Aggressive dog at Doggie Doo Run Run.
 

I was doing my laps at Doggie Doo Run Run in the back field and approached the picnic table. The first lap went OK. The second time I just put my hand out to perhaps pet Harlow but it started barking. The third time around I got close and Harlow acted like (s)he wanted to kill me with his barking and aggressive stance. I did not get my fourth lap in because I was scared I was going to get bit or worse mauled badly by this pit bull mix type dog (maybe boxer and pit bull). This kind of behavior should not be displayed at a private nor public dog park unless the dog is leashed even then I believe it is inappropriate and puts people at risk who are just using the park for their own and their dog's enjoyment.

I did warn one man who was going into the big dog park as it seems that Harlow has a problem with men. I was not carrying any kind of stick nor did I raise my voice to complain about Harlow's behavior to these two women one of whom I know fairly well and like from talks at the dog park.

I did not warn everyone coming into the dog park about Harlow though as I hope that Harlow's owner would have the common sense to leash Harlow and get him out of the dog park ASAP.

Nothing bad happened but I just wanted to document it and warn the male users of Doggie Doo Run Run to watch out for Harlow.

Maybe it is me or one of the women has some problem we me individually but I do not even know the name of the owner of Harlow. It is a younger aged maybe 30 or thereabouts lady.

This happened about 11:50 am 4/1/2016 at the backfield of Doggie Doo Run Run and was witnessed by the owner of Jade along with Harlow's owner.

This is not an April Fool's joke and I will talk to the owners' of Doggie Doo Run Run-- Scott and Laura-- tomorrow about this.

The dog Harlow was still playing with Jade when I left Doggie Doo Run Run about 12:00 AM 4/1/2016.

Jade is a sweet pit bull mix which I have never had any problem with the number of months I have been around her so I do not have a problem with pit bull mixes in general. Harlow though seems to have a very serious problem around men.

do you mean you were running towards the dog with your hand out? and then again? and again? I'm not sure what you mean by laps, maybe I am reading this wrong. It's not clear to me you actually believe the dog is the issue either.

No. You walk around a 5 acre dog park. A lap is just someone walking around a large back field. There were two women at the picnic table with their dogs Jade and Harlow. I walked by three times and the dog got worse and worse in its treatment of me acting like I was a threat to it or its owner. I made no quick moves and put my hands behind my back as soon as I feel Harlow might attack me. This is a 66-70 pound pit bull mix.

What would be the issue except for a dog that should not be at a dog park??? There are more men than women who go to Doggie Doo Run Run as these are mostly Villagers. If a large dog has a problem with men and acts like it is going to bite someone then it should be leashed or at home. And not at a dog park at all.

Harlow has only been coming to DDRR for a few months. And, I have had problems with him/her before but never where the owner cannot control the dog.

There is no reason I know of that either of these women would have ill feelings towards me. I do know that dogs pick up on the feelings their masters have about certain people. I do not know Harlow's master at all. I have talked extensively with Jade's owner about various things and have NEVER had ANY problem with Jade.

I do have a problem with a dog becoming protective of its owner at a dog park unless there is a valid reason this pooch fears for its owner's well-being. Harlow seems like a dog that some men abused at some point and now wants to hit back and anyone that reminds him/her of the men who abused it. That's just a theory though as again I do NOT KNOW Harlow nor its owner.

Aggressive dog at Doggie Doo Run Run.
 

DDRR is a very large place. I can't help but wonder why your laps had to take you so close to Harlow once you knew he didn't appear to be friendly to you.

You think that an aggressive dog should be in a place like that??? DDRR does have in their sign that aggressive dogs will be removed immediately.

This is not a matter of two dogs that do not get along. That happens a lot. The owners just keep their dogs away from one another.

This is a dog that dislikes men for some reason. And Harlow acted like he was about to attack me. Why are people having a hard time with this?

Nasty dogs do not belong at dog parks. And if one bites a person and the DDRR owners' could have done something to stop it, then they are looking at a possible worthwhile lawsuit. Dog Bite Lawsuits: Strict Liability vs. Premises Liability - Daytona Beach, FL

Aggressive dog at Doggie Doo Run Run.
 

I don't claim to know the facts of the situation. But my question is still valid...and you certainly didn't respond to it.

