# My dog is a "child mugger" and I feel helpless.



## PatJ (Aug 6, 2014)

MacKenzie will be 2 in January so there is still a lot of "puppy behavior" in her. I take her with our older GR, Robbie, to dog park about 5 mornings a week and meet with the early regulars for walks and play and conversation. But when someone comes into the park with a small child I usually have to leave. Kenz gets just too excited when she sees small children. She runs over, does the play bounce and then begins jumping on them. This prompts them to run and shriek which sends her into hyperdrive. I've taken her to several trainers with success because it is easy to control her when I am near her. But when she is off-leash at a dog park, she can be 100 feet away from me when she spots a child. And her impulse control decreases exponentially with distance. I'm now considering putting an electronic collar on her but it breaks my heart having to hurt her. I'm angry with parents who think dog park is a wonderful outing for their small kids.

I've tried to be proactive, walking up to the parents to explain Kenz's behavior and point where I'm going in the park so they can stay away from me. But parents often just let their children drift over to us with disastrous results. Last Saturday there were 4 small children by the dog fountain ranging from 3-6 yrs judging from their size. I couldn't see their parents nearby so a friend and I carefully explained about running and screaming and asked them to not go near my dog. I pointed to where I was going and said "stay away". Of course they followed me and wanted to pet Kenz. I said "not a good idea" and left again but they followed me running and screaming. Kenzie reacted and the 3 yr old was pushed over and scratched on the arm. They were all crying and threatening me with action from their parents. But while I waited no one came over and the children instead exited into the adjacent soccer field seeking the parents who were watching a game!!! I don't know if they sent the kids to dog park for babysitting or the kids wandered away from the game. Eventually no one sought us out but I was prepared to unload a lot of invective on the parents. 

I just hate the thought of using the electronic collar but am at a loss how to prevent her from chasing these small "squealing pink puppies". Everyone at the park points out that it is DOG park and the parents have to assume some responsibility. But I hate having a child hurt or afraid of dogs because their parent didn't recognize that the area is inappropriate for toddlers. Thanks - Got it off my chest.


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

Small kids don't belong in a dog park. I can sympathize. Chloe is 1.5 and loves everyone way to much. Maybe you can talk to whoever is in control of the park to put a sign up. No small children. That is a recipe for disaster in a dog park. Parents are so stupid.


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

So sorry this happened to you! 

I feel your pain about small children. It angers me when people bring their young kids to a dog park too. 

With my last girl, we had a similar incident where a young girl insisted on petting my dog. I held my dog in my lap by the harness, and I told her that she couldn't pet my dog, and asked her to go back to the adult that brought her to the park. My girl when she was she's very excited said hi with her mouth a little bit at the time and jump on people, so I didn't want any of that happening. I told her three times to give us some space and got up to take my dog out of the park (still holding her harness). The girl was like "but she's so cute and friendly, she wants to play with me!" and started waving her hand right in my girl's face, and my girl of course mouthed her and she started crying and ran back to her mom saying "that dog bit me!" So then I had to march up to the girl's mom, who brought her to the park, and tell her what happened. She was like, oh she does this all the time, we've told her she's not allowed to do this with dogs she doesn't know, but she still does it. I was livid. Fortunately, for me and my dog, her mom was understanding. But it still really bothered me that she took this child to the park and didn't enforce any rules.

Ever since that happened, if kids came to the park we left. Or I kept her on a leash far away until the kids left. I do the same with Piper...its just too risky, and I don't want to be held responsible. She's less interested in children and doesn't jump really, but its just not worth it. 

I would keep working on your recall, including at the dog park with distractions. You can do this on a long lead. You can even introduce an emergency recall, which is a highly valuable thing to train.


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## Max209 (Mar 25, 2016)

LOL, deficient supervision and parenting skills of other people is not your problem. If you had a vicious dog that would attack and injury the children, I would endorse your concern, but just a playful Golden that lovingly/playfully knocks the children down is not something you should be guilt ridden over. Certainly there is a very real risk of minor physical injury and substantial emotional distress for the children, but that's what dog parks are for.


Anyone who gets all huffy or accusatory with you should be reminded that any parents exhibiting neglect or inadequate supervision of their children will be reported to the local child welfare/protective services agency for investigation, which will likely result in mandatory parenting skills training and prolonged monitoring by the agency, and/or possible removal of the children from the home for their own safety and welfare. Personally, I kind of like the idea of typing up that notice, getting it laminated at the local office supply store, and posting it on the gate of the dog park.


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

Is the dog park part of the county park system? Ours is, and the park rangers will hand out hefty fines to anyone who breaks the rules - one of which is "no children under 9 years old allowed in the park." The fine is around $700 per kid.

Also, you should look into alternatives - dog parks are not the best places for socialization and exercise


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Don't put a shock collar on our dog. You will be punishing her for other people's behavior. That's not fair. She's a dog playing in a dog park, let her play. Just move away from the kids if you want, but it's not your fault if they follow and get knocked down.

If you want to work on her being calmer around kids, go to a kids play ground with her on leash. Give treats to keep her attention on you, and treat and praise for being calm when kids approach.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

^^ 100% agree with this. An e-collar should not be used in this situation. It's not a punishment tool. 

I have also had to deal with toddlers in the dog park - a few times in the fenced one we went to when Shala was a puppy and was not recall proof. Even harder was when someone would come in and hold a baby up over the dogs - total invitation to jump up. I would always go and tell them that the dogs could really hurt such little people if they got knocked down. Some seemed totally surprised by this. 

