Socialization / Dog Park at 15 Weeks

[MikeT66]

Shelby427,

How can you state that if a fight breaks out my Rottie will be to blame? That is a very poor attitude for someone on a Rottweiler forum to take and say. You are just making a blanket statement that if a fight breaks out that my Rottie will be to blame. How could he be to blame if he wasnt even involved in the so called fight? Like I said I knew I was going to get hammered by disagreeing with the masses and like I said before I will have to just agree to disagree.

[anita]

I know people have strong feelings about dog parks in general, but my local dog park is a wonderful place to bring my pup to romp with his friends. I get to see exactly how he plays with other dogs, how he greets new dogs, and how he behaves around many people. It's a joy to wach my pup display his personality in a play situation. Everyone in the park is in love wih him. My local dog park is a group of regulars who are very responsible and always supervise their dogs. All or most of the dogs know each other. An aggressive dog will be asked to leave. We even have an official website where photos of all the dogs playing are posted daily. ossiningdogpark.com

[moondog]

Originally Posted by MikeT66

It is a very small park and there are a regular group of owners/dogs who bring their dogs there and Ryker and the other dogs get along great.......I am sure there are some that are out of control with owners who let there dogs do anything they want but this dog park is not like that and all the owners are very responsible with their dogs.

You don't understand why dog parks are discouraged because you haven't run into any clueless owners with aggressive dogs (yet). Keep in mind you likely will at some point in time and then you'll understand.

[MikeT66]

Moondog,

Yes you are correct that I have not run into any aggressive dogs at the dog park I go to right now and probably will one day but until that time comes I do not see the issue with taking a dog to a dog park for fun. Also I have never been robbed at gun point before either but it does not stop me from carrying money in my pocket because it may happen. What a way to look at things. This situation can happen so lets not have fun ever because of it.

[Nishasmom]

MikeT66, I believe shelby means everyone ELSE will blame your rottie; Who would ever blame a sweet looking golden or lab .

I do take Nisha to dog-parks on a regular basis...the main reason I go is b/c of the wide open, leash free space !! Nisha only plays with a few dogs she has know since birth (well...8 wks); we call these dogs her "cousins" (family members dogs).

At the dog park, Nisha tends to ignore all dogs. She is 100% focused on the Frisbee, or Tennis Ball. Also, our dog park is on "Town Lake", so she swims too. Dogs often "invite" her to play, but she ignores them...always has...always will.

I have very good control over Nisha, and her recall is almost 100%. I would not feel comfortable unless this was so.

[MikeT66]

Nishasmom,

I agree. That is how the dog park is where we take Ryker. It is local to our town and the only people that ever come are the same ones we have seen since day one. All the owners are very responsible and the dogs all know each other and play very very well together. I guess I get defensive when opinions suggest that this will happen and that will happen. If you lived your own life like that it would be a pretty sorry existence. Ryker has thrived since we have been taking him to the dog park and is a very happy and wonderful dog even at his young age and I think he has benefited from going there from time to time. To me it also shows other people who have a negative outlook on the breed how wonderful a Rottie actually is and we have been told from other people at the dog park just that.

[kilasmamix3]

For some reason i had realized that rottweilers are always the victim... I take my pup to petco and petsmart.. She's only 13.5 weeks old.. I don't find a problem... Is this a bad thing or no?

Dezaree

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by MikeT66

Shelby427,

How can you state that if a fight breaks out my Rottie will be to blame? That is a very poor attitude for someone on a Rottweiler forum to take and say. You are just making a blanket statement that if a fight breaks out that my Rottie will be to blame. How could he be to blame if he wasnt even involved in the so called fight? Like I said I knew I was going to get hammered by disagreeing with the masses and like I said before I will have to just agree to disagree.

You have a puppy right now...not a full grown male Rottweiler. Things could change with his attitude when he is all grown up. This breed is not a Golden or a Lab, they often have same sex aggression. They often can be dominating .

Does it man that you Ryker will be? Who knows?...but what you have as a puppy, and what you have with a full grown mature dog is different.

I think what Shelby427 was saying was often some smart ass dog comes along (could be any breed...but often the most common...Labs., Goldens), and tries to hump your mature Ryker. Your Ryker may fight back or growl and snarl...even though he is just defending himself...it will be the Rottweiler that is blamed....not the Golden or Lab.

