We arrived there and saw 3 big dogs, a German Shepherd, a husky, and a mix of some sort, plus a little Yorkie. Great, I think, some bigger dogs to play with! Often we go there and it's all little breeds, so I'm happy when I see bigger dogs there. We get to the gate and the German Shepherd and Husky are right there, barking, and the owner is quite a ways away. I wait for him to call them away - I hate all the excited greetings at the gate, but he's ignoring it all. So, I open the gate. Both dogs charge through, and the German Shepherd basically attacks Simba. Flurry of activity, with me dancing around trying to beat off the Shepherd with my leash ( : not much help I'm afraid), the owner finally arrives and calls his dog off and they go back into the park. I am debating just turning around and leaving, Simba seems fine but not sure about this whole thing, but he opens the gate again and Simba goes in. So, once away from the gate they seem to be fine for a few minutes, but the German Shepherd, which is about a third bigger than Simba, still seems a bit snarly. I make it up to the group, chat for a few minutes with the other owner (whom I'm a bit PO'd at but trying to be nice) when the Husky jumps on Simba and starts humping. Simba doesn't like this much, he's growling, but Husky keep at it, owner telling it off, Simba has had enough and turns and snarls at husky, and German Shepherd attacks again. They are really going at it, the shepherd definitely means business and Simba is trying to defend himself. Thankfully the owner was there or I don't know what would have happened, I certainly wasn't going to get in the middle of it, but the owner basically tackles his dog and drags him away, saying, well, I guess we'd better leave if you're not going to play nice (to the dog). I check the pooch over, he seems to be fine, but I know I heard him yelp at one point so I'm pretty sure he got bit. We leave, go on the walk around the trails nearby, he keeps shaking his head so I know there must be something, I check him again and find blood on the top of his head and his cheek. So definitely got bit. The trails take us back to the park, I go in with Simba on leash just in case the other guy came back with his dogs, find a different fellow there with a chocolate lab, Simba and she have a lovely play and I come home. I've looked him over, I can't even see a puncture wound, but I've washed his head and I'll check him again later. I've got some antibiotic cream I can put on it if I can find it. Our first bad experience at the dog park. :'(
Re: Bad day at the dog park Oh you poor thing, and poor Simba What a really awful experience. Hopefully the bite is very minor and will heal up fine.. Glad he had a nice play with a friendly dog to compensate.
Re: Bad day at the dog park Oh no, poor Simba :'( it is horrible and scary when the growling and teeth baring starts. I am glad that the owner had the decency to get his dog and leave, but he could of got involved from the start which might of stopped the next incident. The blood might be from being bit, but the bite might be small and not easy to find ;( I hope you and Simba are ok. Sending you both big hugs xx I'm glad you managed to finish your walk on a good note though
Re: Bad day at the dog park Lisa I am so sorry you and the lovely Simba have been through this awful experience and I know how you feel having just been through this with the same dog attacking Hattie for the second time, first time drawing blood Thank goodness for the lovely play with a nice girlie at the end which will help. I hope you are both OK. Lots of hugs from us {{{xxx}}} xx
Re: Bad day at the dog park Thanks all, it really was quite scary (more for me than Simba, I think) but not something I want to go through again, thank you very much. I was glad to see a friendly pooch there after the walk as well, I wanted to go back in and see how Simba reacted to the dogs there but he was just fine, and had a lovely wrestle and chase with her.
Re: Bad day at the dog park So sorry to hear about this, sounds horrid Hope Simba is doing OK. (And you, come to that- I'd have been a gibbering wreck!) Thank goodness for the nice lab
Re: Bad day at the dog park Poor you. I think battling labs sound bad enough but I would be worried by GSDs and mallys if I was in the midst of a tussle. I know its characterising them but I am still wary of these bigger breeds. Even though the ones I have met have mostly been polite. Apart from the woman with her sd ond GSD that walks down our back track but that is another story. Glad your walk ended on a higher note and hope you are both ok.
Re: Bad day at the dog park Horrible, just horrible. You did the best thing letting Simba play with a friendly dog afterwards. It's the best medicine. I hope he gets good experiences for a while and he forgets all about it.