A couple of weeks ago, we were in the dogs off leash area of our big park playing ball. Someone came walking down into the area with a kid in a stroller. They went by me and I didn't think anything of it, until the kid ran into the field from behind me ... as Shala was running back to me full tilt with her ball. Thankfully, she DOES have a solid recall now and I called her and caught her by the collar. The mother was like, "oh, it's okay.. he loves dogs!" I was like, "my dog loves kids, too - but she might knock him right over!" Plus - can you IMAGINE?? She had no CLUE whether my dog was child friendly. Just let her kid run right into where she was running and playing with her ball. Boggles my mind.


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

I also agree with NOT using an e-collar in this situation. First, your dog isn't in the wrong here, and second, if you don't use the e-collar correctly you could actually make your dog child-aggressive.

The problem here isn't your dog, it's the people who bring small children into the dog park and let them run loose. If it were me, I'd keep doing what you're doing: i.e. leave the park if people bring children. I would also make a point of telling the people with the kids that you're leaving because of them - because you're afraid their children are going to get hurt and you don't want to be part of it. They're going to be all huffy and upset, but it might make them think.

If this is an "official" dog park, it probably has some kind of management committee - most of them do, at least in my area. Ask around, contact your municipality, see if you can find out who they are. It would be easy for them to pass a rule prohibiting children under a certain age from entering the park. You might even consider becoming a member of the committee!

I don't know how things are in your part of the world, but around here there are literally dozens of parks for children and almost none for dogs. It really bothers me when people let their children take over what, for some people, is the only place where their dogs can run free. When my daughter was small, we were careful to obey all the "no dogs allowed" signs at children's parks, even though it meant leaving our dog at home. We were fine with the rule, because excited dogs and excited small children are obviously a very bad mix. It's not unreasonable to demand the same level of consideration at parks made specifically for dogs.

In the meantime, you could work on proofing your recall when you're not at the park. When you're at the park, take a big bag of very high-value treats with you (cheese, chicken, whatever). Don't call your dog unless you know she's going to come, but every time she comes near you of her own accord, give her a treat. Then start calling her when she's a few feet away, and give her a treat. And so on. It won't be long before she comes back to you regularly, to get her treat. 

Best of luck, hope you find a solution.


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## PatJ (Aug 6, 2014)

Thank you for the wonderful and thoughtful replies. I really didn't want to use a shock collar and will heed your suggestions to step up our recall training. MacKenzie is a smart but impulsive lady so it may be awhile before I succeed.

Everyone at Dog Park agrees with you that the major responsibility lies with the parents and the city. I've already written to the city 3 times requesting they put up a simple sign saying: "Parents - 5 good reasons not to bring small children into the park: Bites, Scratches, Knock-downs, Poop and Urine." The city hasn't responded perhaps because I'm a non-resident (my dogs have permits).


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

PatJ said:


> Everyone at Dog Park agrees with you that the major responsibility lies with the parents and the city. I've already written to the city 3 times requesting they put up a simple sign saying: "Parents - 5 good reasons not to bring small children into the park: Bites, Scratches, Knock-downs, Poop and Urine." The city hasn't responded perhaps because I'm a non-resident (my dogs have permits).


This is a good idea. If the park's regular users are in agreement, why not make the sign and put it up yourselves? Perhaps also draw up a sheet listing all the nasty things that can happen to young children in dog parks (serious bites and scratches to the face, diseases caught from dog feces, torn clothing, knock-downs causing injury, broken limbs from collisions, etc. - don't sugar-coat it) and place copies of the sheet in a rain-proof clear plastic container attached to the park gate, labelled "Read this before your bring your children into a dog park". Or keep copies with you and hand them to people who bring their children into the park. Education is key here, and the fact of having given this information out will be useful if and when a serious incident occurs. It's always the dog that pays for human idiocy; if you can show that the humans were told of the dangers, it might help.

Again, good luck.


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

One of the last times we went to the local dog park, as we were leaving I saw a young girl pushing a stroller, toddler on her hip, and fairly good sized yellow lab on leash, heading in.
I pointed out the HUGE sign that says "your child must be this tall to enter" to her. She was astonished and told me quite bluntly that she had been coming there for months and had never seen that sign, nor had anyone ever pointed it out to her, and that she thought it was ridiculous. I told her that the rangers will levy a huge fine and she said, "oh, they're never around!" Oh-kay, then

Education only works for those willing to listen so I wouldn't expect too much to be accomplished by handing out flyers.


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## Wolfeye (Sep 15, 2015)

So much good advice here, I won't add to it other than saying the dog is not to blame, but will still BE blamed if any human child gets hurt. Our country is a litigious one and all it takes is a few people talking and a lawsuit happens. Signs? Iowa City is littered with signs, no smoking, no bikes or skateboards on city sidewalks, please WALK your bike on the pedestrian bridge. The whole country has become indignant to the rule of law and all such signs are routinely ignored because they carry no force of law. Even if they did, they aren't enforced. Police have far more important things to do than citing skateboarders - like handing out parking tickets, the predominant activity of Iowa City policemen.

Anyhow.

The only reason I replied at all is that I've never really been to a dog park until yesterday. We have a few here in Eastern Iowa, created by a few dedicated folk who believe that a dog not only needs but deserves a place to run. I applaud that sentiment, so yesterday I volunteered my time to go collect trash at the local dog park. Not much to it really. Walk around, empty trash cans, haul the bags to the dumpster. I was really surprised how many dogs were there! Of course, Sunday morning is likely a busy time, so it might not always be that hoppin'. I don't recall if there were any small children there. Maybe. But with all those dogs flying around having their fun, who in their right mind would bring a toddler? I'd be leery of even bringing my 10 year old son. I did bring Bagheera and he did fine. But in hindsight, I'm glad Bags and I have many other options for off-leash activity. Dog parks can be chaotic.


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