100% recall.. any dog(animal) has the potential to go against the owners commands, epecially if it has the potential to harm another animal/person

I never SAID ALL DOGS SHOULD ALL BE ON A LEAD!! Stop putting down LIES or in your case not reading my post properly... i said ALL AGRESSIVE dogs should be on a lead especailly in an off leash area with other dogs around

SecretKei never said that you said 'all dogs should be on a lead', she is just suggesting that it would be the safest arrangement given your comment about all dogs having the potential to be aggressive. You are completely missing the point.

[Crisovar]

I would report it. A dog that is aggressive to other dogs should NEVER be taken to an off-lead park. It is an accident waiting to happen.

The dog did nothing that is reportable, no incident involving DOGS happened.

[aussielover]

People with reactive/aggressive dogs are always going to stick up for the rights of others with reactive/aggressive dogs and people with bouncy friendly dogs will do the same for others with bouncy over dogs.

Thankyou to all those who did respond to my original question, I do realise that there was nothing to report, and perhaps in some twisted way, his rudeness was actually well-meaning.

I have warned our doggy friends about this person as some of them do have very bouncy playful dogs who may potentially get hurt (if the dog really is aggressive).

My dog is being desexed today so we won't be visiting dog parks for a while now.

Hopefully we do not encouter this guy again.

[Red Fox]

hahahha your response just clearly shows you are not reading any of my posts

So what you mean is by having a dog under control it must

a)be on a leash, i agree an agressive dog should be on a leash

b) Have a 100% recall.. umm what dog has a 100% recall.. any dog(animal) has the potential to go against the owners commands, epecially if it has the potential to harm another animal/person

I never SAID ALL DOGS SHOULD ALL BE ON A LEAD!! Stop putting down LIES or in your case not reading my post properly... i said ALL AGRESSIVE dogs should be on a lead especailly in an off leash area with other dogs around

No, what I mean is that the dog should have a reliable recall and be able to focus on owner commands under the distraction of strange dogs and people (or anything else you are likely to encounter in the off leash area). If the owner does not have that control off leash then yes, the dog should be wearing one. However a leash will do nothing to stop a DA dog from lashing out if another dog is allowed to get in its face.

[Crisovar]

I don't own a reactive/aggressive dog, I simply understand the frustration of being confronted by friendly bouncy dogs every time we go out. I don't like strange dogs of any shape or size running up to my dogs, and I will chase them away or tell the owners to call them off.

[poodlefan]

People with reactive/aggressive dogs are always going to stick up for the rights of others with reactive/aggressive dogs and people with bouncy friendly dogs will do the same for others with bouncy over dogs.

The sooner folk with "bouncy friendly" dogs realise that their dogs behaviour can be interpreted as "rude" the easier it will be for everyone else.

I own a dog who is friendly to a fault. I keep him away from other dogs unless invited for both his safety and theirs. The fact that many dogs don't appreciate his behaviour doesn't make them "aggressive".

Some folk go to off lead parks to run their dogs off lead - NOT to have their dogs socialise with strange dogs. If all park users stuck to the guidelines for use of these places, the needs of most dog owners could be met.

As things currently stand the ignorant and the irresponsible owners of all kinds of dogs ruin it for some, make it dangerous for others and see to it that a lot of people whose dog registrations and rates help fund such parks can't use them.

How fair is that? :

[Red Fox]

SecretKei never said that you said 'all dogs should be on a lead', she is just suggesting that it would be the safest arrangement given your comment about all dogs having the potential to be aggressive. You are completely missing the point.

Exactly

[DerRottweiler]

Off-leash parks- Your dog runs the risk of being attacked.

If you don't like the idea of that, do not take your dog to off-leash parks. Every few days there is an off-leash park whinge thread. Are the owners of aggressive dogs stupid for taking their dogs there, or are the owners of friendly dogs stupid for taking an unecessary risk?

Edited September 30, 2010 by DerRottweiler

[aussielover]

People with reactive/aggressive dogs are always going to stick up for the rights of others with reactive/aggressive dogs and people with bouncy friendly dogs will do the same for others with bouncy over dogs.

The sooner folk with "bouncy friendly" dogs realise that their dogs behaviour can be interpreted as "rude" the easier it will be for everyone else.

I own a dog who is friendly to a fault. I keep him away from other dogs unless invited for both his safety and theirs. The fact that many dogs don't appreciate his behaviour doesn't make them "aggressive".

Some folk go to off lead parks to run their dogs off lead - NOT to have their dogs socialise with strange dogs. If all park users stuck to the guidelines for use of these places, the needs of most dog owners could be met.

As things currently stand the ignorant and the irresponsible owners of all kinds of dogs ruin it for some, make it dangerous for others and see to it that a lot of people whose dog registrations and rates help fund such parks can't use them.

How fair is that? :

My dog is certianly bouncy and friendly with dogs that she knows.

With strange dogs, she is reserved and submissive, she is better at picking up whether a dog is potentially friendly than i am (well duh, she's a dog and i'm not just realised how stupid that sounded ) and will not approach some dogs at all, even if the owner says they are friendly.

I don't let her approach strange dogs without checking with the owner first.

