Quote:
Originally Posted by kjc  I don't fear big dogs, I fear what can happen in some situations between big dogs and little dogs. And I fear that Yorkie owners new and experienced may become too lax and not properly monitor interactions between dogs at the expense of their pets. Just want to make people aware that it can be dangerous, and life threatening. I owned a GSD along with a Maltese and a Yorkie. She got along well, and the minor skirmishes never resulted in injury. I feel those situations are in the minority and the big dogs that can be trusted with small dogs are not the norm but the exception of their breed. |
I do agree that people probably do become lax; I too owned a GSD for four years before she had to be put to sleep for attacking a plumber who unexpectedly came onto our property. I wish I had known back then what I know now and we did NOT research the breed enough before making an impulsive purchase of a GSD. She was loyal to the end to our family but did NOT like strangers at ALL. I would have NEVER trusted her around a small dog or a young child for that matter. All of that was our fault though. We were not the right owners for such a breed of dog and were considering giving her to a police force at the age of 2 to see if they wanted to take her in or train her. She was an amazing guard dog, as she was bred to do.
I do
like to think that most people who are bringing their dogs into a dog park know their dog well enough to know their temperament and trust them around all kinds of people and dogs, or else why on earth would you bring them to a dog park? I would've never brought our GSD to a dog park knowing what she was capable of. I do like to have faith in people, but I also know there's owners out there who just don't care, etc. But as I said, I'm smart, I've got common sense, and I watch out for things at the dog park that other people probably don't. I hardly ever for a second take my eye off of Jackson. And when we go to a certain dog park (in Annapolis), he's in the small dog section anyways. I don't feel comfortable allowing him into Quiet Water's "big dog" section because there is just *too* many big dogs in there.
My biggest issue is trust. I put trust in my dog to behave, I put trust in other dogs, big or small, to behave and I put trust in the owners. If I see a dog or owner I don't trust... I will leave. Simple as that.