St. Pete Meet up: THAT could have gone better
These are the thoughts of my boyfriend Ryan whom I dragged along to the meet.
So, Jen woke me up this morning so we could go out to a corgi meet she heard about on mycorgi.com. I figure it would be nice to meet some other corgis and their owners, and possibly some of the people she's been talking to on the website. We got there with minimal trouble, a LOT less than when we went to go see Banzai in person... THAT was a hell of a trip.
We mingle, we schmooze, and altogether have a good time. Enter: Sophie. Sophie is the name of a Rottweiler/Jack Russel Terrier mix (Don't think about it too hard, i'm trying not to.) She showed up along with her owner, and her 'brother' corgi. Her owner introduces her as an 'honorary corgi', we all laugh, and continue having a good time.
See, i LOVE Rottweilers. My family has had three packs' worth of dogs over my lifetime thus far, and the bulk of them have been large dogs. The ones i remember the best are the Rottweilers, Auggie, Targa, Mack and Meeka. Rottweilers are big, beautiful animals with absolutely WONDERFUL temperaments. I will say in all honesty, the biggest danger you face with a pet Rott is getting crushed when they jump up into your lap for petting. Needless to say, before Jen got me into watching Animal Cops and the like on Animal Planet, i had NEVER seen a skinny Rott before. I love them all to death.
Now, about this time i'm keeping an eye on things. I know the trick to getting along with dogs is to just relax and let them deal with you on their terms. Meanwhile, i notice a kid. The ONLY kid there, and i start watching HIM. He was a complete terror. He ran around, manhandled the dogs, threw things... his mother was on him CONSTANTLY to behave.
I'll say it right now, clearly. In my opinion, that KID was a bigger threat to the animals than the Rott. He was just absolutely ASKING for it. I mean, being obnoxious, screaming and running around in the middle of a pack of creatures with HERDING INSTINCTS.
There was also a tiny corgi pup there, one Willow by name. Who had much the same mentality as the child. Obviously this was a pup who was going out into the world still learning about things. He kept pushing boundaries with the other dogs. He was playing with Sophie constantly, and, naturally, at one point he stepped wrong, and wound up under Sophie's feet. He yelps, Sophie jumps, everybody goes 'Oh no!'
Puppies being puppies, Willow rolls on, and is back on his feet and playing instantly. Sophie recovers, and is also back to communing with the pack, no harm, no foul.
Now we fast-forward a bit, as not much happens. I was hanging out by the front gate with one of the corgis, whom i nicknamed 'Bouncer'. I was looking out over the lake that the dog park surrounds, admiring the scenery.
All of a sudden, i hear a commotion start up, i whirl around, and Sophie's surrounded by the pack. All dogs are barking, teeth bared, and one of the cardigan corgis is snapping at her legs and throat. Sophie's snapping back, and everyone dives in to pull the dogs apart. Sophie's owner gets her in a down/stay, and someone manages to drag the cardi away, whereupon i lose sight of it.
This is where the trouble starts. One of the corgi owners, some punk maybe a little younger than me in Corey Hart sunglasses and some Pac Sun/Ocean Blue shirt yells at Sophie's owner and tells her to 'Get that dog out of here'. She's been apologizing profusely ever since we pulled her out of the pack, and leashes up her dogs to leave. Things COULD have ended on a more-or-less civil note, as i turn to walk away (i wanted to go over to her and ask if she's all right). But then i hear the guy say something to his girl: "Those ALWAYS do that..."
He was talking about the Sophie, like she's some kind of corgi-killing machine. Now, i'm no dog expert but some things i know are true. One of which is the fact that no big dog is vicious, and no little dog is helpless. I HATE it when people assume that a dog will act a certain way just because the breed has a nasty reputation.
Suffice to say, i was irked. I turn back to him, and ask "And WHAT are 'those'?"
Jerk: "Excuse me?"
Me: "I heard you say 'Those always do that'. What are 'those'?"
Jerk: "You must have misheard me. Maybe you need to get that hair out of your ears."
