Dog park incident-Advice wanted

Get to know other Positively members here.

Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost

Post Reply
i_are_chanel
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:27 am

Dog park incident-Advice wanted

Post by i_are_chanel »

My dog Charlie is 7, going on 8, months old. I have been taking him to the dog park since he first had his shots, because I know how important it is to socialize your dog. He is a long haired chiuhuahua + dauchsand + papillion mix. He's about 10 lbs. My other dog is a golden retriever black lab mix, so he has never been afraid of other dogs at the dog park... But after reading the "Second fear factor" in this post, I am afraid that the incident that happend at the dog park yesterday may have more affect on him...

Incident :
First, I want to say that because he is so small some bigger dogs seem to be like, "Oh my god! What IS that? Is...Is that A DOG?" And they get way excited I believe because a lot of bigger dogs don't get socialized with smaller dogs. 98% of the time they don't hurt him. Dogs are very smart and most realize how big they are. Charlie loves to run with the big dogs, and learned quickly how to get out of the way of their feet. He's been accidently stepped on only a few times, Mostly by Lexi (my other dog) when we first got him
Yesterday, we were at the park and it was getting close to dinner so most people were leaving. Lexi really needs to excercise, so dogs or no, I try to stay over an hour with her at the park. Or else she is unbearable at home. Well, this new dog came in the gate and when he got let off his leash, he immediately went after Charlie. He chased him....Charlie got trampled....and since I've seen this happen a time or two before it usually ends up with him yelping, the dog going "Oh no! I'm sorry! Are you okay??" Because it is usually an accident.... They are running and he happens to be slower because his legs are shorter. But this dog just kept after him. His owner, a young female, did not try as hard as she could have to control her dog. Not only that, but he was clearly not listening to her calls. After a few more tramples and rolls in the dirt (and me screaming at the chick to make her dog stop it ) Charlie made it under a bench and the owner put her hand up (like a stop motion) said, "Hey! You're okay!" (She had this snotty tone that made me think that Charlie was over-reacting to her dog's actions) She then Turns around to approach her dog. He maintained his distance, as she walked and tried to get him to come to her (which took a few mins). I picked up Charlie and held him tight. He was shaking violently. He was so scared. I sat on the bench with him and tried to calm him down with my voice. I was not about to leave, even after the incident. (and knowing Lexi hadn't run out all her energy) and ESPECIALLY since the owner neither looked at me nor apologized to me for what her dog did to Charlie. My animal instincts/motherly instincts had kicked in, and although I wanted to scream at her, I just stood up, making it apparent I was NOT about to leave. (I was there first. How DARE she think I should leave after her dog behaved so forcefully). A few minutes later, she did leave with her dog. Charlie would did not want to get out of my arms for at least 30 minutes after that. And he was not even going to LET the boxer that came in approach, let alone smell him. Period. He barked at the boxer when he tried to jump on me and look at what I was holding, and Charlie barked a bark I have not heard him do before.....it was a fearful bark. Usually he barks from excitement, "Oh! OH MY GOSH! A DOG! A DOG! LOOK A DOG." But this bark was a "Get the hell away from me now" bark. Then, the owner and the dog that had chased and trampled him came back. Charlie went nuts. I could tell he was cursing that dog for scaring him so badly earlier. And the other people at the dog park whom I had told about the incident all were like "Wow...He knows who did it." And he did.
After the incident, he didn't want to get down from my arms. I eventually could get him to walk about 6 feet from me before we left, but the second a bigger dog would come near him he was darting towards me and scratching at my legs, telling me to pick him up.
Because he is in the 6-9 month old range, I am afraid this will make him afraid of other big dogs, which he never was before..... The rest of the time I was there I would reassure him none of the dogs were going to hurt him.....and of course none of them did.
Is there any thing I can do to make sure he is not permanently and negatively affected by this???
Lexi-3/4 golden retriever + 1/4 black lab. Bday Dec 1st 2007.

Charlie-long haired chihuahua + dauchsand + papillion. Bday Feb 29th 2008.
Post Reply