I wish we had a dog park like that around. Heck, I wouldn't even mind paying for one.
I got really excited when one was built about 7 miles from my house... it was expensive, but they advertised on their site that foster dogs got in for free so we went to check it out.
I was not thrilled. We got there and the lady was absolutly crazy... she was just... nutty. Seriously. From the time I started talking to her I knew that something was off. I didn't want to be rude though so I kept talking to her.
She tells us to bring the dog into the fenced area, so we do and take the leash off (you aren't allowed to leash the dogs inside the main area...) and the dog is loving it. I decided to test his recall becaue he's a hound and prior to bringing him there, we had never had him off leash. He comes and I went to pet him and she told us not to pet him or give him too much attention because it would attract other dogs and cause problems... wtf?
We brought our foster so we could talk with her specifically about him and then head straight to the adoption event after. So while the dog is running around in the main park area, with other dogs etc... she tells us that before accepting us he would have to be evaluated first. I kept asking about the foster getting in free thing and she kept avoiding it. Finally I said "look, on your site it says foster dogs get in free. Is this true or not?" and then she asked what rescue we were with and we told her and sh*t hit the fan. She went off on a rant about how the rescue is not a good one and she knows a lot of dogs from there that were adopted out that were just crazy and that they were adopted out into wrong homes etc (um... adopters are interviewed and adoption coordinators work closely to ensure it's a good fit, plus there is a 2 wk trial period). She then says that she has major problems with the rescue's president and that in order for him to be accepted into the dog park, she would HAVE to talk with them and that she could NEVER trust their evaluation of the dog, so we'd have to pay her to do it for us, which "would be a pain because" she "doesn't have time for that". She then tells us that it would be better for everyone to pay the $250 annual fee plus the eval. fee and just get a membership for him.
I was beyond peeved at this point, and was really holding back from arguing with her... but when she suggested that we purchase a membership for the foster dog, I looked at her and said "You can't be serious. You seriously expect us to pay over $250 for a dog who could potentially be adopted in two weeks? That's ridiculous. We are late for our adoption event, so we'll be going". and she looks at me and says "well if you want a good rescue I can suggest one" and I simply looked at her and called the dog back so we could leave.
I didn't necesserially have a problem with the fact that she didn't like the rescue- people have different opinions/experiences. I personally think it's a great rescue- I wouldn't volunteer for one if it wasn't. But my problem was that a) she went on and on bad-mouthing the rescue and because she didn't like the rescue wouldn't let the dog into the park without paying (come on, don't state on your website that foster dogs get in for free unless you are going to hold up to it) and that b) she expected us to pay $250 for a membership on a dog who could potentially get adopted in 2 weeks and not give us a partial refund or let us use it towards another dog.
We thought it would be great for our dogs, becuase we only have 1/4 acre... but at $250/dog x 3 dogs (plus the foster), it's not worth it.
That was really long! sorry! Kind of rantish... but I was peeved at this lady and so disappointed that there wasn't another one closer because I'd love to take my dogs to one.
