Another sad reminder to be wary of large dogs

[Britster]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

San Francisco has NO small dog parks! Can you believe it?

That is CRAZY! What a sad story.

Jackson, who is bigger, yet still a small dog at 15lbs, only is allowed on the small dog side of the dog park. Yes, he gets along with dogs of all sizes, I let him play with big dogs I know (my aunt's Pit, my grandma's Lab, etc) but the big dog park is too risky... simply even because when they are running, they are so much bigger and faster and the big dogs are there to enjoy themselves and shouldn't have to worry about a small dog either, I just think small dog/big dog areas make so much sense.

[LoALAnna]

One of the worst incidents at the dog park that happened to us was when a little bitty jack russell tried to chew Neo thru the fence! No wonder her owner had her in with the big dogs! This dog was so psyco she spent the entire time we were there trying to get under the fence or chew thru it! Her owner was completely oblivious - just kept making excuses that she just wanted to "play". Just goes to prove that not all dangerous dogs are the big ones. Bostons also seem to have a "thing " for Neo's throat, too.

[lil fu fu girl]

That is beyond heartbreaking. I cannot imagine what she is going through. People are really clueless sometimes. Yesterday, a neighbors friend had his dog in the car waiting on him to drop something off. When we walked by the guest came over and said,"Oh I have a great pup too who loves everyone" then he proceeded to open the door and allow a pit bull to come out of the car without a leash. I have never grabbed my two up so fast.....all I could think of is what if.....??

My heartfelt sympathies go out to your friend and her family.

[QuickSilver]

Originally Posted by rik20101

I'm sorry this happened, and I'm sorry for your scary stories.....but, you should see my 105 pound Great Dane and my 4 pound 'Morkie' play. They are the best of friends.

I didn't post this to malign big dogs, I really didn't. Dogs are predators. Our little ones want to kill things too. It's a natural instinct - just one we don't want our pets to be on the wrong side of.

Generally, I look around to see if any large dogs are "alerting" on Thor, but this woman is an ASPCA certified trainer. She knows dogs backwards and forwards. If this can happen to her, it can happen to anyone.

I am still mulling over this because as I've mentioned here before, Thor has fear-aggression issues with other dogs, particularly larger ones. I don't want to feed into his fear by picking him up every time we see a big dog. But I don't want him to become a snack either.

[deonk1]

This is so sad.

It's large dog owners like this who give them a bad rap... and it's sad and irresponsible to just let your large dog run free if you don't have control of them.

Like on my floor there is a german shepard and a pit in my appartment building and I think this week I've counted 5 other pits, several german shepards, and a few large mixes, ALL of which belong to owners who respect small dogs. (Big building by the way and the only dog friendly one in the city). Each one of them works hard to train thier dogs, and some of them have the decency to warn you if the dog is young and to stay away (imagine that). I have absolutely nothing against large dogs, especially pits etc, it's the owners that drive me absolutely nutts.

Imagine a world where every dog person was responsible.

[Darlene68]

That is so sad, I love all dogs, but will not let my two anywhere near a large dog that I know nothing about, It is to risky.

[chachi]

I think it depends on the breed of large dog some are more prone to attacks

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

I didn't post this to malign big dogs, I really didn't. Dogs are predators. Our little ones want to kill things too. It's a natural instinct - just one we don't want our pets to be on the wrong side of.

Generally, I look around to see if any large dogs are "alerting" on Thor, but this woman is an ASPCA certified trainer. She knows dogs backwards and forwards. If this can happen to her, it can happen to anyone.

I am still mulling over this because as I've mentioned here before, Thor has fear-aggression issues with other dogs, particularly larger ones. I don't want to feed into his fear by picking him up every time we see a big dog. But I don't want him to become a snack either.

My heart goes out to this woman and her poor Chihuahua. I have been wrestling with this problem from the day I brought Max home. In my attempt to protect him, I isolated him and created behavioral problems. We have been working very hard to overcome these problems. I still won't let Max go near an unleashed dog, and I observe dogs and handlers before I agree to let the dogs meet. Even then, I am on guard.

[lexi43]

This story is just what I'm afraid of with my dogs. I have a 4 month old yorkie who weighs about 4 lbs. I also have a Shorkie who weighs about 12 lbs. Then there are my two Basset Hounds who weigh 50 lbs each. I never let my yorkie out when they are loose because although they are the most lovable dogs in the world they play kind of rough. Somehow my Shorkie knows how to play with the Bassets but I watch them very carefully and when things get too rough my Shorkie is put back in her pen away from the big girls.

