Horrific First Dog Park Experience

[Jenna & Cider]

I can't stop crying, I'm so upset and shocked.  Today we took our  4 month old doodle to a reputable dog park. A girlfriend of mine takes her dogs there and recommended it to us. Our doodle has been in puppy training with other dogs and our neighborhood has a lot of dogs that we encounter on our walks....I felt like he has had a good amount of exposure to other dogs. He just got his last set of shots a week ago and we were looking forward to taking him to the dog park and let him play and run around.  He's 36lbs of sweetness. He has never showed any aggressive tendencies. He typically will stop, sit and watch another dog if he sees one.  My girlfriend took her pups to the park when they were 3 months and never had any problems so we figured he was going to be fine and it'd be good for him to get more socialization.

The park has 2 sections, a 20# and under section and a 20# and over. Cider is far beyond 20# so we went to our designated section.  As we walked in, he was so happy! A couple people walked by with their pups and they sniffed eachother. Cider doesn't wander far from us, he walks about 10 feet and waits for us before he walks further. George and I were laughing because Cider would run and stop and look at us to make sure it was ok. He started running around with a retriever mix and we thought....this is great for him!  He followed the retriever over to a group of other dogs that were playing and all of a sudden we heard him yelp and was running towards us.  He's still clumsy, he's growing and getting so tall but he's not used to these long legs yet and he stumbled.   6 dogs chased him down and were attacking him. One pit mix had hold of his side and was trying to get his neck.   Everyone was just standing there while George and I were trying to get Cider who was pinned on his back yelping. George had to tear the pit off of him while I lifted him up. I'm 5'0..not very tall....so while George was trying to get the dogs away from me and Cider- another dog jumped up on me and grabbed Cider's rear. George got him off. I was holding Cider and shaking and crying.....Everything is a blur now. 2 men started fighting because one man pulled the other man's dog off Cider. George got knicked by the pit when he pulled him off.

What is most disturbing to me is how little the other dog owners did. There were a couple folks who tried to help but if it were not for George I do not know what could have happened.  I read mixed things about dog parks on this site. I decided to give it a try based on the glowing reviews from my friend. I feel like I am the worst mom ever. Cider is laid back, doesn't bark at other dogs, not very assertive. Maybe he was too young? Maybe he is too timid to be in that environment... I think maybe the other dogs sensed he was a little nervous/fearful and went into attack mode. The aching in my heart is so intense because I feel like I put my pup in harms way and it's all my fault.

When we got home, I gave him a bath and gave him another inspection to confirm there was no broken skin. Thankfully he is such a fur ball that it appears that they mostly had mouths of hair. I don't think I will ever forget the sight of looking down and seeing my dog's rear in the mouth of another  dog yanking.  We are going to the vet today just to be sure he's fine. I'm freaked about about George have a cut from the dog. Today has been a disaster :( 

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

I am soooo soooo sorry.  It is so scary to feel that helpless.  I had a terrible experience at a dog park once and sadly it was because of a family with wild kids and it ended with me jumping in the lake to get Hunter.  I have only been back to one once after that and even though that experience was ok my stress level was not worrying.  There are so many other places you can take them to socialize that I don't think it's worth it.  I will say a prayer for Cider, you and George!

[Jenna & Cider]

Thanks denise. Love your profile pic!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Jenna - I am so sorry this happened to Cider.  I am so glad you had someone with you.  I had a similar experience but we were out for a walk and two pits ran after us and one got ahold of Charlie.  It is so darn scary. I do think all the hair protects them, but when I took Charlie into the vet for a checkup, she said his left hip was very tight and she felt he was bruised from the force of the other dog hitting him.  I hope Cider got a clean bill of health from your vet.

We have tried the dog park several times and it is not for Charlie.  He is too mild mannered and meek and the times we went he was not a happy camper.  He preferred to visit the people rather than the dogs.  We have puppy play dates now and that works much better for us.

 

[Jenna & Cider]

Thanks Linda, Charlie is a cutie pie. That's one thing about Cider that I've always known. he is very mild mannered as well. He doesn't rush up to other dogs, he'd rather just observe them.  I really believe something scared him and when they all sensed his fear, they got that pack mentality.  I will never forget his cries. Breaks my heart :( I appreciate your comments, have a great day!

