Well that trip was short lived.
Today, there were only a couple dogs there, and everything seemed ok at first. but let me tell you, there are some irresponsible people out there. While Duke is just a puppy, I know he can't really play hard with the big dogs. And I know some of the big dogs may play overly rough with him. I'm fine with some pushing and shoving, and nipping, and dominating acts, it's only natural. But today a dog got Duke by the neck and DRAGGED him across the park!!!
Duke wanted no part of being dominated by this dog, but had no way to defend himself against a dog easily 3 times his size. The owner was not even paying attention. She sat on a bench with her back towards the park! We should have left long before this ever happened. The other dog was trying to dominate Duke from the beginning, and it was clear the owner was paying little to no attention to her dog at all. Before the dragging occurred, the other dog got Duke under the bench and got a hold of his neck a couple times. Duke managed to slip away for the most part and ran between the picnic table the benches. I was hoping the dogs would chill out after a while. But apparently that was wishful thinking.
I have no tolerance for careless irresponsible people. Katie and I were completely shocked at the whole event. If I see the owner's car in the parking lot, I won't even bother going in next time.
I had to grab the other dog by the neck and physically remove him from my dog. I'd guess the other dog was an easy 80lbs. probably closer to 100lbs. All the while the owner never even got up. She never said anything, or yelled at her dog. We washed Duke off (yes he was covered head to toe in mud after being dragged). This was not just Duke on his back with the other dog on his neck. The other dog was literally dragging Duke around. If I didn't jump in, I'm quite sure he would have just used him like a mop.
We checked Duke over for punctures when we got home, but didn't find anything.
So we got our first taste of how things can go wrong at the dog park. Live and learn I guess. I'll probably be holding off on park visits, until there are scheduled get togethers when I know some dogs his size or responsible dog owners will be there.