Hera has outgrown the dog park on Lemieux Island. The past two weekends our outings there were quite stressful for me. The weekend before this one I took her later in the evening after dark. There were no other dogs with their owners at the park, but there were unsavoury elements present in the park. I had a confrontation with a young man with beer can in hand. He threatened to "mess up" Hera as she barked at him. I called her and we promptly left the park. I resolved to avoid the park after dark thereafter.
Yesterday afternoon I took her to the park and as it was raining lightly, we were the only ones there. The park abuts one of the City of Ottawa water treatment plants. The complex is fenced off and there are no trespassing signs posted. Squirrels and groundhogs run freely on the other side of the fence and Hera naturally sees them as prey. She learned she can get around the fences easily enough and I cannot get to her. She takes the shoreline on the Ottawa River and slips past the fence to get into the fenced off area. Yesterday, she ignored my order to come to heel, bolting for the fenced off area. She was gone more than half an hour, all the while leaving me to worry some harm would befall her. She came back unharmed, much to my relief, and I decided that is it. We are not using the dog park at Lemieux Island any longer. It was good when she was a puppy and like to run and play with the other dogs, but now her focus is on hunting. If I persist in taking her to the island, I am only reinforcing her disobedience and putting the idea into her head that she is hunting for herself and not for me.
Yesterday afternoon I took her to the park and as it was raining lightly, we were the only ones there. The park abuts one of the City of Ottawa water treatment plants. The complex is fenced off and there are no trespassing signs posted. Squirrels and groundhogs run freely on the other side of the fence and Hera naturally sees them as prey. She learned she can get around the fences easily enough and I cannot get to her. She takes the shoreline on the Ottawa River and slips past the fence to get into the fenced off area. Yesterday, she ignored my order to come to heel, bolting for the fenced off area. She was gone more than half an hour, all the while leaving me to worry some harm would befall her. She came back unharmed, much to my relief, and I decided that is it. We are not using the dog park at Lemieux Island any longer. It was good when she was a puppy and like to run and play with the other dogs, but now her focus is on hunting. If I persist in taking her to the island, I am only reinforcing her disobedience and putting the idea into her head that she is hunting for herself and not for me.
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