Gina

[moondog]

Originally Posted by MikeT66

Also I have never been robbed at gun point before either but it does not stop me from carrying money in my pocket because it may happen.

What a way to look at things. This situation can happen so lets not have fun ever because of it.

Well, only a fool would fail to take the "part of town" they are walking around in into consideration in determining how safe their money is in their pocket. Same goes for dog parks. As I said, until "it" happens to you, or you see "it" first hand, you're not likely to heed any advice we give on the subject.

[MikeT66]

Everyone on here has been extremely helpful to me during my time posting on here and like I said previously I have taken alot of the suggestions on here and I and Ryker are better for it. Some of you may have years and years experience and your experiences or just that experiences and can be taken for what they are worth. Until I have an issue at my local dog park I will continue to stand firm and believe it is a good thing for Ryker at this moment. Should the time come that it gets out of control (which I believe it will not)I will consider making changes then. But to just tell someone it is a bad thing when they are looking for advice on whether it is a good thing to take your dog to a dog park to me is wrong. How can you say it is a bad thing if you have never done it? You are just offering an opinion without any first hand experience doing it from what I have read from alot of the posts. A dog whether it is a Rottie or not at anytime can get aggressive in my opinion given the circumstance it is put in. It is an animal we are talking about and to me no matter how much training you do anything can happen at any given time good or bad no matter how great of an owner some of us think we are. Thanks again for all the help and suggestions it is greatly appreciated.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by MikeT66

But to just tell someone it is a bad thing when they are looking for advice on whether it is a good thing to take your dog to a dog park to me is wrong.

And to say it's a good thing when there is clear evidence to the contrary is.....good advice?

Originally Posted by MikeT66

How can you say it is a bad thing if you have never done it? You are just offering an opinion without any first hand experience doing it from what I have read from alot of the posts.

I don't mind that you disagree for disagreement's sake in the least. I do mind, however, when you state things as fact that, in fact, are not. The search function here is very useful:

Originally Posted by moondog

7.5. 2001 - At the off-leash dog park, people have a tendency to gather in the center to chat, and don't really supervise their dogs, which become this huge mass of activity, which bothers me, so I avoid that area and walk the perimeter. One day a fight broke out in the center, with more and more dogs joining in. Luna took off for the festivities in a full run and I yelled "Luna, Come!!" Well, this is the best darn dog I've ever had!!! She turned right around and came to me! I was floored (and grateful).

Originally Posted by moondog

4.9.2002 - I'm not a big fan of dog parks, either. I've taken Luna a couple dozen times and nine times out of ten she had a really good time. A couple times she became the object of some really ugly bullying and that was a couple times too many for me. I'm not willing to risk the good attitude she has with other dogs just because I want her to have a good time. We've since found other dogs that she has a great time with and for us that's the best situation. Nothing gets out of control and we're all on the same page as far as how we expect the dogs to behave with each other.

Originally Posted by moondog

10.15.2004 - The last time I took my dog to a dog park was about 5 years ago (she's 9-1/2). Two rather LARGE malamute/husky types moved in and cornered her about 30 seconds after we entered, right after I took her leash off. All she wanted to do was get to me...they kept her cornered, and were simply being bullies, moving in and putting more pressure on her with any move she made to try to escape. I was instantly concerned they might push her to the point where she'd make a decision to fight her way out of the corner, so I moved in and gave her an escape route, which she gladly took. I have no idea who the owners were - either they didn't notice or didn't care. Either way, I was not about to subject my dog to a situation like that ever again. We left, and never looked back. No more dog parks, no more group play. I have selected her playmates from that day forward and she only plays with one dog at a time, and a dog *I* know is a good playmate.

Originally Posted by moondog

10.9.2005 -
Originally Posted by momasboy
That's why I thought the dog park was such a great idea.
In theory, they are. The problem is, as has been said so many times, that you simply do not know what kinds of dogs you will encounter there. Maybe you will find decent playmates, and maybe you will find a dog that would like a piece of yours for lunch (which DOES happen, and then all the other dogs love to jump in and "help"). The dynamic changes with the dogs that are present at any given time, and Disneyland can turn into Hell on Earth in the blink of an eye.