I have not had serious problems with Harlow before. The owner usually gets it under control. Today she did not have control on the third lap. If an owner does not have control of an aggressive dog at a dog park, it should not be there at all.

I should be able to walk in a dog park without fear of being attacked by a dog unless I am harming the owner in some way or harming the dog. I was not. The only gesture I made was to try to pet Harlow on the head. This was on the second lap that I tried to pet it. I never actually touched Harlow as when I tried to pet it, it started barking.

I am no longer responding to any negative comments on this thread.

The OP is merely making us aware of a possible problem based on his adult opinion.

Aggressive dog at Doggie Doo Run Run.
 

Agreed. And responders are merely asking for clarification and more information.

The reason I have never taken my dogs to a dog park is that there are many dog handlers that ARE AN ISSUE and it it tiresome to protect my pack (girl) from folks that have no clue how to handle a dog.

Based on what I have read here, I am not sure where the root cause exists. Maybe Caesar would visit DDRR?

I suspect it would be very enlightening to many who think their dog is the friendly one....

PS. It is not the dog it is the handler 99% of the time.

I have been going to DDRR since January 2007 with Sport, then with Beau since 2014.

There have been a few cases of dogs biting people. Usually it is the small dogs that nip their owner's legs or hands or the poop scoopers' legs or hands.

A pit bull mix though can do very serious damage to a person very quickly. Some people have been killed by them. An aggressive pit bull mix has no business being at a dog park. That is the law in some places. I do not agree with blanket bans on certain breeds but I am scared of pit bull mixes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_..._United_States

Basic rule
 

Any dog park I have ever been at had a badic rule---- any dog that acted in a aggressive manner should be remov d from the park. Too much liability and danger for all.

Tal is doing the sensible thing relating this incident to the owners. They certainly don't want one dog attacking or biting persons or other dogs.

It would be of benefit to those so quick to jump to negativity to remember that the dogs are all off leash and if one dog shows aggression to a human anywhere in the park that dog must go to the DDRR "special dog run" or out of the park. A dog's concept of 'territory' is very elastic, and no one's enjoyment of the DDRR should be curtailed by one errant off leash animal.

DDRR is a great and well policed place. It makes me wonder how many posters have visited it.

Aggressive dog at Doggie Doo Run Run.
 

I am a fan of DDRR also. But do you not think "jump to negativity" runs both ways?

I don't mean to question Tal's sincerity or intent at all. But I believe some may have felt..from the information provided...that Harlow's guilt had not yet been absolutely established.

I'm not jumping to negativity...just awaiting a little more clarification before jumping to conclusions.

I apologize then. Apparently I do not understand the working of a dog park, or the lingo. In your response you said the "talk" got worse and worse, I am assuming, by the 2 women. I don't know why you would continue to go by them then and didn't just seek another route. Yes, an aggressive dog should be reported, but I don't see that you did anything to help alleviate the problem. Again...apparently I just don't understand how dog parks work, so I'll leave you guys to it. Sorry.

I will share it with them tomorrow.

That is the sort of uncertainty I share. I don't think Lovey2 owes an apology to anybody for such thoughts.

Joe -- one of the DDRR employees-- was showing a new customer the ropes while I was going out. I thought I would not disturb them with my complaint about Harlow just then. And I did hope that Jade's owner would help out with getting through to Harlow's owner about the dog's aggression towards me. I was just walking around the dog park and did try to pet Harlow but my hand never got more than a foot from Harlow because Harlow started to bark when I put my hand out. The third loop is when I had the serious problem and thought that Harlow might attack me.

Wesh 2 news tonight & Fox 25. Leesburg woman killed in her own homw by her own Pit mix. mauled to death. I Love dogs but just sayin.
I haven't been too DDr in a few years. One of my dogs doesn't behave. I do remember T & Scout very well. A quiet gentle man. I'm pretty sure didn't antagonize this dog in anyway..
I miss DDR. So do Dory & Ellie. Hi to all

Not at all. I have been friendly with both of these women and they have been friendly with me.

I would not say something mean to someone who owns an unleashed pit bull mix which is a few feet in front of me.

