It's the reality of dog parks. Especially if there's no big dog/small dog separation of any kind. Even a totally accidental collision between dogs of vastly different sizes can cause serious harm to a small dog - my own poodle was run over by my MiL's adolescent Leonberger (giant breed) and wound up with a spinal injury because of it. It wasn't immediately obvious because the pain was intermittent. Thankfully it was something that could be resolved with medication and activity restrictions, but that's not always the case.
Even if it's an accident, things could get messy if your dog injures another seriously and the owners want compensation for medical expenses or report it as an 'attack' and try to get your dog labelled legally as a 'dangerous dog'. It sucks, but you have to keep this in mind and approach this situation as if you're protecting not just the small dogs who might get hurt, but your dog as well.
If this is a 'Thunderdome' dog park that's mostly a flat, empty bit of fenced land small enough that there's no way you can remove yourself from the other dogs, your best bet is to only use it when it's empty or when there's no small dogs, and be ready to leave early or even turn around and go home immediately if you show up and it's too busy. This may require going very early in the morning or at odd hours in the middle of the workday. The other option would be to hook your dog up to a long line and a harness so it's safer to play fetch on an unfenced field. If this is an actual fenced park for dogs with trails, wooded areas, multiple sections, etc. stick to a remote section and work on being able to call your dog in if a small dog shows up in the area you're using, and again be ready to leave earlier than you wanted or go home without playing if it's too busy to play fetch safely.
Even if it's an accident, things could get messy if your dog injures another seriously and the owners want compensation for medical expenses or report it as an 'attack' and try to get your dog labelled legally as a 'dangerous dog'. It sucks, but you have to keep this in mind and approach this situation as if you're protecting not just the small dogs who might get hurt, but your dog as well.
If this is a 'Thunderdome' dog park that's mostly a flat, empty bit of fenced land small enough that there's no way you can remove yourself from the other dogs, your best bet is to only use it when it's empty or when there's no small dogs, and be ready to leave early or even turn around and go home immediately if you show up and it's too busy. This may require going very early in the morning or at odd hours in the middle of the workday. The other option would be to hook your dog up to a long line and a harness so it's safer to play fetch on an unfenced field. If this is an actual fenced park for dogs with trails, wooded areas, multiple sections, etc. stick to a remote section and work on being able to call your dog in if a small dog shows up in the area you're using, and again be ready to leave earlier than you wanted or go home without playing if it's too busy to play fetch safely.
