So I took my doggie to the dog park today as I do most weekends. I use this opportunity to socialize him with dogs big and small. I consider him to be a medium sized dog, about 30 odd pounds.
I also brought two of the kids today, and they ran around, and eventually put their feet in the little pond in the section for "small dogs".
Now, based purely on the signage I freely take him to both sides. According to the signage dogs no smaller than 12in in height and no taller than 18in in height, with a marker where the maximum height is. Since I don't walk around with measuring tape I go by the marker, and my guy bumps right up to it.
The sign also says dogs younger than 4 months old are not allowed, neither are overly aggressive dogs, and dogs in heat.
Where the marker is allows for a large range of dogs, and plenty of people take dogs less than 12in height, and aggressive dogs.
My dog was winding down on the "general population"side, so I brought him with me to collect the kids. They asked me for 5 more min, so I said ok and meandered to the exit with my guy, who was just sniffing around. Note, my dog is not dog aggressive. He plays rough, when the signals are there, but when another dog says "back off", he does. He's only about 8months old, so he's still learning, but he's been really good. He knows how to communicate.
As I'm casually walking through with my guy, this woman with a wiener dog starts yelling at me.
"You need to get your dog on a leash or out of here, or I'm calling the city!"
Me: "What?" at this point I had eyes on my dog (always do), and he was sniffing a plant.
"He's too big!"
Me: "He's shorter than the marker on the sign."
Whore huffs: "He's not less than 18in!"
Me:"He is, according to the sign!"
Another random wiener dog woman: "MY dog's 12in long!"
Me: "WTF? It's HEIGHT, not LENGTH!" I'm getting pretty angry at this point, and have lost the ability to argue logically. Otherwise I would have pointed out that, according to the sign, all their dogs were too short!
At this point my dog starts sniffing at one of the little wiener dogs, and the lady who's been yelling at me freaks out.
Me: "Lady! He's not going to attack your dog!"
Whore: "MY dog will attack yours, and then yours will attack mine! MY dog takes offense at bigger dogs!!! He's too big to be here! Don't you see how everyone's holding their dogs! If you don't leave RIGHT NOW I'm calling the police!!!!"
I was too pissed at this point to bother, so I called for the kids. On my way out I push him up to the sign, yep, still just under the marker. Now, if the marker that says 18in is higher than 18in actually is, why is that my problem? Again, I don't walk around with measuring tape just to make sure cities are placing markers at the correct height. For the record, I have no idea what height he is, I don't even know my own height.
If I'd had my wits about me, then I would have asked her why the hell is she bringing a dog aggressive dog that's poorly socialized to the dog park? Honestly, if her dog has an issue with being sniffed by another dog, whatever the size, then it shouldn't BE at the dog park.
Note: I'm just venting about the stupid women, not intending to start a dog debate. Even IF my dog is over the height limit, then she should have approached me in a non aggro manner.
ETA: If my dog were misbehaving or being bad, I could see her getting pissy, but he wasn't. He was just sniffing and being chill. She went from zero to aggro in no time.
I also brought two of the kids today, and they ran around, and eventually put their feet in the little pond in the section for "small dogs".
Now, based purely on the signage I freely take him to both sides. According to the signage dogs no smaller than 12in in height and no taller than 18in in height, with a marker where the maximum height is. Since I don't walk around with measuring tape I go by the marker, and my guy bumps right up to it.
The sign also says dogs younger than 4 months old are not allowed, neither are overly aggressive dogs, and dogs in heat.
Where the marker is allows for a large range of dogs, and plenty of people take dogs less than 12in height, and aggressive dogs.
My dog was winding down on the "general population"side, so I brought him with me to collect the kids. They asked me for 5 more min, so I said ok and meandered to the exit with my guy, who was just sniffing around. Note, my dog is not dog aggressive. He plays rough, when the signals are there, but when another dog says "back off", he does. He's only about 8months old, so he's still learning, but he's been really good. He knows how to communicate.
As I'm casually walking through with my guy, this woman with a wiener dog starts yelling at me.
"You need to get your dog on a leash or out of here, or I'm calling the city!"
Me: "What?" at this point I had eyes on my dog (always do), and he was sniffing a plant.
"He's too big!"
Me: "He's shorter than the marker on the sign."
Whore huffs: "He's not less than 18in!"
Me:"He is, according to the sign!"
Another random wiener dog woman: "MY dog's 12in long!"
Me: "WTF? It's HEIGHT, not LENGTH!" I'm getting pretty angry at this point, and have lost the ability to argue logically. Otherwise I would have pointed out that, according to the sign, all their dogs were too short!
At this point my dog starts sniffing at one of the little wiener dogs, and the lady who's been yelling at me freaks out.
Me: "Lady! He's not going to attack your dog!"
Whore: "MY dog will attack yours, and then yours will attack mine! MY dog takes offense at bigger dogs!!! He's too big to be here! Don't you see how everyone's holding their dogs! If you don't leave RIGHT NOW I'm calling the police!!!!"
I was too pissed at this point to bother, so I called for the kids. On my way out I push him up to the sign, yep, still just under the marker. Now, if the marker that says 18in is higher than 18in actually is, why is that my problem? Again, I don't walk around with measuring tape just to make sure cities are placing markers at the correct height. For the record, I have no idea what height he is, I don't even know my own height.
If I'd had my wits about me, then I would have asked her why the hell is she bringing a dog aggressive dog that's poorly socialized to the dog park? Honestly, if her dog has an issue with being sniffed by another dog, whatever the size, then it shouldn't BE at the dog park.
Note: I'm just venting about the stupid women, not intending to start a dog debate. Even IF my dog is over the height limit, then she should have approached me in a non aggro manner.
ETA: If my dog were misbehaving or being bad, I could see her getting pissy, but he wasn't. He was just sniffing and being chill. She went from zero to aggro in no time.
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