Imagine that pit-bull mix with its owner who is roping off chairs at Spanish Springs at 3:00 p.m., for the whole night, knowing they will be at Katie Belles or other bar for most of the evening.

People like that in numbers in TV are why I'd never take my dog to a dog park.....they are obnoxious, entitled and exempt from any rules. They raise their dogs the same way.

My middle son had a pit bull that he took for training every Saturday about an hour away from home. I'm not a professional dog anything but I love dogs. This dog appeared to be a good natured animal. The training attack signals to the dog were in Vietnamese so no one could mistakenly alert the dog to attack. The result once I saw the video of this beautiful animal in action was it was banned from my home. What a shame. It was a necessary action to take because of my Boxer Mr. Barney's health and the grandchildren being around. I believe his macho training of this dog ruined the dog as the dog always seemed edgy afterward. He gave the dog away shortly afterward. A $1800 dollar dog given away, I'll bet something happened that he won't reveal to me. They are attack dogs. My boxer is not capable of such a vicious attack but I keep the good dog away from the kids when he's eating or stressed from the heat. They after all are animal's. We make the decision's. I rest my case. Give that DDRR joint a rest for a bit. Less stress for you.

DDRR is privately owned and therefore is run a bit differently than the dog parks provided by The Villages.
Most of the "regulars" at DDRR are great people and have dogs that are socialized and tolerate each other well.
I've found the owners, Scott and Laura, to be very responsible about ejecting dogs that are badly behaved.

I will try to talk to them ASAP about Harlow.

The owner did not seem to have much control over Harlow. I will probably have to go somewhere else other than Doggie Doo Run Run if Harlow remains as she/he is. Very protective of his/her owner and acting like he/she may unman me at some point. And I would not be very good in a boy's choir.

This goes back to my earlier post and why I do not visit dog parks. To be clear, I have never been to DDRR and hear wonderful things about them, so this is just me and how I have raised my dogs.

The rest is not based in fact, it is my opinion based on postings on this thread. I did not witness this nor have I heard “Harlow’s’ side”, so this could be off base, but enjoyable to discuss as I can learn things as people correct me or give their opinion…

Based on this thread we have a strong breed being handled by someone who is not a confident/competant handler. Due to the handler, Harlow is either a nervous dog or has taken on the role of ‘pack leader’. Facts missing, was Harlow on a leash? Was Harlow’s handler in area?

You approach in what you perceive is a friendly manner. From your own posts I would believe you are nervous as you approach. In dog world you are emitting a loud beacon of instability. This is not meant to be insulting, it is human nature.

The problem is that dogs do not understand human nature and because Harlow has never been ‘brought up’ correctly, he is afraid or he is protecting his pack from an unstable stranger approaching.

IMO, it is a dangerous situation when a weak handler owns any dog, but especially a large strong breed.

I guess my one question would be, were you there with a dog or by yourself. Your post is unclear of that! Sounds like YOU are there alone and are feeling threatened by Harlow. If you did actually have a dog with you, was he/she threatened?

Actually I have not be nervous up to now around Harlow. Now I will be though. Harlow was not on a leash and the owner was probably thirty feet from where I walked past the dog. Harlow had taken a defensive stance in front the picnic table and had become very protective of its owner.

She has had control of Harlow before but not yesterday.

By in large, the dogs at Doggie Doo Run Run are very well behaved and violent encounters are quite rare. They do happen though.

And I am usually a very calm person and anything but unstable. Google Taltarzac725 for more about me.

And sometimes the dog snaps for some reason or no reason. Leesburg woman mauled to death by pit bull, police say - Daily Commercial: News

Sorry, I thought I read you were a little apprehensive about pit bull breed. I certainly am when one is around my dog because they are so strong, I am not sure I could intervene.

Sorry #2, I meant unstable as a dog may interpret, not as humans would. I did not mean to imply you are unstable :)

Jade is a pit bull mix and she and her owner are quite nice. You might get licked by Jade. Jade's owner has faced some unfair prejudice based on how her dog looks.

