Gosh, it's getting harder and harder to have a good time at a dog park with Guinness. He's now five and a half months old and big, which makes him a magnet for ill-mannered dogs with a chip on their shoulders. I'm not sure which is worse - the little dogs that are aggressive towards him or their clueless owners who do not correct their dogs behavior. Guinness has been attacked three times in the past two weeks by little dogs (two jack russells and one mini schnauzer). This evening, we went to yet another dog park and two little dogs immediately started with their agressive, in-your-face barking at Guinness. He froze, uncertain as how to proceed, which makes me feel so bad for him since he enters the park as his usual friendly, easy going ready-to-play puppy self. I called him to come to me and the moment he started to move the two little dogs sprang into action. I have zero tolerance for this so I immediately snarled, growled and yelled at the dogs to back down and away from my puppy, which made their owners defensive.
"Oh, they don't know what to make of your dog - their being protective of us",they said, spewing out the usual excuses that are given. I said politely that Guinness has been attacked by three small dogs and he's still a puppy so it's my duty to protect him from ill-meaning dogs. Another small dog owner piped up "Well, the dogs are probably scared - have you seen the paws on that thing?" Grrrr! Nothing gets my blood boiling more when a fellow dog owner referrs to my dog a "THING" and their own dog as "our baby". So I replied "THAT THING is a wonderful good natured puppy and I don't want his temperment to change because of unwarrented aggression from other dogs."
Honestly! I can only imagine how it would go over if my Saint Bernard started growling, lunging and barking at other dogs! Yet, it's considered justifiable when smaller dogs do that to bigger ones. I've owned and trained dogs of various shapes and sizes and I do not factor size into their conduct - whether it was my 10 pound Norfolk terrier or my 50 pound Australian Shepherd, no unprovoked aggression towards other dogs was condonned.
Sorry for the rant, but I'm becomming utterly frustrated at the incompetence of so many dog owners. I would forgo the dog parks entirely, but they are almost a neccessity for teaching canine social skills. I made a promise to myself many years ago that I would not allow any puppy I own to be attacked or bullied because I didn't want to offend the owner. I just wish I didn't have to be put in this situation so frequently.