That SON-OF-A-MOTHERLESS-BITCH, on top of being a prejudiced bastard, insulted my HAIRCUT. I've been growing my hair out for somewhere in the area of two years now. I started growing it when my ex and i had our nasty breakup, because she liked my hair short, and then KEPT growing it because i realized that *I* liked it that way.
At this point, i was pretty much done having fun. I knew that he was assuming that Sophie attacked the corgis just because she had the black and tan of a Rott, when it was EXTREMELY possible that one of the corgis attacked HER and the rest joined in. I know from experience that a LITTLE dog can be even MORE vicious than any of the bigger breeds. Mocha, a german shepherd mix of mine whom i love very much, was savagely attacked by a Jack Russel Terrier a couple years ago. The terrier left her with scars on her face from where he had to be PRIED OFF, and despite the incident, she's just as loving and easygoing as before.
How? How can a dog owner just ASSUME that a dog will be a certain way, just because of its breed? To me, that's tantamount to being a racist. It doesn't make sense to me that someone who owns and loves a dog, ANY dog, could look at another and think 'Ugh, i hate them!'
It just made me SO angry. We left then and there. One thing makes me even MORE angry, though.
I never learned the woman's name. I know the name of her dog, but not HERS.
Given I have to agree with a lot that Ryan had to say. I think that the gentleman (and I use the term loosely) overreacted. He handled himself very poorly in front of the group. The poor woman was already embarrassed by her dog's outburst, and should not have been humiliated even more by a hot headed loud mouth. In fact it was the cardi that was at fault. The cardi was constantly herding poor Sophie and she finally decided to say "ENOUGH." It was the humans that made the situation far worse than it was.
On the other hand I do not think that Sophie should have been let loose inside the small breed area. Being a bigger breed I would have proffered that she'd stay on the leash.
Even though I said that I would, I still don't know if I want go to another meetup in St. Pete. I HATE confrontation, and if I were to ever see this man again it would make my stomach churn to think about his attitude towards other dog owners. What if it was another corgi that made his pup yelp? Would he get in their face? I don't know and not knowing worries me. In fact it down right frightens me. I would hate to have a commotion happen because of Banzai and then to have someone rush over to me yelling and screaming at me. I have very bad nerves in fact I am still panicked with my stomach in knots over this.
I don't really care what anyone else's view on today is. I have got to get this out of my system before it makes me any more ill.
So, Jen woke me up this morning so we could go out to a corgi meet she heard about on mycorgi.com. I figure it would be nice to meet some other corgis and their owners, and possibly some of the people she's been talking to on the website. We got there with minimal trouble, a LOT less than when we went to go see Banzai in person... THAT was a hell of a trip.
We mingle, we schmooze, and altogether have a good time. Enter: Sophie. Sophie is the name of a Rottweiler/Jack Russel Terrier mix (Don't think about it too hard, i'm trying not to.) She showed up along with her owner, and her 'brother' corgi. Her owner introduces her as an 'honorary corgi', we all laugh, and continue having a good time.
See, i LOVE Rottweilers. My family has had three packs' worth of dogs over my lifetime thus far, and the bulk of them have been large dogs. The ones i remember the best are the Rottweilers, Auggie, Targa, Mack and Meeka. Rottweilers are big, beautiful animals with absolutely WONDERFUL temperaments. I will say in all honesty, the biggest danger you face with a pet Rott is getting crushed when they jump up into your lap for petting. Needless to say, before Jen got me into watching Animal Cops and the like on Animal Planet, i had NEVER seen a skinny Rott before. I love them all to death.
Now, about this time i'm keeping an eye on things. I know the trick to getting along with dogs is to just relax and let them deal with you on their terms. Meanwhile, i notice a kid. The ONLY kid there, and i start watching HIM. He was a complete terror. He ran around, manhandled the dogs, threw things... his mother was on him CONSTANTLY to behave.
I'll say it right now, clearly. In my opinion, that KID was a bigger threat to the animals than the Rott. He was just absolutely ASKING for it. I mean, being obnoxious, screaming and running around in the middle of a pack of creatures with HERDING INSTINCTS.
