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This has got to be the most ridiculous dog park experience yet. Most of you know how much I just LOVE the dog park
The boys haven't gotten out much lately, every now and then I get a stupid attack of guilt and think they need to, which is dumb, because they'd both rather stay home and lay in front of the fan, or romp with each other in the play yard.
So, when I got off work unexpectedly early Monday, I took them to the nice dog park near the reservoir, which is pretty much empty mid-day. They just kind of wandered around, the pointer that doesn't like Earnest was there, but that's fine, I stay on one side of the park, he stays on the other.
This is a BIG open park, we were down toward the back and off to the west, keeping our distance from the pointer. There's a metal bench I make "home base" with my water and collapsible dishes, and my poop bags- I bring extra and fill the receptacles. A lady with a young? (year, maybe a little more) Lab arrived. She didn't have a lead on the dog, and it was being goofy, running back to the car, and then to the lady as she tried to open the gate. She held the first gate open and the dog finally ran in.
Meanwhile, Earnest walks away from the bench where I'm sitting and Phyfe is laying in the shade, and dumps a huge load of Great Dane cow pie. So I grab a bag and head to clean up. Earnest is watching the lady and the new dog, I send him back to down stay by Phfye until I can assess the new arrival. As soon as the woman gets the second gate open her dog takes off like a shot. She is leisurely walking behind, there is no way she will keep up. I'm standing by the pile of poo, but haven't picked it up because I don't want to get caught off guard, I'm watching the pointer as well as keeping an eye on my dogs. I'm thinking Earnest will get a good run out of this, Phyfe really doesn't like to play the kind of games Labs play. This dog runs right up, through the poo with all fours and then LAUNCHES at me, pooey feet all over my shirt. I say "OFF" with a push, and the dog gets down, bounces in the poo some more, and comes up for another jump. I grab him by the elbows on his front legs and overbalance him so he falls, - and yes, sometimes God smiles  he falls right in the POO! About this time the lady finally catches up, and the dog runs to her, she puts her hand down and rubs it along the dog to see if it's hurt, and gets ....(you see it coming, don't you?) a big smear on her hand. By now I'm cracking up, and I don't care about poo on me (after all it's an occupational hazard) and it's WORTH IT to see this. The lady starts yelling, Phyfe starts barking, and Earnest is up with his tail wagging, just waiting to "break" and join in the fun. So far the lady hasn't said anything, because she was catching her breath from chasing the dog. I say "please hold your dog while I get mine, so this doesn't get worse" and I'm still laughing. She starts something about "hurting her dog and it's only a puppy and doesn't understand, and has a problem with jumping and" ....... but she's hanging on for dear life, so I go leash up the boys and head out - on the way I meet the Pointer and his owner, and HE'S cracking up, too (I like this man, our dogs just don't get along so well) so he says "bye" through a fit of giggles, I hang back so he can get out, then I go out. I load the boys in the back of the car, then am walking around to unlock the front when the goofy dog comes running up again-in the parking lot- the lady hasn't finished with me. Phyfe goes nuts because he's territorial, he noisily protects the car. Earnest starts his annoying high pitched want to play bark because it's a Lab, and they're fun. The lady again wants to argue about me "manhandling" (isn't it "doghandling?") her dog, then make nasty remarks about "aggressive" dogs not belonging. The Pointer guy pulls alongside in his SUV and says "I saw the whole thing- if it was me you'd be paying for a new shirt- I suggest you take your dog to obedience school before you come back here." This gives me time to hop in the car and go. NO MORE stupid park for us, I've been too lazy- it's back to hiking the off lead, no bicycle trails- I need the excersize anyway. Of course, I might go again... if I need a good story!
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Hi everyone!

My son Levi and I are participating this Saturday in the Furry Scurry, a fundraiser to help the Denver Dumb Friends League. The DDFL runs a shelter, helps with rescue, has spay and neuter clinics, low cost microchips, and does humane education. They are a wonderful organization that truly makes a difference.
We will walk around Washington Park in downtown Denver. This year we are walking with a group of our Labrador Retriever friends as part of their corporate team.
Please help us show them that Big Paws have Big Hearts, too!
Here's a link to Levi's personal donation page.
http://furryscurry.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=163704&u=163704-128490050&e=594124304
THANKS!