[gemy]

Originally Posted by Maximo

My heart goes out to this woman and her poor Chihuahua. I have been wrestling with this problem from the day I brought Max home. In my attempt to protect him, I isolated him and created behavioral problems. We have been working very hard to overcome these problems. I still won't let Max go near an unleashed dog, and I observe dogs and handlers before I agree to let the dogs meet. Even then, I am on guard.

You need to always be on guard. Well I would call it proactively alert. Even with your own dogs, as an earlier poster shared.

Good on you for recognizing and working with the problem

[KJLive]

UGH! This is my worst nightmare! We don't have a "dog park" per se in my small community. So last night my DH and I took the three for a walk. He had Sophie and I had the two Biewers (who refuse to use a dual lead).

As we approach a cross road in our small neighborhood around the corner comes a young woman, a young man, and a pitbull. I was about a 1/2 block away and just looked at her. I said "I don't think this is a good idea" (we had to go past each other) But she assured me she had a good grip on him and that he was trained to not bother with other dogs.

I said a silent prayer and kept going. He didn't bother us, thank god.

[QuickSilver]

Originally Posted by Maximo

My heart goes out to this woman and her poor Chihuahua. I have been wrestling with this problem from the day I brought Max home. In my attempt to protect him, I isolated him and created behavioral problems. We have been working very hard to overcome these problems. I still won't let Max go near an unleashed dog, and I observe dogs and handlers before I agree to let the dogs meet. Even then, I am on guard.

Apparently, Thor had a run-in with a pitbull before I owned him. His first mommy actually thought it was funny. Apparently they were in the park and he did his standard, if I run up to this big dog and snap and lunge, he'll never notice he's 20x bigger than me. This pitbull just picked Thor up, right off the ground. I don't know if the pitbull's owner made him drop Thor or what. Thor wasn't harmed at all. I hate to think how that story could have ended.

Right now, if we pass another dog on the street, I put Thor in a Sit and treat him if we doesn't bark while the other dog passes. In the park, he gets a treat for greeting a small dog, or not barking at a big one. I'm thinking maybe Thor will be better off if I pick him up (but no barking, or he won't get a treat). Then he'll know if I put him down, I have confidence that he's safe.

[furbutt]

Here in England we dont even have dog parks. We can just walk to the nearest park and let them off (if its an area thats allowed) and normally the area has no fencing and is just a field or grass or in the middle of a city or twon. Other wise its the countryside where u walk your dog. I have never seen ANYTHING like a dog park here in England a place where u can let your dogs off without them running off and getting lost. I think we should have them here.

So sorry this happened how terrible. Thank you for telling me, i now know to keep Poppy away from big dogs just incase. xxxx

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Apparently, Thor had a run-in with a pitbull before I owned him. His first mommy actually thought it was funny. Apparently they were in the park and he did his standard, if I run up to this big dog and snap and lunge, he'll never notice he's 20x bigger than me. This pitbull just picked Thor up, right off the ground. I don't know if the pitbull's owner made him drop Thor or what. Thor wasn't harmed at all. I hate to think how that story could have ended.

Right now, if we pass another dog on the street, I put Thor in a Sit and treat him if we doesn't bark while the other dog passes. In the park, he gets a treat for greeting a small dog, or not barking at a big one. I'm thinking maybe Thor will be better off if I pick him up (but no barking, or he won't get a treat). Then he'll know if I put him down, I have confidence that he's safe.

Thank goodness Thor wasn't injured or killed! Although I am working on socializing, I remain fearful that a dog will go for my boys' necks.

I tried the routine of picking up Max when we passed dogs because I couldn't find an effective way to communicate to him that there was no danger. All the experts will say that picking up the dog is the worst thing you could do. When I picked up Max, I would deep breath to signal to him that everything was okay. That worked for awhile, but then he went back to barking at every dog we encountered. I can't say it was a worthless exercise because I think now he listens for my deep breathing when I leave him on the ground.

Giving him a sense of "loose" leash also helps. When I pretend to leave it up to him whether or not he wants to get close to another dog, that is when he looks to me for direction. Reverse psychology for dogs.

We do all of our walking in the street and open areas. Not sure how I would handle things on sidewalks where there isn't much time to assess an approaching dog and owner.

[QuickSilver]

Did you try giving him treats when he got picked up? I want Thor to associate other dogs with yummy things.

Thor has kind of weird behavior when meeting other dogs now. He'll turn around and look at me to see what I want him to do, and then half the time he barks his head off anyway.

I try to judge if the dogs are small / calm enough for him to greet. Maybe I should just put him into a Sit every time, keep it consistent. Gah, I don't know.