I was at the off leash park yesterday and witnessed the most maddening thing. This 12ish year old boy was with his mother, sister and their dog at park. Their dog, who I hadn't seen before, was a beautiful but timid mutt (and I mean mutt in an affectionate way because I have two mutts i.e. no specific breed). For some reason the dogs were going crazy yesterday. It was as if they knew they only had a few more week left of perfect running weather before they had to don booties or jackets or have cold, naked paws. So crazy running, play biting, barking - all the fun stuff dogs do. The timid mutt, we'll call her Liz, was the center of one boxer's attention - we'll call her Jane. Jane was a bit of a rough and tumble kind of gal that loved to swat at and jump on Liz, who would then run yelping to her human mom and the boy. This happened a couple of times. The boy obviously mistook Jane's affection as bullying and became really upset. And that is when it happened. The boy KICKED Jane. And the mother did NOTHING!! At what point is it acceptable for your child to KICK another animal for playing in an OFF LEASH DOG PARK!?! I was stunned. Stunned because this boy had obviously not been taught how to treat animals. Hopefully he won't grow up thinking that beating on an animal was an acceptable way to get the animal to do what you want. As the guardian of two formerly mistreated dogs that landed at the Humane Society, I was really disappointed that the mom didn't take the opportunity to teach the boy that kicking animals is NOT acceptable and to explain that dogs play rough at dog parks. BUT I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING EITHER. I missed my opportunity as well.
So a little later on, the sister goes chasing after this Jack Russell terrier named Delilah and picks her up in a bear hug and carries her to another part of the field to play with her. First of all - not her dog. Second of all, it's a dog park and the dogs are there to play with other dogs. I get that Delilah is super cute and portable so she is an obvious target for the little girl's affection. When she sits down with Delilah on the ground, about four dogs rush over to check out what is going on. Before anyone can say anything, Delilah is growling and snapping because she is trapped in a bear hug on the ground with four other dogs sniffing at her. The girl continued to squeeze Delilah at which point Delilah's dad finally figures out what was happening and walks over to free Delilah. No one was hurt. The girl did not get bit. And the mother didn't see a thing! This time I did have the opportunity to talk to girl and she completely insisted she knew what she was doing because she KNEW dogs. REALLY??
I have seen this too many times at the dog park with children who are fearless with every dog. I've watched a little girl run around the dog park with a pocket full of dog treats while being chased by dogs triple her weight and size. Or another one who was allowed into the park completely unsupervised and began to walk up and hug all of the dogs.
I'm not saying that kids shouldn't be at the dog park but holy cow, they should be closely supervised. If a dog accidentally bites because a child is in the wrong place at the wrong time, or is doing the wrong thing, everyone suffers. I've checked our local dog park web site and there are no tips for dog parks and children. For that matter, there are no tips for newbie park goers either other than have your dog under voice control. HA! Are you kidding? It can be an intimidating place if you aren't used to free play.
So my question to the studio audience - should there be more dog park rules, restrictions, guidelines? Currently there is nothing except each individuals good (or bad) judgment. I found a good list of "rules" at a California dog park here.
I'm not a huge fan of rules but I would really hate to see a child hurt or a dog put down because there was a lack of knowledge or direction out there. Maybe it isn't a problem at all. Maybe it was just a bad day at the park. Maybe there is a full moon. Or maybe we should start a little Lucky Dog education. Maybe people just don't know and we have an opportunity to make dog parks a safer place for everyone.
I'm thinking of putting together a similar list to the California site. We could post it on our website and if your local dog park doesn't have some guidelines, you can print off the Lucky Dog suggestions and send it to your municipality. Maybe with a little education we can prevent a really unfortunate situation. If you have some suggestions or know a good website for dog park suggestions, send them our way either through comments or to service@luckydogbiscuits.com.
I'm just glad Cooper stayed out of that mix otherwise he could have been on the receiving end of that kick. And then I DEFINITELY would have taken the opportunity to chat with the boy about appropriate behaviour.
Not that MY dog would ever misbehave...
If only he had an opposing thumb to hold onto a light-saber. And the costume comes with a hat but this was the response I got...
