Don’t get me wrong, because the dog owner should have trained her dog better and should not be allowing her dog to jump up on you - off-leash park or not. (And I blame the owner for the dog’s behaviour, not the dog. The owner hasn’t trained the dog properly.)

But come on… the first thing you said to the woman involved yelling and cursing at her? No wonder she didn’t respond favorably. You put her on the defensive. That is not an appropriate way to handle the situation.

I turned my stroller around and looked at the woman, shrugging. With a “come on, call your dog off” look. I didnt do anything until the dog refused to leave me alone and jumped on me.

The dog’s “attack” is what escalated the situation.

Frankly I agree I did not handle the situation in the best vocal manner. For the next 20 mins of my run I had many calm and well thought out things to say.

However, when faced with a dog that is not obeying, one that has the “look” of an aggressive and unpredictable breed near my son - I reacted with instinct, not a well thought out discussion.

Well, I can understand your reaction, I would’ve done the same thing. Whether it was the right reaction or not doesn’t really matter anymore… I wouldn’t want any dog jumping up on me, especially a particularly brute-looking one. And yes, while it is an off leash park, dogs should be trained accordingly so they can behave properly, like a TRAINED DOG, in an off leash park.

I, like the next person can’t stand a misbehaving dog, but dogs will be dogs. They’re unpredictable trained or not and if you aren’t comfortable with dog’s or their owners lack of manners, just don’t go to a designated off-leash dog park. That is why off-leash parks were created in the first place…dogs could get their exercise and “hopefully” not upset people.

See quote above, Kris:

“Vancouver’s well-behaved canine population can take part in special off-leash privileges … not exclusively for dogs but are to be shared with all park users. Owners are responsible for the actions of their dogs.”

I have just as much right to be in the park as the off leash dogs do. My baby isnt going rip anyone’s dog to bits. The dog just might do that to a baby. The onus needs to be on the dog owner to be responsible with their animal, not for me to avoid a public park 2 blocks from my house.

In fact, the owner is MANDATED to have responsibility for their animal.

I would argue this owner was careless and irresponsible.

Just read my post and it sounds harsh, so not like me. You know that right?

everything sounds harsh on the internets. i get what you’re saying. i understand… just got REALLY spooked today.

<3 to your well behaved team!

Hey… thanks for your comment on my blog. I think I neglected to take into account the protective parent instinct with my comment, especially when your son is just a baby. I don’t have any kids of my own so it’s easy to overlook, but perhaps in your shoes I might have reacted less calmly than I initially thought. Sorry if I sounded like I was telling you off!

[...] This photo is just another one of the reasons why dog owners are down at the bottom, with smokers, on my evolutionary scale. Here’s the other reason. [...]

This off leash issue is very interesting. No other group gets exclusive use of a park. Are there parks that say ‘children only’ or ‘old people only’? No.
So off leash doesn’t mean off leash ‘only’, it means off leash permissable. So why is the onus on Buzz to be careful?
I think you had an appropriate reaction to an aggressive dog. It’s not up to you to stay out of the dog’s way.
When did dogs get civil rights? A right to be looked after and taken care of, sure. A right to their exclusive use of our parks, no.