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Dog park drama
Just the facts, mam. Just the facts.
Fine, here they are.
We own a 10 month old puppy. A goofy puppy. A sweet puppy. A "toddler-can-pull-the-juiciest-steak-bone-out-of-his-mouth-and-he'd-be-happy-to-share-it" kind of puppy. But, he is big. Eighty-five pounds big. Goofy, big and puppy in the same breath makes for challenging fun times. As part of my puppy research, I read that large breed dogs have a lower propensity of bone cancer later in life if they remain un-neutered for at least 12 months. We lost our last dog to bone cancer so my big, goofy puppy has giant balls. At least for a couple of months more.
In New York City, puppy life takes place in the dog park and we are frequent visitors of many of them in and around our neighborhood. You learn quickly that there is always one bitch that tries to rule the dog park. Oh, and there is always one female dog that thinks she runs things too (among the pooches). The bitch that thinks she runs the dog park I was in this morning is a portly, sedentary woman. She comes to the park each morning and kvetches endlessly to anyone who will listen. For those of you who don't understand Yiddish, that means that she sits her fat ass down on a bench and releases a complaint-ridden stream of verbal diarrhea that is unbearable. All the while, her black and white Pointer mix harasses, attacks, growls, bites and generally menaces the other dogs in the park.
This morning, her demon dog decided my pup was his target and he went after him. To her credit, she grabbed Cujo quickly before he could inflict real damage on my dog. But, she then turned and sternly informed me that she could only hold her dog for so long and that un-neutered males were not allowed in the dog park, as she pointed me in the direction of a sign, implying that I should leave.
Well after lingering for a bit, contemplating giving her a piece of my mind, I put the leash on my big, goofy (and disappointed) puppy and started to leave. On my way out, I read the sign. There was no prohibition against un-neutered males but a warning to monitor them closely (which I do as opposed to sitting my fat ass on a bench and kvetching). There was, however, a prohibition against aggressive dogs. So, in true New York Style, I turned and I screamed across the park "Hey sister," that's right, I said sister. "You better reread the sign. It's aggressive dogs that aren't allowed in the park. You dogs is the aggressive one, you bitch."
Fine. Maybe I mumbled the last bit, but I really did scream the other stuff. As I stormed off, self-satisfied, she fired something back at me but I was too hopped up on adrenaline to care.
What a loser!
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Mon Aug 15, 2011 - 12:45 pm
I've said it before and I'll say it again, those dog park people aren't very nice...they are a breed to themselves.Reply -
Report Fri Aug 12, 2011 - 8:35 pmWe have the same situation here in Chicago. I used to take my dog to a great dob beach but have lost my nerve now. The bigger dogs just seemed to get more and more aggressive, and when you have a fairly submissive dog, it can be quite scary. Half the time I couldn't even find the owners and ended up having to leave after about 5 minutes. There are notices all over the place about aggressive dogs, but when there's no one to report the problem too, there's nothing you can do but leave. Sigh.Reply
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