Weddington Road Bark Park — Attraction in Concord

I love the fact that there is a greenway, and that the small dogs have grass in their run, however I feel that the large dog lot could be better. Gravel can be really hard on a dogs paws after all, I found myself using the field across the parking lot more than anything else.

Now, onto my real reason for the 1 star rating and my experience there. I have a submissive but dog friendly dog, so when I first took her into the yard she was overwhelmed by the number of dogs checking her out and I did the right thing by removing her and getting her relaxed again. I hung around for a while, watched as people left until there were only two dogs in the large dog lot, a Pointer and a small mixed breed. The mixed breed was being held by the owner and the Pointer was very polite so I decided to give it another go.

I took my dog back into the yard, the Pointer coming over to check her out for a second, realized she wasn't really interested in playing at the moment and went on his way, great dog, the exact kind of dog that should be in dog parks, one that respects other dogs and their boundaries. I go on top of the hill after walking the yard with my dog, making sure she is comfortable before finding an abandoned ball and playing fetch with my girl, she loves the longer distance and open space she could run in.

I watch another woman come in with a Shepherd mix of some kind, and I sense trouble immediately and mind my own business on the hill with my dog while her dog runs and harasses the Pointer mentioned earlier. It's 15-30 minutes of her dog not even noticing me and mine on the hill. Now, there are mounds of dirt in the large dog lot and I was throwing the ball between the two of them, towards the larger one. The Shepherd came rounding the mound just as my dog was retrieving the ball, so she didn't notice the other dog at all. The shepherd set eyes on my dog and barely three feet away from me immediately assumes a bullying position over my dog. My dog hadn't been expecting the interaction and her first move was to drop, curling up and exposing her belly, wrong move I suppose. Within seconds my dog gets up to come to me for safety and her dog attacks mine, now only inches in front of me.

If it hadn't been for the close range I may not have been able to get her dog off mine in time before any injury was had. I held the woman's dog by the collar between my legs for better control while my dog tried to hide behind me, pawing my leg, looking for comfort that I couldn't give her because the Shepherd was fighting in my hold trying to lunge at my dog again. Lady jogs from across the yard, where she had been standing the whole time, clearly no control over her dog and approaches me to take the collar from me, I don't release until I know she has a good hold of her dog because I knew one slip up and her dog would be on mine again.

She makes a comment about how her dog had been doing so well, implying her dog wasn't the best behaved around other dogs to begin with. I bit my tongue from lashing out at her, I am a dog savvy person after all, and will soon be going to school for training and assisting in veterinary care of dogs in the next few months. "I think we will be leaving now." Is all I said, even though it was really her that should have been leaving, I leashed my dog and quickly made my way to the exit. I am grateful the double gate set up since before I even had the first gate closed the woman released her dog, which charged across the yard, hackles raised, and all the fur on her back standing up as she growled and pawed at the gap in the gate to try and get to my dog. This isn't the kind of dog that should be attending a dog park.

I made sure my dog got water and was relaxed before packing up and fully leaving the dog park, after watching the lady had to restrain her dog a couple more times of course.

Because there was no blood drawn, thanks to my quick acting to jump in the middle of the fight and pull her dog off mine, I didn't call the police, maybe I should have. I won't be going...

@Tailor... You shouldn't have a dog let alone take them out in public. Your review highlights your utter ignorance of how dogs operate and how to make your dog comfortable at the park. Your dog will emulate your feelings and anxiety most of the time.... So you, "sensing there was trouble right away," is what you told your dig to do... And in the animal world the others can pick up on this. This is why in the wild it is survival of the fittest, and there is nobody to come and hover over the dog, freaked out, making the dog feel that they need to protect them.

Simply put you're the issue with your dog, not the other people or dogs. Your dog feels that it is needing to protect you and senses that you're so incredibly weak, that even a submissive dog such as itself can protect you. If you had control of yourself and your dog, you wouldn't give off such anxious signs to your dog, meaning the dog would know that it is ok and you're in control, instead of being so worried about everything else. The dog doesn't understand worry, it understands domination, fear, and love. Not in the same way we understand love, but you'll have to do a lot of work before you could even begin to comprehend what is being said here.

Dogs don't have the capacity to be the head of the household as I'm sure yours is. Our dogs would have acknowledged that yours is uncomfortable and really left it alone, because they don't have to dominate the dog, as they already are fully aware of their alpha dog... Me. They do have their own personalities and hierarchy, amongst themselves, but again, they are all on the same level as far as an alpha dog is concerned.

I have one chihuahua dachshund mix and she is MY BABY. Ever since she was 8 weeks old she has been leary of new people, she is now 2. That's how she is, she likes who she knows and that's it, unless you have food then you're an instant hit lol. But when I take her 21 lb self to the dog park, she is initially irritated with all of the dogs checking her out, because we don't use small dog areas, as all her siblings are much larger. When we first started going, she would run to me after getting upset with the dogs. I do not allow this nor do I ever sit there and comfort a dog the way you would a child when they are scared. You're simply telling them that the behavior is ok, bit giving the comfort. This reinforces the idea that they shouldn't be comfortable and starts your cycle that you're in. So now when I take my little one to the park, she warms up right away and is actually kind of feisty. She holds her own and lets the other dogs know when something isn't right. A 65 lb German Shepherd puppy came up trying to aggressively smell her, and she told him in no uncertain manner that it wasn't ok lol. She isn't aggressive at all, some assertive. I don't worry about any dog going after any of my dogs because they understand that if an aggressive dog comes in the park, that wants to dominate, that they aren't to mess with it because I am their alpha dog... They go about their business and ignore it, and so does the dog 99% of the time because my dogs aren't scared, aren't worried, aren't anxious, therefore the dog doesn't sense weakness and doesn't feel the need to initiate anything.

Please don't blame other animals for your ignorance and lack of ability to teach your dog how to successfully interact and deal...

It's true - mean dogs are brought to this park. Our dog almost got bit today until I stepped in between my dog and the snarling one. The owner was nice, rushed over and grabbed its collar, but the dog was very agitated! It was a little scary but I kept my cool bc I could tell the owner was embarrassed. The dog would start by doing a regular chase and then get more aggressive until he was snarling. The owner did the right thing by making him sit out (while holding his collar) but it was still concerning. We decided to cut our visit very short. When we were leaving, another dog was coming in that also started barking angrily at us. There's an "I'm excited to be at the park" bark and an aggressive bark- this was an aggressive bark. My children got very scared and its owners didn't do anything! They didn't give him any commands or try to make him settle down, they just let him bark and snarl at us. Thank God the entrance/exit fence was between us! Once we were out of the park I turned around to watch the two mean dogs sniff each other, fully expecting a combat. They chased and snarled and nipped after each other too! Then, another man who was walking his two dogs on the greenway came down the path and the original snarler ran to the fence, snarled and instigated the two outside the fence and they in turn got angry and started fighting, snarling and jumping back at him. You could tell it was difficult for the owner as his two were larger dogs, even though they were leashed.

Maybe we went on a bad day or something but it was shocking to see 4 mean dogs there at the same time. There was 1 older, nice dog that kept to himself (great choice, buddy.) I went there with my 5month old Australian shepherd and 3 children, 7 years old and under. I won't be going there again. It is...