Yonjuro Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) ... so, I have just come back from an unpleasant time at the off lead dog park. We have a wonderful fenced in dog park where I go a lot, it has always been excellent and a rare place for dogs like huskies and beagles to run around in the safety of a fenced in park. so, a chap comes in with a small staffy and it was all good for a while. There were around 12 dogs ranging in size, with my Ronin, a lovely Rotti and a doberman being the biggies. For some strange reason the staffy chap brings out a bag of schmakos and decides to give some dogs a treat! So a bunch crowd around so he scatters a bunch at his feet! Hmm well a bunch of off lead dogs scrambling for a treat and it went ballistic. The staffy and a larger mix just went off, chaos ensued and I got my dog the hell out of there. I was glad my boy was pretty okay and didn't react but, the two dogs involved had to be separated quickly, I didn't see any blood but it was pretty savage. The non staffy guy got his dog under control quickly and it stayed in sit with him. Another guy came in with a lab and the staffy started another fight in quite a savage way. Finally he put the dog on lead and left. I am not pointing this to the breed at all as this could happened with any dog and my boy can be a boof head husky and play pretty rough with the bigger dogs but he never bites. It was just the most dumb thing I have ever seen to scatter treats on the ground I decided enough was enough and left for the evening. Edit - auto correct is driving me nuts :) Edited July 22, 2014 by Yonjuro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottsmum Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Complete half-wit. Glad your boy is OK. Hope the other's aren't too badly shaken up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranga Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Gosh, I wouldn't even scatter schmackos on the ground with my own dogs! Glad your dog is alright :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Don't blame the dogs! Blame the idiot owner who decided treats were a good idea amongst a big group of dogs of unknown behaviour around food. Resource guarding is not a restricted to any breed or breeds. Best dust up I've seen over food was between a big bunch of Golden Retrievers over a picnic table laden with food. Never seen a more shocked bunch of owners either. Thank God for good bite inhibition - it was sound and fury only Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simply Grand Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Oh dear. Apparently someone brought not one but her TWO in season bitches to our local dog park not long ago. The guy telling me about it said all the other dogs were being really weird and kept scuffling and it was only as the woman left that she said "oh my girls are in season, maybe that had something to do with it..." I commented she was lucky she didn't get anyone's dog killed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaCC Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 What a moron! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yonjuro Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) Don't blame the dogs! Blame the idiot owner who decided treats were a good idea amongst a big group of dogs of unknown behaviour around food. Resource guarding is not a restricted to any breed or breeds. Best dust up I've seen over food was between a big bunch of Golden Retrievers over a picnic table laden with food. Never seen a more shocked bunch of owners either. Thank God for good bite inhibition - it was sound and fury only This was the sentiment I was trying to get across. Nothing to do with the staffy, just a moronic action by the owner that could have fatal consequences. Edited July 22, 2014 by Yonjuro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Hopefully the man learned a good lesson ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yonjuro Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Oh, my boy was fine thanks to those who commented, he just doesn't seem to care when other dogs snap at him or around him. He is very agile and can spring out of reach in a split second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simply Grand Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) Good boy Ronin :) my most valued move at the dog park now after 5 years of regular attendance - my dogs don't get in the middle of groups and ANY tiny sound of conflict between ANY dogs and I immediately recall them and get the hell out (well, away from the crowd). However much I often want to assist, I know keeping my dogs away is the best thing I can do. Edited July 22, 2014 by Simply Grand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westiemum Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Yes there was a 'gathering' at the dog park on Saturday when I was there - and we gave them all a wide berth but thoroughly enjoyed our walk around the park. Met a beautifully mannered ridgeback who Sarah fell in love with. She's such a tart my girl!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Things Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) I can understand maybe bringing some treats quietly in your pocket so you can reward your own dog if it does something good, but throwing them on the ground around all the other dogs, what was he expecting to happen?? Crazy .. Glad Ronin was safe though. I would like to try a dog park one day but I'm waiting for the harness, as finding his collar under all the fur if he got into a situation like that is far too tricky :) Edited July 22, 2014 by Things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yonjuro Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Good boy Ronin :) my most valued move at the dog park now after 5 years of regular attendance - my dogs don't get in the middle of groups and ANY tiny sound of conflict between ANY dogs and I immediately recall them and get the hell out (well, away from the crowd). However much I often want to assist, I know keeping my dogs away is the best thing I can do. Thanks SG, I agree the best thing is to take your own dog away for the immediate vicinity. Our job is protect ours first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snippy Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Wow is all I can say. Just wow. So, so lucky that there wasn't more of an explosion. That person obviously doesn't know anything about canine behaviour or packs