There was also a tiny corgi pup there, one Willow by name. Who had much the same mentality as the child. Obviously this was a pup who was going out into the world still learning about things. He kept pushing boundaries with the other dogs. He was playing with Sophie constantly, and, naturally, at one point he stepped wrong, and wound up under Sophie's feet. He yelps, Sophie jumps, everybody goes 'Oh no!'
Puppies being puppies, Willow rolls on, and is back on his feet and playing instantly. Sophie recovers, and is also back to communing with the pack, no harm, no foul.
Now we fast-forward a bit, as not much happens. I was hanging out by the front gate with one of the corgis, whom i nicknamed 'Bouncer'. I was looking out over the lake that the dog park surrounds, admiring the scenery.
All of a sudden, i hear a commotion start up, i whirl around, and Sophie's surrounded by the pack. All dogs are barking, teeth bared, and one of the cardigan corgis is snapping at her legs and throat. Sophie's snapping back, and everyone dives in to pull the dogs apart. Sophie's owner gets her in a down/stay, and someone manages to drag the cardi away, whereupon i lose sight of it.
This is where the trouble starts. One of the corgi owners, some punk maybe a little younger than me in Corey Hart sunglasses and some Pac Sun/Ocean Blue shirt yells at Sophie's owner and tells her to 'Get that dog out of here'. She's been apologizing profusely ever since we pulled her out of the pack, and leashes up her dogs to leave. Things COULD have ended on a more-or-less civil note, as i turn to walk away (i wanted to go over to her and ask if she's all right). But then i hear the guy say something to his girl: "Those ALWAYS do that..."
He was talking about the Sophie, like she's some kind of corgi-killing machine. Now, i'm no dog expert but some things i know are true. One of which is the fact that no big dog is vicious, and no little dog is helpless. I HATE it when people assume that a dog will act a certain way just because the breed has a nasty reputation.
Suffice to say, i was irked. I turn back to him, and ask "And WHAT are 'those'?"
Jerk: "Excuse me?"
Me: "I heard you say 'Those always do that'. What are 'those'?"
Jerk: "You must have misheard me. Maybe you need to get that hair out of your ears."
That SON-OF-A-MOTHERLESS-BITCH, on top of being a prejudiced bastard, insulted my HAIRCUT. I've been growing my hair out for somewhere in the area of two years now. I started growing it when my ex and i had our nasty breakup, because she liked my hair short, and then KEPT growing it because i realized that *I* liked it that way.
At this point, i was pretty much done having fun. I knew that he was assuming that Sophie attacked the corgis just because she had the black and tan of a Rott, when it was EXTREMELY possible that one of the corgis attacked HER and the rest joined in. I know from experience that a LITTLE dog can be even MORE vicious than any of the bigger breeds. Mocha, a german shepherd mix of mine whom i love very much, was savagely attacked by a Jack Russel Terrier a couple years ago. The terrier left her with scars on her face from where he had to be PRIED OFF, and despite the incident, she's just as loving and easygoing as before.
How? How can a dog owner just ASSUME that a dog will be a certain way, just because of its breed? To me, that's tantamount to being a racist. It doesn't make sense to me that someone who owns and loves a dog, ANY dog, could look at another and think 'Ugh, i hate them!'
It just made me SO angry. We left then and there. One thing makes me even MORE angry, though.
I never learned the woman's name. I know the name of her dog, but not HERS.
Given I have to agree with a lot that Ryan had to say. I think that the gentleman (and I use the term loosely) overreacted. He handled himself very poorly in front of the group. The poor woman was already embarrassed by her dog's outburst, and should not have been humiliated even more by a hot headed loud mouth. In fact it was the cardi that was at fault. The cardi was constantly herding poor Sophie and she finally decided to say "ENOUGH." It was the humans that made the situation far worse than it was.
On the other hand I do not think that Sophie should have been let loose inside the small breed area. Being a bigger breed I would have proffered that she'd stay on the leash.
