[OwnedByJezebel]

I hear you about the dog park. I love taking mine there, and generally it is a very positive experience and they really enjoy it.

By and large, most of the owners are really nice, but just like anywhere else you will meet some real pieces of work. To wit:
1. Owner of a 3.5 lb Yorkie, bought at a flea market from a broker who got it from a puppy mill. She is going to breed this tiny without knowing the dogs lineage, but is not worried about the size because "it's no problem, we'll just have a c-section."
2. Owner of a heinz-57 male that asks if my girl is fixed, hoping that isn't the case so that our dogs could breed.
3. Owners that bring big dogs into the small dog side, because they "aren't comfortable" with dogs their own size. I take my dogs and leave at that point, not because I am concerned about aggression, but because all it takes is one wrong landing during play and the smaller dog can be severely injured or worse.
4. Owners that come in and make stupid statements about small dogs or small breeds. "I'm just pet sitting for a friend, I HATE small dogs." Overheard one say "I can't stand Yorkies, they're so yappy." Meanwhile, her dog was barking and mine never made a peep (in fact she has never barked even once at the dog park). I did respond to her comment to point that out.
5. Owners bringing dogs that have no business at a dog park, in order to "socialize them." Some poor dogs are just timid and scared to death, but their owner thought it would be a good idea to socialize them, after they were already several years old and set in their ways, but putting them in the middle of 20 dogs -- bad idea for the poor dog. Then there are those that shouldn't be there because they don't play nice. One guy brought in a Dobie pup that wasn't full grown and did look like it was (just barely) below the weight limit. It was muzzled. He took the muzzle off and it was aggressive with the other dogs, which it towered over by a long shot. There were a lot of great little dogs there that day, all having a blast, but when that Dobie got in there the energy changed significantly. He went up to Jezebel, bent her face down towards hers, and did that thing where the gaze "locks on," like he was going to attack. The owner never did a damn thing, just looking at it but not acting. I managed to get her away, picked her up, and decided it was time to leave. Several other owners started mumbling and did the same thing. As I was walking towards the exit, the Dobie ran in between us and the gate and started challenging me, looking at Jezebel and growling. It was not play, I can tell the difference. I told the Dobie, in a loud voice so that the owner was sure to hear "you can't challenge me, get out of my way." The owner saw everything but still did nothing.
6. Owners that don't pick up their dog's poop, even though they see them doing it and the bags are provided free of charge.

I wasn't there at the time, but I actually had a neighbor with a not-so-friendly border collie. She was telling me that she visited the park and she insisted that the dog be allowed on the small dog side because he would actually pick fights on the large dog side, "but he was OK with the smaller dogs." I tried to gently tell her about the rule, and she became indignant and said something on the order of "who cares about the rules, how would they even be enforced anyway?" I just dropped it. Then she admitted less than 5 minutes later that PetsMart will not allow her dog in daycare any longer because of his aggression. Some people! Couldn't she even see the problem in her logic? I didn't call her on it, I just decided that if we were there at the same time that I would call animal control. She moved out of state, so it isn't an issue any longer.

Regardless of what I've said above, I will continue to visit the park because my dogs LOVE it. And, I have met some really nice people and some great dogs there. I won't let the 1% of the crap keep them from enjoying the other fun 99%, I will just keep a close eye on my dogs so that I can protect them from that 1%.