Luna got in a fight today. This post is mostly so I can remember the facts clearly if necessary.
We went to the nearby park with some friends and their dog so the dogs could collectively burn some energy. When we approached the park, we saw that there was a woman with her kids and her black lab off leash outside the fenced area on the playground. Mark inquired as to whether the dog was friendly with other dogs and the lady replied that she was when off leash. (At that point, I should have turned around and taken Luna home... hindsight 20/20 and all...) The dog met Kira and Rita with no real problem. I decided to take Luna through the path away from their dog since Luna can be testy with other females.
The other dog approached us as we were crossing the playground and they did the sniffing dance with little fanfare. I didn't want to let her linger so I hurried Luna into the park.
At some point the other dog ran up to the fence (on the outside -- we had latched the gate and all our dogs were inside) and Luna headed over to where she was. Next thing we know, they're fighting through the fence. We were able to keep Kira and Rita away by voice and Luna was pulled from the fence. I don't know if the other dog backed away at that point or not. Mark asked if the dog was ok and the lady said no and that her ear was bleeding. They left the park at that point.
Within a few minutes, a man came up with a pen and some paper asking who owned Luna ("the black dog") and wanting our name and phone number because his dog was "bleeding all over the kitchen". We should have asked him to reciprocate but didn't think of it until he'd already left. Both Mark and I apologized and then he launched into a tirade about being sick of his dog and family getting attacked by "mean dogs" in this neighborhood. Hold on just a minute, buddy...
Not only was this guy not there to witness the altercation between the dogs, his dog was no innocent victim. She was fully participating. Had Luna been "attacking" her, his dog would have easily been able to flee to safety merely by backing up about 12 inches because, as I mentioned before, our dogs were *inside a fenced area with the gate firmly latched*. The entire thing happened between the bars of the fence. It made me wonder whether or not his dog had initiated these prior "attacks". Well, I'm sorry that they've had bad experiences, but I'm unwilling to shoulder the blame for that being that I don't believe I had ever seen them before today. We made some of these points to him but he just remained irritated and then stormed back to his car and left.
The ramifications of this are that Luna will not be making any more trips to that park. I will continue to take Kira there but I'm unwilling to shoulder any more risk with Luna at this point. If I have to keep her away from the fence at all times while in the park, there is really no point to taking her there to play off leash.
*sigh*
