Off leash parks - what's with people?!

[AndyL]

[rant]
I've got to ask... Why does it seem like the world cares only about themselves?

Went to the offleash park near my house this afternoon. City park - posted offleash area... On 3 seperate occasions I had people yelling at me to put my dog on a leash - why? Because their own dogs were poorly trained, disobedient - or dog aggressive!

Many of you have met my pup - friendly as they come. And very well trained if I do say so myself. He won't approach another animal if I don't allow it. He'll drop into a sit/stay even when there's a tasty rabbit to chase. So why did I have to call him over, grab him by the collar - just because some other nitwits can't be bothered to properly train their animals? End result is ruining my time at the park - because their animals aren't properly trained... If you can't have your dog offleash at an OFFLEASH PARK - take it anywhere but an offleash park for gods sake!

And oh my god... The landmines - what is so hard about picking up after your own dog!?!?!?! There are bags full of safeway bags at the parking lot - there are dumpsters provided!

The more people I encounter (non reefers of course) the more I love my dog!

[/rant]

[cc_bruno]

Well, to be honest with you, you are not the only one what feels like that, and has had to deal with that. Most people, (and I know that I'm going to get flamed by this comment, but, it seems to be true), that don't own dogs, attack dog owners on a regular basis. THEN, to add insult to injury, some people who do own dogs, as you mentioned, don't take the time to train their dogs, and then we hear about these dogs on the news... so, what ends up happening is good and responsible dog owners get attacked by everyone, even when we are taking our dogs ON LEASH, and when they are on OFF LEASH areas!

I'm not sure what type of dog you have, but, if you want to have your hands full with ignorant, (that's about as PC as I'm going to get ), people, check this out... I have a 10 year old female rottie. She's the sweetest "puppy" I know, but, as soon as people see her, they immediately assume that she's a dangerous dog! Thank you media. My other dog is an Italian Mastiff... got him from a rescue shelter because the previous owner couldn't beat him enough to be obedient.... I've had Bruno, my mastiff, for almost 4 years now, and he's made great strides towards being a good dog... but, because of his size, he's got to be a "dangerous dog". I'll post pics later of this "dangerous dog" getting beaten up by my 2 year old .

Bottom line, these days, people who want dogs but abuse them, or don't put the time and effort into them, give the rest of us a bad name, and then, bring the media into it, and now your day goes from bad to worse. While it's nice to know that I'm not the only one that experiences this, it's sad that responsible dog owners, have to take the brunt of it. Andy, the next time some tries to let you have it because you have a good dog, remind them that ALL dogs are born good, it's dumb people that make them bad Not to mention that their ancestors would not have made it to this "civilized" age, if it were not for dogs.

Ok, so I went into a little rant as well , but hey, I love my dogs, and they are a part of my family and it drives me up the wall, when "intelligent" people try to make the dumbest point when it comes to dogs. Good luck Andy, and may you and your dog have a long and happy life together.

Robert

[Aquattro]

Ya, I have an Akita, same thing. Everyone has heard about how Akitas are agressive on the news, and how they eat every other animal they can catch. Uh-huh. My dog got beat up once by a terrier, and once he got a bit of a talking to by a cat, but I still get everyone pulling their kids and dogs away from mine.
I've learned to take my dog out and enjoy my outing, and not pay any attention to negative comments and attitudes.

[EmilyB]

<----- Woof woof to that !

Like Brad, when Im out walking my big puppy Zeus(Great Dane) alot of people act like he has already started to eat them and we are on the other side of the street still..... Zeus gives new meaning to the term big baby....

[cc_bruno]

What I've learned in the past little while is that the bigger the dog, the bigger the heart they have, (and I'm not referring to their physical heart ). Talk to most Vets and they'll tell you that the little dogs are nick named "land sharks", as they are more likely to bite them, (granted, a bite from a large dog will hurt more, but, it's really infrequent). Oh well, the media will do it's part to tell the rest of the world your big dog is dangerous, and if you don't happen to have a small toy dog, (no offence to people who own one), then you must be a bad person as well .

Brad, I didn't know you had an Akita, (should have guessed it from the avitar )... Almost got one myself before I got Bruno, but they were described to shed a ton, twice a year.... couldn't get that one past my wife . As for aggressiveness, I've just hear that they are completley loyal... not sure how that can be translated to aggressiveness, (although, with lack of proper training, they can be animal aggressive... but then again, so can any dog).

Nice to see that so many people that have marine tanks, have dogs... seems like a great mix to me .

[LostMind]

Brad, your akita looks amazing!

I hate how dog ignorant people can be. Especially dog owners. Bah.

I find it hard to believe any dog is inherently dangerous or bad, just the owner is bad. Like riced up cars... a car is a car, its the driver that causes problems or not...

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by LostMind

Brad, your akita looks amazing!..

Thanks, but my avatar is actually a pic of one of his sisters. I can't tell the difference, but technically that's a "stand-in" !

[Ryan]

I got the same problem with my Irish setter. Even though she is gentle and more trustworthy with kids than our pomeranian, people are still yelling at me to put my dog on a leash when i am walking by river. I see other dogs give the "whoa" comand, my dog sits and their dog runs up to mine. After that all i get is screaming about how i should better train my dog and get it on a leash. I hate people that do that. No wonder i run her where we hunt no on to bother me and it is practice for her.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

My friend Kathy from Calgary used to get people cross to the other side of the street when she walked her dogs. Her dogs were:

a ****-a-poo (Yogi) & a tri-colour Cocker Spaniel (BooBoo).

Now that's ignorance. Yogi was almost human & you mainly had to worry about BooBoo being so happy to see you that she'll pee all over your pant legs

I didn't believe her until I took her dogs for a walk (on leash) and saw these reactions for myself.

Anthony