Mr. McCarthy posted his comments (“Open small dog park or get new one,” Sun City West Independent, Feb. 19, 2020) about a double standard being applied in the way we don’t allow large dog breeds into the small dog parks.
I agree with all the positive attributes of Sun City West’s dog parks cited by Mr. McCarthy. As a longtime resident of Sun City West I have been taking my golden retriever since she was a puppy to the large dog park shortly after moving here. She made friends, many of which have passed on. Unfortunately, she is nearing her last years and wracked with arthritis. We don’t frequent the park as much these days.
Yes, it is true dogs of all sizes generally get along in the spacious large park. Just because it is spacious. However, the recreation centers and Canine Companion Club developed a small dog park because small breeds unfortunately feel inferior to large breeds and they have been known to attack dogs walking the path from the parking lot to the larger park, probably to claim territory.
My retriever never fought with aggressive dogs but some residents used to take off their dog’s leash and let them walk on the grass commons outside of the fenced small dog park. From time to time my retriever was circled by a small breed dog and once attacked, but we ran off the aggressor. I was told by a couple of dog owners that some time before I moved here a small dog and a large dog were in a scuffle and the small dog was injured and died. For reasons like this it is for the safety of all dog owners and their canines to separate small dogs from large breeds in the smaller confined dog parks.
If two or more small breed dogs scuffle in the small dog parks they are more likely to survive instead of the danger of a great dane or doberman attacking a schnauzer, etc. No double standard, just common sense.
