So I took Maddox to the dog park today. I don't take him that much because there are a couple of dogs I would consider too aggressive and before he was just too much of a puppy to handle it well. Still some aggressive dogs there today, but that is another story...
First, I should explain that our dog park is a large set of fields near on university. The dogs usually stay in one small corner. It isn't an official dog park, but on any given afternoon there are at least 10-15 dogs there at once. The dog park is a large field that happens to also kind of be the cross-country team's course.
So on our way in I had Maddox on his leash and we were walking to the dog play area. He was sniffing around and I told him to come to me, just as practice for later while no dogs were around. He is coming towards me when this guy comes running up from behind and SMACKS Maddox. Hard. In a very angry pissed off way. Maddox was clearly coming towards me at a gentle trot, tongue hanging out, barely even looked at the guy and I know we were not in his running way as the guy took a step to the side of his gait to smack my dog in the eye. He was running quite fast and I was in such shock that I didn't get to say anything and wanted to make sure Maddox was ok. Maddox was whimpering and clearly knocked a little silly from the smack.
I'm so enraged. I don't even know what to do. I asked the people there if this had ever happened to them, and one girl who had just arrived said when she was walking in with her tiny dog the same runner screamed at her to get the f*** out of the way. The path there is really wide (10+ feet) and her dog was on a short leash. He just didn't want to break his path, but he came running from behind her.
I realize this is the cross country team's practice path and this individual was clearly not a team member but could have been a coach, if not another adult from the community. However, I still firmly believe it is not right to smack my dog, especially not as hard as he did, who was clearly not being aggressive or even jumping or running towards him. How would you all handle it if this situation ever came up again?
Like I said, I don't take Maddox to the park that often, but when I do, I want to be prepared.