I have taken it upon myself to give my mother's recently adopted rescue dog a more fulfilling life than what his previous owners probably did. He is an estimated 3 yr german shepherd mix. After spending his first 6 weeks with us pre-socializing with the 2 dogs we have at home, I cautiously brought him to a dog park, which was my first time as well. I introduced him outside the gates and talked to the people there for a bit trying to pick up some ins and outs of.. dog... park..ing. I ended up bringing him inside while still having him on the lead. He did alright, growled a bit and I had to kind of full on embrace him a few times. It was his first time and he behaved pretty expected.
Today I brought him there for a second time and it started off a little ruff. People suggested that him being on the leash was likely a contributing factor.. which makes sense to me but I still wasn't comfortable with being responsible for a dog that I don't know 100% what he's capable of. I ended up going to the neighboring empty little dog section with a nice man and his dog who helped ease my dog into it. After letting him interact with the dogs through the gate I decided to give it a shot and let him in with the other dogs without his leash. Admittedly, it felt a bit premature. He did really well for about an hour. I was talking to someone about how well he was acting when I let my guard down. I turned around to see him shaking a little dog around in a violent manner. I was pretty mortified and felt a little insecure about how to act afterward.
I was asking around for advice and told the owners of the little dog that I would simply not bring him if that was their wish. They and many others mostly just suggested I bring him at a time with fewer dogs.
After they left a few people tried to tell me that people shouldn't be bringing little dogs in with the big ones, but it seemed that people regularly do it so I don't think that's really a great excuse and am not really willing to share much blame.
I'm not really sure what people were thinking but they reassured me I was still welcome. Sometimes people are just polite though, and I don't want to cause people to not come.
On a side note, right before I brought the rescue dog there I tested the waters with my 10 year old golden retriever. He's the nicest dog in the world and he pretty much got gangraped by every dog there, male / female and poodles. (Pardon the language, but it was pretty ridiculous, even for the dog park regulars) I tried my best to take it all in stride, but it was pretty awkward at times. That's only relevant, because I got the feeling that regular park goers were pretty understanding that occasionally dogs are going to act like dogs.
Not trying to obsess over people's thoughts, but am not a fan of being "that guy" either. Any thoughts or advice? Tell me to it straight internet.
Today I brought him there for a second time and it started off a little ruff. People suggested that him being on the leash was likely a contributing factor.. which makes sense to me but I still wasn't comfortable with being responsible for a dog that I don't know 100% what he's capable of. I ended up going to the neighboring empty little dog section with a nice man and his dog who helped ease my dog into it. After letting him interact with the dogs through the gate I decided to give it a shot and let him in with the other dogs without his leash. Admittedly, it felt a bit premature. He did really well for about an hour. I was talking to someone about how well he was acting when I let my guard down. I turned around to see him shaking a little dog around in a violent manner. I was pretty mortified and felt a little insecure about how to act afterward.
I was asking around for advice and told the owners of the little dog that I would simply not bring him if that was their wish. They and many others mostly just suggested I bring him at a time with fewer dogs.
After they left a few people tried to tell me that people shouldn't be bringing little dogs in with the big ones, but it seemed that people regularly do it so I don't think that's really a great excuse and am not really willing to share much blame.
I'm not really sure what people were thinking but they reassured me I was still welcome. Sometimes people are just polite though, and I don't want to cause people to not come.
On a side note, right before I brought the rescue dog there I tested the waters with my 10 year old golden retriever. He's the nicest dog in the world and he pretty much got gangraped by every dog there, male / female and poodles. (Pardon the language, but it was pretty ridiculous, even for the dog park regulars) I tried my best to take it all in stride, but it was pretty awkward at times. That's only relevant, because I got the feeling that regular park goers were pretty understanding that occasionally dogs are going to act like dogs.
Not trying to obsess over people's thoughts, but am not a fan of being "that guy" either. Any thoughts or advice? Tell me to it straight internet.