Baltimore riots are a human invention, not something that dogs would do
I saw the news about the Baltimore riots and wonder from a distance how it got to this? I understand the pain that the community is feeling and condolences to Freddie Gray's family. But I guess that incidences like this are one of the reasons I enjoy pro dog walking so much and not being in an office environment. Less covert politics and violence without reason. To people who visit dog parks often enough it would not be ironic to hear that it is also people in the dog park that cause most of the problems - not the dogs. A lot of times it is well meaning owners. People who are either over anxious or over protective of their dogs. Ones that project anxiety onto their dogs and cause a situation to occur that world never naturally occur in the wild.
Dogs tend to sort things out quickly when they form a pack. They don't have to back up their misguided owners. I am not egotistic enough to believe that I have never been part of the problem, but as most pro dog walkers will know, its the act of the owner not over reacting that usually has the most calming effect on the park, the dog and any potentially volatile situation.
If the Baltimore incident was caused by excessive force or racism, as the rioters mostly claim. It is clearly one group trying to exert undue force and control over another group. Baltimore has perhaps a very different set up from Australia in that it has a two very large groups of people (black and white) where as we have a small black (indigenous) population on most places.
Dog violence in the dog park
It is true that from time to time a large aggressive powerful breed dog will be brought to the park off lead and with no muzzle - the prefect dog fight storm. But this is fairly rare as most owners soon get enough fines and notoriety that they find a better way.Dogs have been evolved by man to fight and be involved in conflict. These dogs are further trained to fight in such situations, working very effectively, but usually under expert human control.
The whole point of off lead dog walking is the opposite to attack dogs. It is to train a dog to be social, to want to play and entice play, to explore and not to feel threatened. The exercise plus mental stimulation of the dog is what makes for such rested balanced dogs when they get home from the park, but the trick is to do this daily, not randomly.
When this is done, there is NO chance of a Baltimore type conflict in the dog park, because no dogs have anything to prove, they are not fighting for themselves or their owners, they don't have anxiety they have excitement and the joy of being free, There are many things that we can learn from dogs, and seeing free happy dogs in an off lead dog park reminds me of why so many people like dogs more than they like people (their same race or other).
