Dog Park Horror Stories

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We've heard a lot of horror stories here about many DK members having frightening experiences at dog parks, mostly about doodles being attacked by out-of-control dogs with irresponsible rude owners, occasionally even a story about someone's child being hurt by a strange dog. I know all of us have been upset and outraged by these incidents.

Recently, however, I read two stories that go far beyond this, to the point of tragedy. First, there was a story about a dog who was actually stabbed and very severely injured by another dog's deranged owner in California:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&a...

 

The second story is even worse than the stabbing story; in Maryland, a husky named Bear-Bear was shot and killed by another dog's owner, an off-duty officer, with almost no provocation. This is a very very disturbing story, and it bothered me for days after I read it. So, warning: read it at your own risk.

 

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/features/mutts/blog/2010/08/cop_kil...

 

The Bear-Bear story has gotten a lot of attention in the media and on-line. Here is the website Justice for Bear-Bear , for those who want more information.

 

After reading these stories, along with Camilla's recent post about Darwin being attacked at the dog park and all the other incidents we've seen over the past few months, I am feeling kind of paranoid about taking Jack to any kind of dog park, even though he doesn't engage at all with other dogs and we go off on our own. Apparently, we now have to worry about owners with weapons, ready to attack other people's dogs, in addition to the other dogs themselves.

It's getting too scary out there, folks.

[Leigh & Allie]

I totally agree. I have not taken Allie to a dog park because of what I have read here and because a vet told a friend of mine that dog parks put his children through college. That has to tell you something. Maybe the vets are opening the dog parks........hummmmm

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jack's specialist is also very opposed to dog parks for all kinds of reasons, including your dog being exposed to diseases from other dogs and from wild animals, like giardia, leptospirosis, etc.
I know it's possible to be too paranoid, but more and more, it just doesn't seem worth it to take all these risks.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I stopped taking my dogs to dog parks long ago since I realized people bring sick dogs. Also, the dogs get overstimulated sometimes. My dogs rarely really played with the dogs at the parks anyway and they do much better playing with each other. The stories above are hard to comprehend.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

When we go to dog parks to for doodle romps, I can't remember any problems that involve the doodles.
We go to dog parks when we camp so that the dogs can get some off leash time, and we have encountered problem dogs once in a while but not with our guys.
Now that we have Clancy, we have had a few more problems - not instigated by Clancy but to him. Clancy, our rescue, must have had to stand up for himself in his previous life - maybe he was a street dog for a while. Some alpha dogs are drawn to him and won't leave him alone. He will drop and let them hump him and then when he gets up he will growl and fight with them. If other dogs at the park get into it, he runs over to check it out - and maybe join in. I am always cautious when we enter a park and check out the other dogs.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Those stories are horrendous.

This is a really hard thing for me, to be honest. I loved taking Darwin to dog parks, and for the most part our experiences were good ones. I think it really helped him become well socialized and used to dogs of all sizes, genders, and play-types. He is not nervous with any kind of dog we have encountered thus far. He knows to play gentle with little dogs, but can get rough-and-tumble with the hyper big ones. I really love that he's so well rounded, and I DO attribute part of that to being around so many different dogs at dog parks.

However, at least every 3rd time we go to a dog park, someone's dog gets in a fight. Until recently it hasn't involved Darwin, but just seeing the carelessness of the owners make me mad. Nobody wants to have their dog playing around other fighting dogs. This last incident scared me, bad. I realized that it might not be worth the risk. The sick dog thing is also a concern, as well as the fact that it's hard for us to keep Darwin away from that communal water bowl, which is full of who knows what...

It's hard to say. I love going to doodle romps and we always do them at dog parks. So I may continue, and try to schedule them at the non-crowded better parks. But we will not be taking Darwin frequently anymore. We are sticking with his pre-approved daycare group.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Camilla, when I read these, I just kept picturing Darwin running up to another dog, and that dog's owner is mentally unstable like these people in these stories...the man who shot Bear-Bear had never been to the dog park before and didn't understand normal dog play or behavior. I know I'm being paranoid and this is not something that happens on a regular basis, but that it happened at all just freaks me out.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Of course, doodle romps, particularly those organized by DK, are different than just the any dog can come dog park things. The romps I've been at were fun and there were no problem dogs or owners.

[L.M.]

We too have stopped going to dog parks. Seamus never got into a fight, but he was being "bullied" by a huge dog whose owner simply turned the other way and laughed. It took too much effort on my part to not say something to the obnoxious owner, so that was our last trip to a dog park. These stories are horrifying. I can, to a point, put up with unruly dogs because, after all, they are in fact dogs. What I cannot put up with is obnoxious and irresponsible humans who put my dog and others in danger.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

We do go to one dog park but I do not go alone. It takes more than one to keep an eye out for other owners. Those who do not watch their dog and those who won't listen when you do ask them to call off their dogs.

We still love to go but we try to pick off times and days with bad weather, and never do we go alone with the dogs.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Funny, but I think most venues, the shore or places like that are best in the off season or not so great weather!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I read an article that was on my FB page yesterday about a sign that was posted at a Cincinnati area Dog Park basically saying "No Bully Breeds" and had a photo of a pitt bull in fighting stance drawn to look very mean. The area Pitt folks were very upset about the poster and it always being about the bully breeds (and not bad owners). What I found particularly interesting is one of them went so far as to say "Yeah, some GoldenDoodle comes into the park and starts a fight and the Pitts get blamed". So, attitudes like this are probably why many Bully breed owners turn their head when their dogs are picking on the GoldenDoodle! Our girls don't like playing with other dogs probably because they have always had each other, so we don't go any longer either. However, even if they did, with the press I've seen of late we wouldn't be going any longer.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'm also very cautious about dog parks. We only take our boys to an off leash park which is on 250 acres of state land, and we take them to a section where there are no other dogs. If we see another dog approaching (which is very rare), we leave. We also have an indoor dog park where there is always a trainer to oversee what is going on. You pay a small fee which covers her salary expense, but it is well worth it. They keep this space very clean, and the floors are washed down every night....the dogs could care less, but it sure makes me feel better. My Vet also HATES the small, fenced in, dog parks....she calls them "cesspools"....she's a little dramatic.