Even though I said that I would, I still don't know if I want go to another meetup in St. Pete. I HATE confrontation, and if I were to ever see this man again it would make my stomach churn to think about his attitude towards other dog owners. What if it was another corgi that made his pup yelp? Would he get in their face? I don't know and not knowing worries me. In fact it down right frightens me. I would hate to have a commotion happen because of Banzai and then to have someone rush over to me yelling and screaming at me. I have very bad nerves in fact I am still panicked with my stomach in knots over this.
I don't really care what anyone else's view on today is. I have got to get this out of my system before it makes me any more ill.
Comment
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Comment by Sam on July 13, 2008 at 12:10pm
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Let bygones be bygones. Sometimes folks act most irrational when emotions take over. Certainly it makes dogs over react as well. Good news is you can always elect to leave. I can tell you I would probably not react as my usual self if I saw a dog jump a pup of mine. It will be a time before your new pup is romping with others anyway. Dog parks are not the best place for young pups that are not fully vaccinated. Socialization is best done gradually, in the company of known good tempered dogs. Pups are still learning how to act appropriately and often they go beyond where respectful dogs will go. Some adult dogs have little tolerance for it.
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Comment by FuzzyButt on July 13, 2008 at 11:11am
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I don't know. All I know is that he was coming in with a corgi pup, and everyone was fawning over it. Whether or not he was a member I don't know. What if he is? What should I do? I'm scared.
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Thank you all for being so understanding. I will try to take everyone's advice to heart, and rethink my decision. I WANT to get along and socialize with others and their dogs. I don't want Banzai to be like me- scared of every little thing. But I know that dogs are dogs and they have a whole other language then we do. Reacting in fear and anger towards them does nothing. Mostly I did observe and gave out lots of pettings.
Cassie I wish that I knew who you were! I would have said "hello." I was the one with the red Hawaiian print handbag.
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Comment by Sam Tsang on July 13, 2008 at 9:26am
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I agree with Sam and Cassie, it is never a dogs fault, give it another chance, the next meeting is at Ft desoto. Was the "jerk" a part of the corgi group?
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Sounds like a very upsetting day. Gatherings can be great fun but can also become a free for all if the combination of dogs and people dont mix. Many of my guys are seniors so I dont frequent dogs parks as much as I used to. When I did I would always observe before entering. Not all dogs do well in this setting. While some are attempting to "socialize" their dogs sometimes they are so terrified that a yelp from them can quickly turn in to a frenzy from attending dogs. Others do not have good dog to dog skills and tick off the most solid of dogs. I have seen many situations occur in dog parks that are a recipe for disaster. I once saw a man bring a female pit and her 6 pups. I have seen people bring babies in strollers, have seen people send toddlers around with food in their hands and have seen many dogs that are quite intimidating and pushy to other dogs. I too have seen some dog fights. It does usually make sense to keep the big dogs apart from the small ones in larger groups such as these. While rotts are dogs just like all others you can bet if a rott grabbed your pup you would be frantic. Yes, they have a negative label and sadly like some other "macho" breeds the issue lies with the people that own them. Doesnt take away the fact that they are large and can deliver a powerful bite. Sad that you had such a bad experience. I learned to visit at specific times when I knew the "general" group that would be there. Holidays and weekends usually brought in a far different crew. I would also be most aware of who was coming in and observe. If I felt that things were getting edgy I would just leave. In theory the dog parks are great but the reality can be far different depending in who happens to be there at a given time. And remember, it is never a dogs fault, it is the owners.
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Comment by CassieD44 on July 13, 2008 at 12:30am
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Don't let one bad experience ruin it for you. I was there today also, and while I don't think Sophie should have been allowed in with the small dogs, I also felt uncomfortable with the way the situation was handled. But I know you saw how much fun the dogs had other than those incidents - I know Hunter and Layla had a terrific time! I think you should give it another shot. You never know.
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Was Katie or Liz there today? They're the organizers for the St.Pete and Tampa group, I would think they would have jumped in and defended the corgis.
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