hello everyone.

my first time posting here… although i’ve been to this site before, and have been taking my chase to the park since i he came into my life a year ago.

today (sunday), i went to the park early afternoon… the usual, with the exception of the new snow. bunch of happy dogs and owners. throwing balls, scooping poop, chasing, butt-sniffing.

a fight broke out between two larger dogs, a rottweiler and a dark grey/black dog. scary, as they always are…

the grey dog was obviously the aggressor/instigator in this situation… leaving the rotty pretty bloody.

my concern is that the owner of the grey dog didn’t seem to give a damn that his dog just hurt another dog. didn’t leash his dog, didn’t check on the rotty or its owner. simply walked down towards the marsh.

look, i know there are certain risks that we dog owners take when we bring our dogs to this park. i realize that fights/scuffles happen. in fact, just last week a dog who my Chase has played with a million times… got overwhelmed by a third dog, and attacked both Chase and the third dog.

the difference IS: that dog owner immediately leashed her dog. apologized. checked in with me, asking if Chase was hurt….  which, in my opinion, is the obvious way to deal with a scuffle situation.

basically we’re all strangers. we give each other the benefit of the doubt – HOPING upon hope that others will keep their pets vaccinated, and be able to know their dogs temperament enough to make the decision if taking them to an OFF LEASH PARK is a responsible decision.

my question: what are we, responsible dog owners, to do in situations when dog owners are not taking reasonable measures to ensure theirs and other dogs’ well-being?

is there some sort of consequence that can happen? again, i realize that dogs are pack animals, and that the occasional fight/scuffle happens…. as with Chase’s good buddy last week. i’m not saying ban a dog if it is involved in something…. or maybe i am.

people just need to be held accountable.

last week i saw a dog arrive at the park in a muzzle. it was made of canvas or something like that, and seemed perfectly safe. i was comfortable with my dog saying hello to him, and was thankful that the muzzled dog’s owner was aware of his dog’s temperament. the owner was comfortable fielding questions about the muzzle, and was obviously in control of his dog at all times. i appreciated that.

ideas?

Posted by chasesmom on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 12:06 am.