This can easily be avoided

So I usually post once every couple weeks and yet this is my third post this week! I'm apparently on a soapbox issue. Today, I received an email about this incident involving an injury to a maltese at a dog park. It's titled "DOG ATTACK RAISES CONCERNS" The only concern it raised for me is that pet professionals are not doing a very good job of teaching dog owners what is safe and what is not safe when they are socializing their dogs and frequenting dog parks.

Instead the article starts out with these sentences: "Shiloh, a 10-pound Pomeranian Maltese Shih Tzu mix, bears the scars of a wicked attack. Across his shaved back is a 4-inch gash sewn back together with stitches. A pair of tubes extends from both sides of the injured area to allow toxins to weep out. "He has puncture wounds that go through several layers of tissue," said Amie Seiberlich, who regularly takes Shiloh and her two other dogs to Lafayette's Great Bark Dog Park. On Sunday, she said, a greyhound turned mean at the park and nearly killed Shiloh. The little dog was spared more severe injury by a Good Samaritan who draped himself over the animal to protect it."

I feel badly for Shiloh and for his owners that had to go through this. Shiloh is very luck to be alive. If the greyhound had wanted to kill him, he could easily have done so. If the greyhound had shaken him rather than simply bitten down and punctured/torn tissue (ok, still not a good thing) he could have died of internal injuries.

The article discusses this whole incident as an entirely unpredictable, out of the blue situation resulting from a vicious animal that didn't have prior training. Park officials and others are going to put some signs up telling people not to bring vicious animals into the park and they are going to put together a task force on dog park safety.

A task force on dog park safety should start with the premise that large dogs and small dogs should be separated! It doesn't matter how well they might play with other dogs at home. Large dogs and small dogs in an off-leash pack of dogs is generally a bad idea. In this particular scenario, putting a greyhound off leash in an enclosure with any tiny dog is a recipe for disaster. Greyhounds are, after all, bred to chase small (around 10 pound) animals! If you asked me one of the most predictable scenarios for a dog attack in a dog park setting, I'd probably tell you it would be any sighthound (such as a Greyhound) and a tiny, fluffy dog.

We just need to teach owners that those things are predictable so incidents like this don't happen. Dog parks should have separate small and large dog play areas.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox for now.

Comments

[Krystofer]

In Ventura, CA I came across the first separated dog park that I've ever seen. there are two entrances, one for small dogs into a smaller enclosed area, and one for the big dogs into another area. This is such a simple fix to have separate areas, but people still love to blame dogs for the problems the OWNERS of the dogs create!
I own an 80lb AmStaff that has a great track record with small dogs, but I still keep an eagle eye on him when they are around. He is so big and could seriously injure one with just the swipe of a paw, much less his teeth!
Thank you for putting the responsibility back on the owners...we choose to keep animals, the animals don't choose to be kept!

[Abby K9]

Personally, I believe that there needs to be a guide book for any county or municipality that is planning to set up a dog park.

If I had my way, some of the things that would be included in that book would be the following:

All parks have to have their rules posted clearly at the entrance. And they should only be open to the public while there is a park monitor at the location to make sure these rules are followed.

All parks need to have separate areas for small dogs and for large dogs. Putting both together is an invitation to disaster. At best, small dogs may get injured while big dogs are playing around them. At worst, small dogs are seen as prey.

All parks should require a park membership before people can bring their dogs to them. Getting park membership does not mean sending in a fee and getting a park license. Park membership should mean that the dog is evaluated to see how he does with other dogs - by a trained animal behaviorist. It should also mean that dog owners are required to take and pass a test on recognizing when it is and isn't play and when to remove their dog from the park.

It has been my experience here in northern Virginia that the vast majority of dog owners and dog park visitors are absolutely clueless about dogs, and that the park rules are not enforced.

At the local park, I have seen the following idiocy:

Woman bringing a male and female pair of Boxers, both unaltered, to the park together.

Man bringing female Pit Bull in heat.

Woman walking off talking on her cell phone while her Shepherd mix proceeded to hump every dog in sight.

Woman standing around talking to other park patrons while her dog repeatedly attacks / goes after another dog whose owner is trying to fend off her dog. When asked to remove her dog by other park patrons because it was aggressive, she became rude and snotty and told everyone to mind their business, that she "knew her dog better" than everyone else there.

Woman bringing a group of 5 Chihuahuas, all around 4lbs in size to the park. All other dogs at the park were 40lbs and over. The woman with the Chihuahuas got upset that the other dogs kept chasing hers.

Woman brings two Labradors, one of whom she knows is very possessive about toys. She starts playing ball with them. When another dog runs past her female Lab, the female attacks and bites the other dog to "protect" her toy.

People bringing toys to the park in general.

People leaving head halters, choke chains, prong collars, and Easy Walk harnesses on their dogs while they're playing at the park. One woman even had a bandana held together with a large safety pin on her dog who was PLAYING with other dogs in the park.

... and people wonder why their dog gets into fights, gets injured, etc. at the dog park. Like I said, this kind of idiocy can only be prevented if parks have park monitors and people are required to take a test and have their dog tested to use them.

We went to the dog park for awhile, usually when it wasn't very busy, but after seeing all of this idiocy, we now no longer waste our time with any dog parks. The risks and stupidity there just outweigh any benefits. We get better exercise going hiking, and better socialization meeting with friends and their dogs.