On Saturday I visited Otter Lake Dog Park for the first time (nice park!). There was a little red colored dog that was attacked by a Dane. I pulled our dogs away right away so they didn't get in the middle of it and we walked around the park. I heard that the owner had to leave with the dog and there may have been injuries to the dog. Does anyone know if the dog is ok? It did not sound good at all. The poor dog was screaming!
I'll try to let you know if there's a meetup at the park. I don't think there is normally such a huge turnout for a meetup. I've been to some and we had the only Danes there! This one was the first one after the rescue started sponsoring the meetup group and they've never had it at Otter Lake before.
MOST Danes are very good with smaller dogs, like they know they have to be gentler with them. While they no longer look big to me, I understand how they can look intimidating.
danewillow,
Could you please let us know if you become aware of any play dates at our park so that I can post them at on this site. I think that people would like to know when a large group of dogs are going to be at the park. I think thay people would appreciate the heads up. Others may like to be aware so that they can make a point of coming to the park. Anyone else who is aware of an upcoming event at out park, let me know and I will post it also.
This is an good time to remind everyone that they can add items to the event calandar by clicking on the create evenet link on the right hand side of the page.
It is my understanding that she did get the owners contact info.
Jan, if you e-mail me the file I think that I can post it. The dogparkusa.com site only allows file attachments to the original post, and the manager and the owner of the original post are the only ones that can edit. Kind of cumbersome, but we make it work.
Tom
Was the contact info for the other dog's owner obtained? I might be able to help out with that if it wasn't.
I have a very helpful step-by-step guide on what to do if your dog is injured in a dog park. It was prepared for the New York City dog parks, so the small claims court info is specific to NY state.
However, it is still useful.
It is a pdf file, which I will post here if someone tells me how I can do that. Otherwise, send me an email, and I will forward it to you (carrjan@comcast.net).
I hope everyone realizes that each owner is entirely responsible for damage and injuries caused by their dog.
Thus, if your dog is bitten/injured, the owner of the dog should be willing to give you contact information, since they are legally liable for any vet bills involved. If they refuse, you can take the matter to small claims court.
If the owner of the miscreant dog is unwilling to provide this contact information, your best bet is to enlist an onlooker to follow this person to the parking lot and get an auto license number. You should also get the names of any witnesses to the event.
As dog parks become more popular, we are seeing more clueless owners showing up with aggressive dogs that are not properly socialized. The best way to counter this trend is to let such owners know they will be held financially accountable if their dog injures either a person or another dog.
The group is part of a Great Dane meetup group: http://www.meetup.com/tcgreatdanes/
The sponsor of the meetup group is a Dane rescue. They normally have meetups once a month but not always at the same park (usually the Airport Dog Park).
There is also a north metro Dane meetup group but they usually meet at Elm Creek:
http://www.meetup.com/TNMGDM/
The meetups are usually planned a couple weeks in advance so if you check the websites you can see when and where the Danes are going to be. I wish there was a way for me to check out where the Puggles are going to be. I've seen those things intimidate more dogs than any Danes I've met.
I wasn't there but my husband was with Shelby and Morgan and he said there was an entire group of Great Danes; apparently a rescue group. I'm wondering if anyone knows them and could figure out their schedule for coming to the park. While I'm sure most of the dogs are very nice, they are very large and intimidating to many other dogs. I don't want to keep anyone from using the park so if we could figure out their schedule, maybe that would be helpful.
I hope Honey recovers very well. That is so sad. She is such a sweet dog!
Celeste
I'm so glad Honey will be ok. I don't know the owners of the other dog but from what I hear she should not be at a dog park. They had her muzzled after the incident so obviously they know she has issues.
I was not at the park, but I did hear about the incident. The dog that was attacked was Honey, Louise is the owner. It is my understanding that Honey did have to go to the vet for her injuries, but she should recover.
Thank you for taking control of your dogs during this situation. This is the best thing that bystanders can do to prevent a bad situation from getting worse.
As a reminder to all, some common sense goes a long way to helping prevent incidents at the park.
1. Don't enter the park with dog on leash
2. Don't gather near the entrances, walk around the park. There are 10 acres to explore.
3. Have a leash with you at all times
4. Monitor you dog and their behavior at all times