Alright so in the incredibly brief moment of sunshine and semi warmth we got this afternoon I decided I'd take Hemi (the puppy) to the doggy park on main base for a jog and socialization that he craves. We get to the big dog side (where I've always gone) and true to this poo poo states weather, it was pouring buckets and a mess out there. Whatever no big deal right?! So we head out in the field and a beagle come and joins us. Blah blah. As the other guy leaves Hemi followed him up to the gate. This lady gets out of her car holding onto the least of a beautiful Akita. When the Pooper and his owner come to the gate it seemed as if she was waiting for me to leave. Problem one RIGHT there. Do NOT rush me out of the public dog park. I have every right to be there... keep this in mind.I asked if he didn't like dogs thinking that maybe that was the issue. She informed me that he sometimes has issues with them but ya never know. He trots into the park and bares his teeth at my dog. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! You're gonna bring your DOG AGGRESSIVE dog into a place that has supports interactions with other dogs?!That's problem 2 right there for me. THEN she just tops it off by ever so sweetly informing me that there is another side of the park for littler dogs and implying that I should go over there. Ok lady. You are lucky I was raised with manners cause I about blew up on you right there. Anyway everything turned out and others followed me to the other side after all (I was about to give up and head home). Anyway the point of the rant is does it bother people when all sizes and types of dogs are on one side of the park? Because as mom of a puppy that will grow into a large dog I would rather have all sizes so he can get used to everything. Am I alone in this?! And if not then where do you think the puppies that are medium sized now to be larger eventually should go on? (Woah that was long!) 

There are at least two nice dog parks to look into. theres one in hawks parire and in steilcom. Theres one on mccord but its not fenced in.
It would good of you to hold your manners. She should have takent the other side of the park then. I have two lab resuces that are medium size. Someone times they are too loud and will scare other dogs. OUt of respect for other dog owners i go on the empty side of the park or wait for my dogs to come down. I also dont like the idea of a any dog that you take there showing aggression. I personally take my kids there and seen and know many that do.
I think they should be politely remmonded of the rules of the dark park or even if they are a little agressive or too hyper show be kept on a leash.
I also have seen many mps that stop and get out and patrol there. 

you know what, screw that lady! maybe you couldve informed her that your dog is a large breed dog.

we sometimes get comments about our big dog being on the wrong side because we prefer the "small dog" side usually at both parks we go to. one time even a little kid was going on about it (so you know he heard it somewhere) and i just walked off. its not a set-in-stone rule, but im pretty sure agressive dogs arent supposed to be on either side! we have a toy dog and a mastador, so what are we gonna do? we see dogs of all sizes on both sides every time we go.

i just find the small dog side is usually less muddy and its easier to keep track of our daughter and both dogs when there isnt as much area for them to roam. the people that complain are usually the prissy ones that dont want to get dirty and show up in their sunday best. its a dog park, ding dong! youre not going to a fashion show. ugh! 

oh, labs brought up the steilacoom park. there is a guy that goes there with his little yappers dressed in coats and he totally babies them! i dont know why theyre there because he doesnt let them interact or run much.
anyway, our big boy loves attention and this guy was literally pushing our big guy and yelling at him to go away while giving him the stink eye one time when our dog was trying to love on someone seated next to his yapper and play with the other guys dog. our dog didnt get it because people arent usually mean to him like that, so i had to go get him several times and eventually leash him. i really wanted to kick the guy in the you-know-whats! he claims he watches the dog whisperer all the time... i dont think mr. whisperer would approve of his dislike of big dogs wanting some love and play time! 

omg MASC I know that guy!!!! LOL He is so ocd with his dogs. He is also creepy!
It also states on every dog park ive been to in the areas is aggressive behavior isnt tolerated! Your dogs are suppose to have their rabie tags on them too. 

Lovemylabs: I've heard quite a bit about the other ones and on the next sunny day I will probably check those bad boys out. But until then I'm just gonna go the hop skip down the road to this one. I agree with you about going to the other side if no one is there and your dog is wild. I mean growing up I had all kinds of dogs including those crazy ones whom would scare the beejesus out of little dogs and kids.