I'm really arguing with a friend. I maintain that you shouldn't bring your dog to the dog park until you are reasonably sure that you have a solid recall. No dog is 100%, but I maintain that the dog park is not the place to take a dog who doesn't listen when excited in order to "practice". Obedience class or outside the fence is the place for that. I contend that it's dangerous not to be able to call your dog out of a potentially volatile situation.
My friend maintains that her dog is better off learning to be polite with other dogs FROM other dogs, so when her dog gets nipped or chased for being a pesty puppy, it's ok. She says that expecting recall at the dog park is "unrealistic" dogs will be dogs, and should be able to "let go."  She also thinks that bringing treats to the dog park is a necessary bribe, and it's ok to bring training treats into the park.
Am I just nuts? Are my years as an Animal Control Officer, where I saw thousands of fights and injuries making me "paranoid" like my friend says?

I am very interested in dog behavior, I am lucky enough to work at a kennel, I walk the dogs during the week and run the playgroups on weekends.  Most of the interaction is pretty predictable, it's after I come home that things get weird.
Phyfe and Earnest are both almost 3, Earnest was neutered really young, Phyfe around a year.  Earnest has his own odd kind of alpha stuff, he won't fight, but he postures, pushes, and occasionally humps to get his point across. Phyfe was raised with horses, and really doesn't understand dogs.  They're ok with each other, Earnest acts like he's the boss, Phyfe will let him mouth him all over, and shove him like a football player on defense, but if he does something too annoying Phyfe backs up and gives him one of his sonic boom barks, and Earnest backs off.  Earnest will play bow and run around, Phyfe might run a bit, but he doesn't know "tag" or "gotcha last" at the dog park he'd rather get humans to pet him.
They got a tug toy for an early Christmas present, I thought they'd love it. Earnest's best friend,  (no, Phyfe is not his best friend, Phyfe is the BOY'S best friend) Calvin,( a BIG yellow lab)  plays tug with Earnest for hours whenever we see him.  Well, we finally got both Phyfe and Earnest clamped on to either end of the toy, they started pulling. I thought finally they'd have something to do together. Earnest started play growling, to him that's a big part of that game. Phyfe dropped his end, barked, and went downstairs to Levi's room with a squeaky thing- which he proceeded to de-squeak.
Earnest doesn't go down there, he stood at the top of the stairs waving the toy forlornly, then dropped it in the hall and got his Gallileo Bone. Now nobody wants to play tug, not even with people. That toy has become "no man's land" and neither one will touch it.
Silly dogs!

Or get a phone call from an official agency that they found your dog?
If they ended up in "jail" how long were they in the facility compared to how long they were lost?

Our smoke alarm in the hall goes off if you take a shower and forget to close the bathroom door afterward- so the steam doesn't come out of the bathroom.  Well, the first time it happened Earnest got excited and kept running to me so I yelled "fire drill" and sent him to the back door.  He caught on right away, now I let the alarm go off on purpose once a week or so, and at the first beep he's down by the back door.
He also goes if I yell "fire drill" even if the alarm's not going off.
Phyfe stays in the basement bedroom with my son, he stands at the door at the top of the steps (which is right next to where Earnest is) and barks. 
I figure ALL our kids, fur and skin, should know what to do just in case.

Ok, here's the deal. Because Earnest is half Lab, I participate on a Lab board and have a lot of friends with Labradors.  They have certain viewpoints on behavior that don't always match mine, but I'm beginning to think it's the difference in breeds that causes the varying ideas.  I'd like to compare their view with the "big dog people".

Here's the scenario, on our camping trip a few weeks ago, it started to rain and we decided to pack up. As we were packing a family came and decided to wait for us so they could have our site.  Both dogs were staked out near the picnic table, and I was loading stuff into bags and packs to be taken to the car. The Dad (a friendly stranger) offered to help us bring things to the car. When I agreed, he first took the two tents, which I handed to him. When he came back he reached for MY big backpack, which contained all the cooking stuff and first aid stuff, as well as my personal stuff and extra boots.
Phyfe, who is Mastiff and St. Bernard, jumped up from where he was laying, gave the guy a big "WOOF" and a throaty growl (no teeth).
When I said "It's ok, I told him he could carry it" Phyfe backed down, but kept an eye on the guy and what he was carrying from then on.

Here's the question- was Phyfe being a bad, aggressive, alpha dog or a good, protective watchdog doing his job?