Do reactive dogs still react if they are approached by another dog in a sensible fashion and/or the approaching dog immediately submits to them (like rolls over on back or slinking away)?

Or is it only in your face type dogs that they react to?

Just curious :D

It is not fair Poodlefan

People have different interpretations of "under effective control" sadly, with many people thinking that because they have a leash in their hand, the dog is under control.

[aussielover]

Off-leash parks- Your dog runs the risk of being attacked.

If you don't like the idea of that, do not take your dog to off-leash parks. Every few days there is an off-leash park whinge thread. Are the owners of aggressive dogs stupid for taking their dogs there, or are the owners of friendly dogs stupid for taking an unecessary risk?

A lot of people don't have the luxury of a large garden to exercise their dog in and dog parks are the only place where they can effectively exercise their dog

[megan_]

Do reactive dogs still react if they are approached by another dog in a sensible fashion and/or the approaching dog immediately submits to them (like rolls over on back or slinking away)?

Or is it only in your face type dogs that they react to?

Just curious

It depends on the dog. My girl is great with 99% of dogs, just not the ones that actually jump on her. It is sad that she gets labelled "aggressive" because of this, but the dog with no manners is just "friendly".

As PF said, if everyone obeyed the rules and thought "how is my dog impacting someone else's time" then off leash areas would be MUCH safer and enjoyable for everyone.

ETA: I go to the off leash park at 6.30am (even on weekends) so that she can get some freedom without encountering idiots. She still gets to meet dogs, but I think the idiots are still in bed at 6.30am. Unfortuantely, we can't go for our nightly walk until 8.30pm due to one man walking his overly friendly staffy earlier.

Edited September 30, 2010 by megan_

[poodlefan]

Do reactive dogs still react if they are approached by another dog in a sensible fashion and/or the approaching dog immediately submits to them (like rolls over on back or slinking away)?

Or is it only in your face type dogs that they react to?

Just curious

It is not fair Poodlefan

People have different interpretations of "under effective control" sadly, with many people thinking that because they have a leash in their hand, the dog is under control.

There is a certain kind of dog that Susanne Clothier describes as "obnoxiously submissive". A friend of mine has one of these.. rushes into another dog's space grovelling and pawing.. but still space invades.

Megan nailed it - it really depends on both dogs. My reactive boy can handle calm approaches and displays all the body language to warn the other dog to keep some distance. If ignored he roars and snaps. Never bitten a dog yet and I intend to keep it that way.

[aussielover]

Do reactive dogs still react if they are approached by another dog in a sensible fashion and/or the approaching dog immediately submits to them (like rolls over on back or slinking away)?

Or is it only in your face type dogs that they react to?

Just curious

It depends on the dog. My girl is great with 99% of dogs, just not the ones that actually jump on her. It is sad that she gets labelled "aggressive" because of this, but the dog with no manners is just "friendly".

As PF said, if everyone obeyed the rules and thought "how is my dog impacting someone else's time" then off leash areas would be MUCH safer and enjoyable for everyone.

ETA: I go to the off leash park at 6.30am (even on weekends) so that she can get some freedom without encountering idiots. She still gets to meet dogs, but I think the idiots are still in bed at 6.30am. Unfortuantely, we can't go for our nightly walk until 8.30pm due to one man walking his overly friendly staffy earlier.

I wouldn't think your dog was reactive or aggressive. In fact i'd say she is normal

I don't think many dogs like to be jumped on by strange dogs!

[poodlefan]

I don't think many dogs like to be jumped on by strange dogs!

Well they are obviously aggressive and if other dogs want to play like that then they should be allowed to play with any dog they want.

* as told to me by someone on a dog beach*

Honestly what kind of moron thinks a 6kg poodle is going to enjoy being rumbled by a 35kg Labrador.

Edited September 30, 2010 by poodlefan

[Red Fox]

Off-leash parks- Your dog runs the risk of being attacked.

If you don't like the idea of that, do not take your dog to off-leash parks. Every few days there is an off-leash park whinge thread. Are the owners of aggressive dogs stupid for taking their dogs there, or are the owners of friendly dogs stupid for taking an unecessary risk?

A lot of people don't have the luxury of a large garden to exercise their dog in and dog parks are the only place where they can effectively exercise their dog

I don't agree with that. Dogs don't need dog parks, there are plenty of other ways to exercise your dog such as walking/jogging/biking with them (on leash and controlled) or running them on a long line.

[megan_]

I get what you mean SK, but I don't hink there is any substitution for an off leash run. Dogs use different muscles when running full pelt. I don't have a garden at all. As I said, I have reduced risks by only going to the park at the crack of dawn, and I haven't had a problem yet (touch wood).

In my council, dogs are only allowed on a long line in an off leash park.

Edited September 30, 2010 by megan_

[Aidan]

ETA: I go to the off leash park at 6.30am (even on weekends) so that she can get some freedom without encountering idiots. She still gets to meet dogs, but I think the idiots are still in bed at 6.30am

I drove out of town to take my dogs hiking on a frosty Sunday morning at 5:30am recently. We were harassed by two separate dogs, one of which appeared to be ownerless (they were back at the car park drinking tea from a thermos). Owners who let their dog harass other dogs are a fairly broad demographic apparently.