MASC: Ha ha ha! I know right that's what I so SO badly wanted to say to her too. How DARE she say that I should be on the other side. No kidding about how the other side is nicer anyhow. And the trees are better on the small dog side. Way more fun. Everyone seems to go to the other side though since it's the first one they come to as they drive usually. And definitely laughed my booty off because I've found that too about the fancy dressed people. I play a little game in my head whenI'm there. I call it: Where in the HE[[ are you from game? It entertains me when the women in there resort to being high schoolers and cliquish. 

AHAHAHA Oh MASC I didn't see that last post of yours until I posted. Are you freaking kidding me?! Oh lordy some people's children I tell ya. Started laughing when you said he dresses them up... teehee. How uhhh... manly of him. Cough Cough. :P 

yeah, theyre little onsies... kinda like those footie jammies without the feet. sometimes if he thinks theyre too cold he will zip them up in his coat and carry them around.

i really dont get why some people bring their dogs there if theyre not going to let them socialize and play.

i like chatting it up with the old folks. theyre so much nicer and laid back... usually. 

You are not wrong at all. First of all to mepersonally) the park here on post is nasty. There are nasty and lazy owners( not all the dog ownsers) who do not pick up their dogs poo when they known DARN well they pooed. I mean I understand the omg my dog is pooping and you run out there with a bag to poick it up and cannot find it for nothing!(this has happened to me) But when YOU KNOW, and everyone else KNOWS YOU KNOW, pick that poo up lazy butt! lol And Just because there is a big and little dog side, does not mean you have to take your pip over to the little dog side. My dog was a pup(who grew into a monster) but I took both of mine to big dog parks since they grew to be BIG dogs. That is the best way to socialize them and get them to the point where they do not fear or become aggressive towards larger dogs. I also found dog owners t the Steilacoom Dog Park who didn't mind if I took mine in to train them to be gentle around smaller dogs. Now there were only a few in there at the time, but I appreciate them not throwing a hissy fit abut it and I asked them how they would feel before I even attempted it since my dog was BIG by then , even though she was still a puppy.

Recently at The Steailacoom Park, a man had 2 Italian Greyhounds They are small, but FAST and LOVE to run. Well mine was running as well. He takes his jacket off and starts whipping it towarsds my dog going shoo shoo! I was ready for words! You do not flip anything towards my dog I will go bizurk(is that a word?) on you! So I knindly told him, that's my dog sir, she is running and plyaing, what seems to be the problem? He replied they are running for their lives scared! UMM no they weren't they were chasing my dog playfully along with a cocker spaniel and having a blast. And anyway they are runners! GEEZ! Some people just have issues! Main thing for any dog owner to remember, if you have a dog and want to take it to the park, you have to remember they will be RUNNING, BITING(playfully at times), GROWLING, and sometimes dogs get into little tiffs, just liek kids do. But if their dog is aggressive and wanting to bite and attack the other dogs, then they should seek training and try again, but keep the dog on a leash for safety reasons. WHEW! My fingers are tired! lol

And why was that lady trying to rush you? How rude! That park is open 24hrs! I used to train mine there at night! She needs to eat a calm down crazy lady pill! 

I wasn't aware that there was a particular side of the parks a certain size was supposed to be on. We used to take our pom out there until it got so gross from people not cleaning up after their dogs. He always played with both big and little dogs alike all in the same area. Screw her. But yeah, I would find a better park, that one is just so nasty. 

one time at the steilacoom park this old hag reprimanded my daughter for trying to pet her yappy poodle.

now, usually my daughter will ask nicely if she can pet someones dog... but she has also been working on not interrupting people. this lady was deep in a conversation so my daughter sorta "chased" the dog behind the lady. the lady quickly took time away from her important conversation to tell my daughter to leave the dog alone, in a rude tone. so my daughter started crying because she is 5 and an emotional girl that just wanted to pet a little dog. and its not like i wasnt right there already telling her to not chase it. the lady didnt care that she hurt her feelings or give a reason that she shouldnt be touching the dog. she just went back to her conversation. i took my daghter away and loudly explained that some people are just rude and to not let it ruin her day. not one minute later i saw the lady leave. probably satisfied her witchy need to hurt a childs feelings so she left happy. 

went to the one on post today. we had only been there a few minutes when a van pulled up. they sat in the car for quite a while, at least 5 minutes. we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of new dogs for ours to play with since we were alone.

well, that never happened. after sitting there (i assume waiting for us to leave) they decided to drive over to the other side. now, it cant be that their dogs were aggressive because there was a lady there with her dog. not sure what their problem was with us. our dogs are obviously friendly and they saw them playing well together & with the others running the fence with them because they were on the other side.

just irritates me. what kind of judgement did they pass on us (from their car on the opposite side of the park) that made them decide we werent good enough for them? 

