This week’s question (Have your own? Submit it here.):

Another dog owner lets his dog overwhelm mine at the park, then laughs it off as “just playing.” My dog really does not like the intense physical play and yelps for help. But we keep running into each other. How do I set a boundary without making it totally uncomfortable every time I see this person? There is no other close dog park.

Abigail Covington, Life & Culture Reporter

I actually don’t take my dog to the park because she is, objectively, a very bad dog. She’s anxious, aggressive, and can’t play for squat. Whenever she tries to play, her flight-or-fight instincts kick in and she ends up scaring all the other dogs and their owners away. Super fun for everyone!

It sounds like you are dealing with a similar kind of dog, but, unfortunately, an obtuse owner. You are well within your rights to ask this person to keep their dog away from yours. The number one rule of dog ownership is don’t let your dog be a jerk.

Jason Nark, Life & Culture Reporter

I agree. My least favorite type of pet owner is someone who rationalizes/reinterprets clearly bad behavior, so I empathize. I’ve had dogs who behaved poorly, so I kept them out of dog parks. It seems unlikely you’d run into this specific dog every time you go there, but if that’s the case, maybe try going there at completely different times: early morning, nighttime, etc.

Abigail Covington

That would be a very effective and nonconfrontational way of dealing with it. If you don’t want it to be uncomfortable when you see them, just don’t see them. Problem solved.

Or you could choose to put this dog owner in their place, for everybody (and everydog’s!) sake. Simply say, “It looks like our dogs have different ideas of what “playing” means. Maybe we should keep them separate?” It’s for their dog’s good, too, and you can say that. God forbid their dog hurt yours. That could get them in and the owner in serious trouble!

Jason Nark

Yes, this person likely knows their dog is misbehaving, but if they’re not dealing with it, you should say something for your dog’s sake. I have a pit bull who is super friendly and lovable and melts hearts wherever she goes. As a pit bull owner, though, I take even extra precautions around other dogs because, god forbid, she ever reacts to an out-of-control dog, she could do real damage.

Abigail Covington

Exactly. And she could get in trouble too! I believe Pennsylvania has a single-incident rule, so all anyone’s dog has to do is hurt another dog or person, one time, for any reason, to face consequences.

Maybe this dog owner doesn’t know that. I think if you frame the conversation around protecting their dog too, they’d welcome what you had to say and the distance between your two pups.