[Nzmoafzn]

My grandmother owns a cairn terrier and brings him to the park every night to play with a big group of dogs. The owners meet there at a certain time to let them run. Now mind you, this isn't a dog park, it is a state park where these people decide to let their dogs run free in an open area (no fence or even natural boundaries around them). There is no leash law here after 4 o clock as long as the dogs are "under control" (who knows where that line is drawn) so this is completely legal. She has mentioned this to me before and time after time I explain to her what a horrible idea it is and she just responds with "well it is very important dogs get to run with other dogs" blah blah blah. I can not even count the number of times I have discussed this with her and she continues to ask me to bring Socrates which is completely totally 1000000000% out of the question, not even worth thinking about, not happening, you get the idea.

So last night my aunt came by (I live above my grandma) and dropped off Riley, her standard poodle, for my grandmother to watch for the weekend (another horrible idea, but my opinions have little weight). My grandmother packed up Riley and Rocket into the car and brought them down to the park to run, and this is what happened, in her words:

"Brooke, you wouldn't even believe it. Of all of the dogs there Riley was absolutely madly in love with Ike, THE PIT BULL. Ike and Riley are both boys but Riley kept humping him like they were lovers! Ike tried running away and snapping at him and did everything he could to get Riley to leave him alone but he was relentless. He was so in love he couldn't stop himself. He kept trying to hump him the WHOLE TIME we were there. We were all laughing so hard!"



I think she could see the shock in my face. I explained to her that those dogs were NOT in love. Riley was showing dominance and they should have stopped him the second he started and gotten those dogs away from each other. I said that is a really good way for a fight to start and they were just encouraging it by sitting there laughing. I then told her that that none of those dogs should even be there but especially not that pit bull because as much as she thinks Socrates is completely harmless, they can do serious damage and are more likely to fight than any other dog (I have explained this to her so many times it is insane).

After harping on it for what seemed like forever, she still didn't understand. She just kept saying, "Oh Ike would never do that though. He isn't like that" and "Well Riley just loved him". She also told me that Ike is there every night but the owner just recently started allowing him to run off leash with the other dogs.

It is killing me knowing that these people are stupid enough to let some unnecessary irresponsible play date with dogs that aren't even getting along possibly ruin this dogs life once he does the inevitable and fights back. I also feel like if something does happen it could mean really bad things for this island. This town is very small and very tight knit. A pit bull seriously injuring or killing a poodle at a play date that has been going on for so long without a problem could seriously change things around here in terms of the mentality toward pit bulls and possibly BSL. Right now, the attitude toward these dogs is wonderful around here. There are a lot of them around, people are responsible with them for the most part, and we have a woman in town who is a huge breed advocate and has been working with them for years and years. She is pretty involved with the town and people trust her. Of course there are a lot of jerks but for the most part, it is good. An incident like the one these people are asking for would absolutely be enough to change that. Not to mention the fact that it probably won't go over too well with my family if my aunts dog gets destroyed by a pit bull.

So...what should I do? Should I do anything or just mind my business? I was thinking of maybe going with my grandma and giving the guy some information about the forum and trying to talk to him a little bit about his dog. Another option I was considering is contacting the breed advocate in town, letting her know about it and seeing if maybe she knew the guy (she knows pretty much everyone with a pit bull around here) and could talk to him about it. She does very closely monitored play dates in her own yard where the dogs are well contained and out of the public eye so he might decide that if he wants to let the dog play that that would be a better option. Any thoughts? Think I should even get involved?

[crestosssa]

You should have a glass of wine and play with Socrates.

Stupid is as stupid does, unfortunately. If people don't want to learn, they will eventually learn the hard way. Sadly, the dogs will most likely suffer.

[Adimondin]

I would actually talk to the lady that's very involved in breed advocacy. Maybe she has some "in's" and she could talk with people about getting the practice banned in the park. If it were no longer legal, that might solve allot of the problems.

Aside from worrying about all the dogs involved; I know where you are coming from...we live in an extremely pit bull friendly area...and that's nice. It would suck for some idiot(s) to ruin things for everyone else!

---------- Post added at 06:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 PM ----------

Not that I'm calling your grandmother an idiot.

Although, I guess I just kind of did.

But you know I mean it in a very respectful, loving way.

[Nzmoafzn]

I would actually talk to the lady that's very involved in breed advocacy. Maybe she has some "in's" and she could talk with people about getting the practice banned in the park. If it were no longer legal, that might solve allot of the problems.

Aside from worrying about all the dogs involved; I know where you are coming from...we live in an extremely pit bull friendly area...and that's nice. It would suck for some idiot(s) to ruin things for everyone else!

---------- Post added at 06:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 PM ----------

Not that I'm calling your grandmother an idiot.

Although, I guess I just kind of did.

But you know I mean it in a very respectful, loving way.

LOL don't worry. I love her with all of my heart and would do anything for her but in terms of dog ownership she is a complete idiot.

[IronpumpedLady]

Most people will not listen until they "hit bottom", that something so terrible happens they can't turn away from the reality of the ordeal. You will not be able to change their minds.
Just keep far away from that park...

[agildeta]

I think you should get involved ... just play it carefully. Catch more flies with honey, that sort of thing. But, something has to be done!

[Broker15015]

Most people will not listen until they "hit bottom", that something so terrible happens they can't turn away from the reality of the ordeal. You will not be able to change their minds.
Just keep far away from that park...

Yup. Just do a shot and walk away from it unless they ask your advice. You already tried, they didn't listen. They will just have to learn the hard way.

[Nzmoafzn]

Well the reason I even consider it is because I haven't spoken with the owner of the pit bull at all, just my grandmother. I was thinking maybe I should at least give it a shot but I don't know...

[vekiuytyh]

I also feel like if something does happen it could mean really bad things for this island. This town is very small and very tight knit. A pit bull seriously injuring or killing a poodle at a play date that has been going on for so long without a problem could seriously change things around here in terms of the mentality toward pit bulls and possibly BSL.

This is what seriously pisses me off about crap like this ESPECIALLY when people KNOW the state of the breed politically and yet they STILL continue to risk OUR dogs. I have enough respect for us as a WHOLE to make some sacrifices with my dogs for the greater good of us all. Just a sore topic right now as on a local forum, there is a big debate with the dog park issue and a couple people that SHOULD know better are pretty well stickin' to the rest of us with the ''not my dog'' crap. Pisses me right off.