I stopped going there since there are always a billion cigarette butts lying around for dogs to eat, and IF there are any dogs there, which there normally aren't any when we went, they were frickin aggressive as all hell, and no one picks up their stupid poop! But 9/10 times we were there, there were no dogs for mine to play with. 

I've seen dogs aggressive towards other type of dogs and fine with different. Maybe yours was one they didn't think would go well? Just a guess. 

our pom was hiding behind the trees. not sure if our pug was too but if so they were only able to see our lab mix.

weve been going to the one on post more lately just cause its closer and we like to get them out pretty often since our yard is so small. we always pick up our poop! 

Or maybe they just wanted to be alone??? I mean, I think you're putting way too much thought into a person who didn't even interact with you....Or they wanted a less crowded side, who knows...why would you assume they "thought you weren't good enough"....... just because they didn't come out and play with your dogs, I will wait at park for PEOPLE with my kids if I feel like I don't want to deal with others...it's just me 

there were actually more people on that side, but after those people decided to go over there a family with 2 kids and a big dog left. there was still another dog and its person there.

i really dont care enough for it to ruin my day, but it just kinda made me wonder. 

I know my dogs play really rough so I would have gone to the other side had I seen you small dogs too, out of respect foryou little ones :) 

Maybe they saw you were alone and thought there was a reason? 

Maybe they wanted more people then and just stayed at that place. If it was me I'm the opposite. I went to 3 different places this weekend with a beach/park before I decided I was going to solo point. I hate a crowd and that place was empty. No park but my kids still had just as much fun. 

Thing is, the two separate sides of the dog park aren't labeled "small Dogs" and "big dogs" It's just two different pens.

And aggressive dogs are a HUGE no-no, and at least need a muzzle. 

lol babycakes, our lab is mixed with mastiff. people think he is a small great dane.

and i agree, there shouldnt be a "small" dog and "big" dog side. we have both size dogs, where does that leave us? the first time we went to a dog park i took the small ones and husband took the big one. we quickly realized how ridiculous that was. our smallest thinks hes a big boy and our big guy is scared of his own shadow, but not afraid to play with anyone... no matter their size. nobody really cares *unless theyre snooty.* :oP 

and i agree, there shouldnt be a "small" dog and "big" dog side. we have both size dogs, where does that leave us? the first time we went to a dog park i took the small ones and husband took the big one. we quickly realized how ridiculous that was. our smallest thinks hes a big boy and our big guy is scared of his own shadow, but not afraid to play with anyone... no matter their size. nobody really cares *unless theyre snooty.* :oP 

Same with me and my girls. Only my aussie doesn't really think she's "big", she's just the boss/momma dog. My Great Pyrenees is a big scardey cat. Although she LOVES it when there's another dog her size. 

i dont have pets but there is a friendly dog park down at the beach n chambers bay 

I have a Boxer who was raised with my French Bulldog, and used to be a show dog so he is very socialable and so he LOVES little dogs, and will bark and bounce around them trying to get them to play and then the little yappy dogs will start going after my dog aggressively and then the owners look at me like my dog is hurting theirs drives me NUTS!! lol sorry my little rant about the dog parks! 

My dog is a big girl, though actually small for an English mastiff, and the owners of other dogs always freak out. All she wants is love!!! Lol. But they hold on to their dogs and drag them away like they're going to fight. I've never seen her get in a fight, or come close, ever. She's the biggest droopy goofball ever. But because of the reactions, I try to keep her separate, unless the other owners approach us. :) 

what about the people that are OVERLY protective of their dogs and wont let them play with other dogs? why bring them to the park? 

oh, i didnt read your post awesome, we must have been typing at the same time.

our big boy gets that too. we love mastiffs! its not very common to see them around the dog parks. 

our big boy gets that too. we love mastiffs! its not very common to see them around the dog parks. 

It's because Mastiffs are not allowed at a lot of places. 

Why is that? I've never seen anything saying she isn't allowed at any of the places we've visited.