I have been to dog parks where the owners were neglectful of their unleashed dog. In one instance a greyhound was ripped open at the flank and had to have 80 some odd stitches. The owners of the dog who did the attacking said to just put hydrogen peroxide on it. I think the owner of the mastiff was attntive, alert and mindful of his dog as you were, it is the owner talking to another, reading, or sipping coffee with a blank look on their face which you have to watch out for. I ALWAYS hook my dog up onto a leash before we say hi to any new dog, because you just dont know how dogs are going to react to each other. One lady told me she never worries about her dog, he is not aggressive, this is the same dog which chased our car over a quarter of a mile from where she was standing not 2 weeks later, trying to get at my dog in the back seat...Dogs will be dogs, and usually things are okay, I have taken my dog to an unleashed dog park for years without incident. I might add that we spend time at the fence and wait for the other dogs to sniff, and break up any type of pack mentalitity if the dog park is fenced. These can be the worse places because a pack can corner your dog in a matter of seconds....Hope everyone is okay.

Mazer - You are so right ... the "pack" rules. It's a difficult situation in a park .... I learned to be observant - ready to jump in no matter how friendly dogs look. You give great advice . God - I hope that greyhound survived . I hate hearing things like that .

I've never been to a dog park that didn't have a separate section for small dogs. You should talk to your town about that. Small dogs look like prey to some larger dogs, so if your dog is small and there is no separate section for him, you would be safer not to go back!

As for legality, you enter the park at your own risk. You should be able to find the rules posted at the dog park, and/or on your municipality's website.

When I go to the dog park with my dogs I always observe before entering. If the play is rough or looks out of control we don't go in.

There is good article on Dog Part Etiquette in this month's Whole Dog Journal.

The last time I was at the dog park, some moron, nitwit, nimrod, airhead's dog cornered me against the fence and was growling viciously. She came over and said "no, stop it, no" the dog calmed down a little but was still there. Then she WALKED AWAY to GO TALK TO HER FRIENDS and the dog continued growling. Afraid of what might happened if I told this lady how I felt about her from a distance, I stood there like an idiot waving my hands tring to get her attention.

I have medium sized dogs and they are supposed to be in the big dog section according to the sign with the weight limits but the big dog section is full of really gargantuan dogs and usually pretty crowded and not too pleasant and not to easy to get control of your dog in some situations. The little dog section has dogs that are much smaller than mine and is less crowded but isn't as much fun.

We have the big/little dog split, thank goodness. I've never seen a fight in the little dog section in 4 years, but see them in the big dog section every single time.

I don't let my weiner dog play with much bigger dogs - too much risk of him getting accidently stepped on, and especially when they start running around, small dogs definitely trigger some big dogs' prey instinct.

Even at the small dog park, if there is some overly aggressive dog there bothering my dog, mine will let me know he's ready to leave. He just heads for the gate on his own.

Our dog park is quite large and has separate small dog and agility areas.

Everything is usually fine when the dogs are in their respective areas, but it's not unusual to see people tossing their tiny dogs and scared new puppies right into the big dog mix.

The bigger/older dogs of course immediately surround the tiny/young one, which intimidates the poor thing even if there isn't any barking or aggression.

Then the owner tries in vain to shoo all of the other dogs away, so the tiny/young dog can have "personal space" in the middle of the park. I don't get it.

That said, only once in the year we've going to this particular park has there been a serious incident. In that case, a husky or similar breed bit the ear of another very large dog.

Most of the owners keep track of their dogs and step in if things look like they're getting too rough or if one dog has simply had enough.