Originally Posted by moondog

1.21.2007 - What people don't seem to "get" is that, while dogs among a known group "can" peacefully coexist (as they do in our homes most of the time), the group at a dog park is forever changing. To dogs, who possess an intrinsic need to know where they stand in a group, this means they are put in a situation where they are forever having to reestablish rank. That is a stressful activity for all dogs, and not all dogs can handle it well, if at all. The "disney" concept of dog parks is in the minds of people.....dogs have a much different view of it.....and much of it is not fun for them at all, not to mention potentially dangerous.

There's a taste of my lack of "experience" for you.

[SurfOnH20]

Miket66..Hey I am with you..I take my 7-month old girl to the dog park often. She has a great time and comes home tired from play..Yeah, if you have a dominant animal maybe a dog park is not the place for a dog. Socialization with other animals is as important as with socialization them with humans. The one thing I have found out about this forum is that some people have VERY STRONG opinions and are sensitive about some issues concerning Rottweilers. Some understandable and some are completely narrow minded and unreasonable. So don't fell out of place when you don't agree with the majority. Maybe they are the ones who have it wrong...

[Jaidann]

I think what these folks are trying to explain here is if a Rottie is involved with any kind of dog fight/problem in a park or wherever, it's going to be the Rotties fault simply because he's a Rottie. With all the horrific press they receive, uneducated people will be the first ones to lay blame.

My old Rottie girl was not dog aggressive at all and was well socialized. However, she couldn't stand rude dogs and only tolerated them because I asked her to. After several run ins with rude dogs at dog parks, for her sake, I stopped going to them as her tolerance was low and I was putting her in a position she was not comfortable in. A lot of uneducated people have no clue that their dogs are being rude. They think it is funny or cute or that their dog was just being "friendly". Here's a link that some might enjoy. It's a good read and might help explain how rude behavior gets the blame game transferred from the rude dog to the one who's only trying to escape the rude behavior.

He Just Wants to Say "HI!" Article on rude dogs & dealing with aggression by Suzanne Clothier

Travel down the page about 1/4 of the way. Grab a cup of coffee and put up your feet, enjoy the read. It's long but I found it very enlightening.

[FilosFolks]

I don't think Shelby or Moon, or anyone has it "wrong" here. We are all experiencing different dogs and different scenarios.

Seattle is a relatively large city, and we have several dog parks. That said, there are many I won't go to because of precisely what has been described above.
I will go to a couple, only.
I think we cannot generalize here that all dog parks are BAD. It's dependent on your dog & location.
If I were in the L.A. area (or a larger metropolis) you would not find me in ANY dog park. Period. Some of these responses are completely understandable and yes, some of us have yet to see any problems.

But, I don't take my dogs to parks where harassing dogs are allowed. Their pics are posted at entry. "Arguments" happen but it is less than few and far between and no reason to stay away from the park itself.

Seeing my dogs with strangers (human & not) reminds me just how friendly they are and this actually HELPS our breed.

JMHO, Ailee.

[MikeT66]

Originally Posted by SurfOnH20

Miket66..Hey I am with you..I take my 7-month old girl to the dog park often. She has a great time and comes home tired from play..Yeah, if you have a dominant animal maybe a dog park is not the place for a dog. Socialization with other animals is as important as with socialization them with humans. The one thing I have found out about this forum is that some people have VERY STRONG opinions and are sensitive about some issues concerning Rottweilers. Some understandable and some are completely narrow minded and unreasonable. So don't fell out of place when you don't agree with the majority. Maybe they are the ones who have it wrong...

I take advice on here religiously and like I said before Ryker and I are better for it. I think Ryker is doing great going to the dog park a couple times a week and really enjoys it. Like I stated it is a very small local park and everyone that goes is a regular and everyone although we are chatting keep a very close eye on ALL THE DOGS!!!! (not just Ryker because he is a Rottie). I cant base on what I do with Ryker on what people say may or may not happen. Every dog, Rottie or not is different and what is good for one may not be good for another and I understand that. For me to not let him have the fun he has there because what others say may happen when he gets older to me is BS. That is just a speculation based on someone elses experience. I will have to evaluate the situation when Ryker gets older when the time comes and take the appropriate steps at that time. I am open to all opinions and advice and to me no matter how much experience you have doesnt make you right all the time. So I guess I will have to disagree with the Majority on this one and go against all the so called experts. Thanks SurfOnH2O.