If I see an unfamiliar pit bull mix though around the Villages my guard does go up. Our former neighbor in Palm Harbor bred pit bulls and treated them like crap so I would expect them to go off on people. He kept them in crates in his garage and even incurred the wrath of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals when he tried to exercise them by tying them to his car and driving around the neighborhood. A boy called 9/11 and got the cops to follow the blood trail to my neighbor's home. That, of course, made the Tampa Bay news stations. And we had to put up with some rather nasty drive-bys. Eggs and the like, not gunshots. I was glad to move out of Palm Harbor in 2005. I had got in a legal mess with the Palm Harbor Library Director Gene Coppola as well over a link to the Florida Victim Services Directory Victim Services Directory and got hit with a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation threat from the Palm Harbor Library General Counsel. It would have cost too much financially and more importantly on stress to my family to fight this local bully. So, I got out of Dodge, so to speak. Since 2005, I have had a very nice life here in the Villages and for the most part I am a very happy camper. Broader life experiences though can influence how one interacts both with local people as well as their pets.

You are usually not only interacting with a dog but with its owner and how she/he feels about stuff right then as well. Google Taltarzac725 if you want to know more about my story and where I am at now in my life.

May not get to Doggie Doo Run Run this weekend because of the weather. I will inform whoever I run into there though who is an employee or owner of DDRR about my experiences with Harlow. Hopefully, someone already has done this by the time Beau and I return to Doggie Doo Run Run.

I should do it myself. I am just hoping that maybe Jade's owner said something about it. Or maybe even Harlow's owner mentioned it to Scott or Laura. Jade's owner seems like a very good woman. Jade's owner witnessed the whole thing even though she was facing the opposite way at the picnic table I am pretty sure she turned to see what Harlow might do.

Beau does not get along with some of the 5:00 PM dogs in the back field so I try to avoid coming around that time of the day to DDRR. It is Beau that is being that brat in this case.

This is our former dog from around 1991-1998 Amber whose look-a-like at Doggie Doo Run Run, Beau unfortunately does not like licks from.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...psccd2eefe.jpg

It is never good to be 30 feet away from your dog at a dog park, much less have your back turned to him. At times people start talking to each other and forget about their dogs. There's one dog at Atlas dog park that runs around like a maniac, barking and agitating the other dogs and gets them all riled up in a group. The last time we were there she had seven dogs all in a frenzy. I had to keep my dog away from this pack and finally left for his own protection. The owner ignores what the dog is doing. I think she thinks it's cute or isn't a problem. Somebody's dog is eventually going to get injured.

I hope you will talk to the owners about Harlow, Tal. Also, it would be helpful to give a description of Harlow so others can at least be on the lookout.

Jade is usually fine. Jade's owner was facing the golf course to the north of Doggie Doo Run Run. Harlow's owner was facing Doggie Doo Run Run. Beau was off doing Beau things and no where near this area of the big field. Many dogs at DDRR are far from their owners in the back field.

Harlow is tan in color and seems to be mostly boxer but with some pit bull and other breeds mixed into his or her make-up. This is a large very muscular dog and probably about 1-2 years. Jade is darker in color and a very sweet pooch but also has some pit bull in a large mix of breeds .

I will try to report this to the owners at DDRR today.

I reported this to Laura but not in as much detail at about 11:50 AM this Sunday 4/3/2016. She did not recall what the owner of Harlow looks like but does know Jade's owner as these two pit bull mixes (at least, that is what they look like to me) play together a lot.

One thing. There are a few dogs that look a little like Harlow but are not the same kind of very protective and sometimes aggressive dog. I petted a dog that looked a little bit like Harlow this morning and it seemed quite happy about it. This was a thinner probably boxer/pit bull mix and was also younger or looked that way.

I will not go into the back field at DDRR now though if I see Harlow there or will stay as far as possible away from him and its owner if it comes in while we are there.

It was Sport and Tal. Now, Beau and Tal.

Hi. I remember Dory and Ellie. I was wondering what happened to you two or four? I hope you guys are doing well!!!

I am a very quiet person as well as often calm and try to put myself in other's shoes.

Ron had Scout and now has a rather wild puppy-- another Shi Tzu-- also named Scout. Scout, Jr when Ron signs in for it.

Sometimes people would call us Ron/Jon after the surf shop as the dogs Sport and Scout were often confused.

Here is me with Sport from about 4 years ago. Picture take by Grace who has Billikins.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...psukm3rdhc.jpg