Took my dog to the local dog park this afternoon. It’s the only area nearby where dogs are allowed to be off leash. There are two parts to the dog park - one is a huge field, the other is an adjoining smaller field with some agility stuff - tunnel, bridge, poles etc. Took my dog into this area as he loves to play on the equipment. Just after we arrived a woman came in to this area with with a GSD puppy and 3 kids who looked to be about 5-8 ish. The kids immediately began to run around and play on the agility stuff. The puppy was running around but not anywhere near the kids. Mum was ignoring them all, until another woman with similar aged child and a staffie-type dog also arrived. The mothers chatted, the other two dogs played together and the four kids were running around on the equipment. No one paid any attention to what the kids or dogs were doing for the most part. My dog wanted to play on the agility stuff but couldn’t get on it. One of the kids got a plastic baseball ball from his mother and started swinging it around, hitting the tunnel etc. One of the girls screamed when my dog walked past her. He’s gentle and friendly but he is a giant breed so could knock a child over if startled. The kids were sitting on the bridge and crawling through the tunnel- if he jumped on to the bridge he could easily have bumped one of them off it.
I felt my dog was starting to get stressed so I left. I felt the situation had the potential to become dangerous, especially with the baseball bat.
The dog park is in a rural area, all on its own, surrounded by thousands of acres of public open space. The nearby town, about four miles away, has parks and play parks galore. AIBU to think children shouldn’t be playing in an area that is meant exclusively for dogs? Fine if they were actually playing with their dogs, but they were completely ignoring them!