[Rachel and Ollie]

I was real nervous about taking Ollie. I kept putting it off. I ended up going and besides all the stinkin hundreds of burs it went well. I think part of the reason it did though, was because Ollie went with his buddies Shelby and Knox. I think it helps to have a posse at the park...at least it did for us that time :) I'm not sure if we will go back...it took me hours to get those burs out. 

Oh, and Cider is adorable and getting soooo big! I love that he is such a sweet boy. 

[Katie and Sophie]

This is how we do it too!  I take Soph and her sister Jade and we always go with a few more doggie friends.  They always stick together when they play too.  Safety in numbers, I suppose.  

[Jenna & Cider]

Thank you Rachel....I think you are right on the money with your assessment. Cider is getting so big so fast, thanks for your comments!!! Have a great day!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am so sorry about this terrible experience. It sounds like Cider is fine. I hope George's bite is not too serious.  He really should get it looked at and report it.  Dog parks can be iffy and you have to evaluate the other dogs etc.when you enter.  Mostly our experiences are fine, but I always watch. We go to dog parks for doodle play dates and when we are 'camping' in our RV and once in a while with our daughter.

Ned has been 'rolled' or mildly attacked twice. Once the owner specifically came over to make sure Ned was ok; the other time the owner never acknowledged.  Clancy has had a couple of confrontations - he never aggresses and will let a dog put him down, but he will bounce back up and do a face-off.  When that has happened or a dog seems aggressive, we leave. 

[Jersey, Jasmine, Jypsy and Diane]

I have seen this happen at the dog park I go to on occassion. Where we go in NJ, the dogs must be 6 months old, vaccinated and neutered to enter the park. I have gone to the park when there were aggressive dogs and just left. What a horrific experience that must have been for you. A friend of mine is the head of the park rangers at the park we go to and told me that if there is ever a fight like that, that the park police should be called immediately. I have their phone number on my cell phone. I hope Cider and your husband are OK. Have your husband wash that bite/scratch out REAL good for a good 15 min and put something on it. I was bit by one of my own dogs (a long time ago) breaking up a fight and went to the Dr., it was not cleaned good enough and the Dr stitched it up and it became infected and I was in danger of losing a finger from it. You can't be too careful.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

If it makes you feel any better, this is exactly what happend the first time I brought Sophie to the park. It was too busy, she probably did something obnoxiously puppy-like to the other dogs who all got offended, and they swarmed her. None of them hurt her, they were just giving her a very harsh warning. I picked her up and left shaking and teary eyed, swearing never to go back. Meanwhile she was completely unaffected and back to her normal self within minutes. I eventually did go back, on a quieter day and all was fine. As my experience grew so did my confidence and I am now able to tell when something doesn't feel right, and put an end to things, either by leaving, correcting the other dog or shoeing him/her away, or redirecting mine to another spot. As Sophie grew up she got more confident. Now she chases off other dogs with an air snap because all she wants to do is play fetch with her brother. We haven't had any issues in the park for a very long time because she stays out of trouble and does her own thing. She's very picky about the dogs she likes. If you really want to enjoy the park then I wouldn't give up on it completely. I'm sure you can overcome this, he'll get more confident as he grows, and you will get better at predictingand avoiding any potential trouble before it happens.

[Jenna & Cider]

Thanks Sherri, I do feel some relief that others have experienced this and that it's possible to overcome. I appreciate it. have a great day.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Jenna, please don't feel like you are a bad mom because this happened, there is no way you would ever know that this was going to happen.I am sure Cedar will be mentally fine. Just let him meet with other dogs he is good with so he doesn't become frighted of all other dogs. I am so happy he was not seriously hurt.

We used to take Daisy to a dog park early every Saturday and Sunday morning....she loved it, but not because of other dogs but because she loved playing ball and they had a lake she swam and dock dived in. We have friends that take their two dogs almost every day and have had not issues.

One of the reasons we do not go any longer is because of other owners, they would sit around yacking and never watched their own dogs which meant they never cleaned up after their dogs. The other downside of that was they also were not around to help if any incidents started and we saw plenty of things starting there. Because Daisy never really "played" with other dogs there we felt the risk was too great that she might end up being in one of those incidents and stopped going.