"Every pit bull I have seen here is always so well behaved. Like that one [referring to our very own baby Summer]."
For every pit bull owner, this is huge. It made me so proud not only of my own baby but of every other pit bull owner who goes to that park.
Now Summer and Bijou are not always complete angels at the park but Matt and I are learning how to make every time a positive experience. Just this past weekend I told Matt I wanted to walk around the entire dog park a few times when we first walked in. This helped Summer who has issues with dogs running up to her face (she will snap at them). It gave her the opportunity to view all the dogs from afar and if a dog did approach she could keep moving instead of turning to snap at them. It worked.
Seriously though, it was as close to perfect as we can get at the dog park. It was extremely motivating to hear that comment but a small part of me is bothered by it. The reason our pit bulls are so well behaved is because of how people would react if they were not. Yet there are so many other dogs at that park that go quite often who have terrible manners and owners that have no understanding of dog behavior. Though I loved hearing how well behaved all the pit bulls are, I would much rather hear how well behaved ALL the dogs are.
Your dog park is HUGE! Love the size!! What a good idea to walk Summer around first so she can get accustomed to the dogs. We don't do dog parks with Lily since our friends moved away - she's the queen of double standards because she will be the first one to greet a dog at the gate with her face in their face, but she barks corrections if dogs do that to her right away. And not just normal corrections. Picture a woman yelling OHMYGODYOUTOUCHEDMETHEREHOWCOULDYOUTOUCHMETHEREIHATETHAT! And then she turns away like nothing ever happened. Wow. So unless she's going in with dogs who are already comfortable there, we just don't even do it. Plus, L.A. dog parks are scary. Some of the people are beyond clueless and there are a lot of intact males that come in which leads to fights. So, no. If Lily was more chill, we definitely would, though.
ReplyDeleteAhaha I can definitely picture your dog as I have seen that before! Summer has her 'princess' moments and will freak out when someone steps on her feet. The entire park will rush over to make sure she is okay (she will make the loudest, strangled yelp) and we just stand there and tell them she's fine, she's just a pansy!
Deletecongratulations Summer!! That looks like a really great dog park. I wish my dogs weren't so rude to other dogs so we could go to one! Tess thinks acceptable first meeting behavior is to shove the new dog's nose in the dirt, so they know who is going to be boss in this friendship. And Schultz enjoys full on tackling new friends with no warning. Which appears to be a "vicious pit bull attack" to the untrained eye. So we have to avoid too much social interactions lol
ReplyDeletePoor Schultz. Our park is in a great area where a good majority understand Pit Bulls. There is a dog that sounds like Schultz and Summer loves to play with him. His owner is really good and will pull his dog away if he starts to play too hard. Maybe you can find someone for play dates!
DeleteWOW! I am impressed you can take your dogs to the dog park! I am so paranoid I just don't chance it. Our dogs are great, but Braylon is super bossy and Hades loves dogs too... but I don't know? I just am afraid I guess. So we bring rescue dogs in boarding home instead. I am so worried about being blamed for something that wasn't even my dog's fault. But hearing comments like that is great! I love when people notice my dogs good qualities!
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