do they. I mean not only could other dogs have been injured but there was the great possibility of humans getting hurt trying to separate dogs. Just an unpleasant incident all-round. This really worries me for a number of reasons. Firstly, because of what happened. I am just glad that your boy was able to be removed from the situation unscathed. I hope none of the other dogs were injured and by that I include mental injury. I had a Border Collie who was mentally damaged by an aggressive dog. He never really got over it. Secondly, because of an unpleasant incident that occurred at my old "local" dog park a few years ago. A man had been rocking up in the park when it was busy and appeared to be a dog lover. He would interact with the dogs as though he was a doggie person and would hand out dog treats. I saw him there one day actually and I had a "feeling." He didn't seem to be attached to any dog in particular...I mentioned it to a friend and she told me she had seen him there too. I know of a couple of people who took their dogs there and got sick, THANKFULLY they knew their dogs very well and knew they were off and they were taken to the vet and escaped any real damage (mind you, being given an emetic is not much fun). I believe that there was at least one dog that was not so lucky. It later turned out that he had been lacing dog treats with ground up snailbait and rat granules. Actually my friend had taken a video of her dogs zooming around the park and managed to get the "weird guy" on video and that was the precursor to him being apprehended. I am just glad that this person WAS apprehended and brought to justice He is lucky I did not catch him :mad I really do not know how some people can live with themselves. That escalated my previous semi-mistrust to complete mistrust of my pets being fed treats from strangers (this includes my cats at shows). I am only sharing that as a warning to people, I do not want to start some sort of hysteria If you don't know the person handing out the treats, or you haven't seen them open the packet right there in front of you, then please don't accept them. I do not suggest for one minute the person Yonjuro mentioned was scattering the treats for any reason other than thinking he was being friendly and 99% of the time people who share treats are animal lovers. I know that I have ventured off topic somewhat, but I really felt that it needed to be shared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Things Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Yeah I've heard of people doing that Snippy, it's definitely not something to be taken lightly. Especially if he didn't own a dog himself, doesn't make sense for him to have treats in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simply Grand Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Good boy Ronin :) my most valued move at the dog park now after 5 years of regular attendance - my dogs don't get in the middle of groups and ANY tiny sound of conflict between ANY dogs and I immediately recall them and get the hell out (well, away from the crowd). However much I often want to assist, I know keeping my dogs away is the best thing I can do. Thanks SG, I agree the best thing is to take your own dog away for the immediate vicinity. Our job is protect ours first. Yep. And really, a lot of situations escalate really fast because as soon as there's a bit of growling all the over-aroused dogs and screaming humans rush into the fray and escalate things. If everyone learned to call all the dogs away right at the start, many problems could be avoided I actually remember a fight not that long ago when I had 4 dogs at the park (my 3 plus foster pup) and all the dogs bar mine were nearish the entrance as a new dog entered - there was a slow motion period where I could see the conflict brewing but none of the dogs had made a sound yet, it was still all sniffing. I used that slow motion second to call my four straight to me and scoop up (15kg) foster puppy. By the time I'd done that the fight was on. I would have loved to say to the other owners "trouble's brewing, get your dogs" but there wasn't time for both Definitely preferable than trying to pull what would have been an additional, pack driven, group of four out of the fight though. I think it's really important (and i know other DOLers talk about it too) people understand those kind of dynamics between their own dogs and other people's Good discussion thread Yonjuro :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westiemum Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Gee thanks for the warning Things and Snippy - I haven't ever seen anyone giving out dog treats at any dog park but you can't be too careful and I'll be wary if it ever happens. My Mac is a foodaholic, would take anything food-like from anyone and is almost 15 years - something like happened to you Snippy would probably have killed him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Things Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) Gee thanks for the warning Things and Snippy - I haven't ever seen anyone giving out dog treats at any dog park but you can't be too careful and I'll be wary if it ever happens. My Mac is a foodaholic, would take anything food-like from anyone and is almost 15 years - something like happened to you Snippy would probably have killed him. Yeah it's a sad world we live in sometimes. There has been a few cases of people throwing baits and such over peoples fences and ultimately killing their pets. Out in the dog park is a sure fire way to get yourself caught out, but I guess if these people are stupid enough to do such a thing in the first place, they're not the sharpest tools in the shed that's for sure. Edited July 22, 2014 by Things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westiemum Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Yep it sure is Things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yonjuro Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Yeah that is sick Snippy Even in a normal scenario I don't think it is cool at all to offer a treat to a dog that is not your own, without asking the owner first. I actually don't take treats to this particular park as I don't really use it as a training environment. I believe that there are many parks in the US that have a no treat rule - possibly due to similar situations that I experienced this arvo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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