Re: Bad day at the dog park What a nasty thing to happen, poor Simba Pleased that he ended the walk with nicer dogs x
Re: Bad day at the dog park Oh no,I hate reading about bad experiences at the dog park but especially for you Lisa as I know you don't meet a lot of dogs on your walks.So glad it ended on a better note and Simba had a nice play.... Just shakes you up though doesn't it? Xxx
Re: Bad day at the dog park Pooch seems to be just fine today, I can't see any lasting damage....beginning to wonder if the blood on him was from the GSD? Wouldn't that be crazy.... Hope to get to the dog park again later this week. If those dogs are there I won't be going in. But I've never seen them there before so hopefully I won't run in to them again. :-\ Just a bit too stressful all around - I'm too scared to get myself in the middle of it, that GSD was a BIG one....I just hope it doesn't make Simba more aggressive towards other dogs, he's normally just a big goof and a play machine. :-\ I do think part of it was the fact that the husky and GSD were a bit of a "pack" together, and Simba telling off the husky was just not okay to the GSD. Who knows. Anyway once we go back again I'll let you know how it goes....
Re: Bad day at the dog park Got everything crossed it's a nicer experience next time round.glad there's no obvious injuries to Simba....if the GSD got injured possibly a lesson might have been learned :-\ well probably not but here's hoping..... Let us know how you get on xxx
Re: Bad day at the dog park Good luck! Hopefully Simba gave them a little nip for being so bloomin rude!! When Riley got bitten I didn't realise until he started shaking his head, turned out it was a little nip in his ear. It's healed up nicely though and hasn't affected his enthusiasm for new dogs :
Re: Bad day at the dog park So sorry to hear about your bad experience, it is horrid when they get that pack behaviour going and when it is aggressive it is really quite scary! Hoping to hear you have a better day out there later this week. I keep a tiny can of corrector spray in my treat bag now, it doesn't hurt them but stops them in their tracks.
Re: Bad day at the dog park I hope Simba is fine, and gets to play with nice dogs the next time. Fingers crossed. [quote author=Beanwood link=topic=8769.msg124606#msg124606 date=1416220138] I keep a tiny can of corrector spray in my treat bag now, it doesn't hurt them but stops them in their tracks. [/quote] Wouldn't you have to spray your own dog with that too though? So adding a negative experience from you to the whole thing? Or do you use it as a sort of preemptive strike thing to ward off a dog that might be aggressive. hmm....might think about that option.
Re: Bad day at the dog park [quote author=JulieT link=topic=8769.msg124608#msg124608 date=1416221606] I hope Simba is fine, and gets to play with nice dogs the next time. Fingers crossed. [quote author=Beanwood link=topic=8769.msg124606#msg124606 date=1416220138] I keep a tiny can of corrector spray in my treat bag now, it doesn't hurt them but stops them in their tracks. [/quote] Wouldn't you have to spray your own dog with that too though? So adding a negative experience from you to the whole thing? Or do you use it as a sort of preemptive strike thing to ward off a dog that might be aggressive. hmm....might think about that option. [/quote] When I first got the can I tested it outside. Not aiming it at anything, Casper and Benson were both about 6 feet away and just sniffing around..I pressed it, and both dogs instantly stopped what they were doing and looked rather quizzically at me. It is just a can of pressurised air, and sounds a bit like air being released out of a tyre. I don't think either dog was bothered, but they didn't like it, I could tell. When it comes to a potential (serious) attack by another dog (s) I would not have any hesitation in using it, and yes I expect it would be more as an "interrupter" before a situation gets out of hand, and you end up in that dreaded scenario, owners screaming at their dogs, trying to yank non-responsive over hyped dogs, away or worse, not doing anything at all. I would rather use a corrector spray then risk a bite from another dog and the consequences that could mean.
Re: Bad day at the dog park They weren't really bothered by it...but it would stop a full out dog fight that screaming owners couldn't? Or you mean you would decide a dog looked aggressive enough to use it in advance to ward them off? I'm not being critical about the proposition, I walk in areas where there are enough dogs to be worried about to view anything that mght help as useful. But I'm not quite sure..have you actually used it "in anger" as it were?
Re: Bad day at the dog park Yes, i'm sure that the only thing that stopped the GSD was the owner's full on body-tackle-wrestle-it-away....and to be fair, there was also no way Simba would have listened to me telling him stop or whatever either. They were in fight mode. So, no, i don't think it would work at that point, but if a dog rushed up aggressively? Perhaps, although its always so tricky to tell what their intentions are, isn't it. Again, in this situation, i wouldn 't have had fast enough reactions to spray it, it happened so fast.
