Hartman Rd Dog Park

nice dogs and nice people.

feels like people are a lot more considerate of each other since the park is small and out of the way.
regulars keep the fence patched and the area relatively clean, (as clean as you can keep a dog park).

Pulled in this morning Saturday to the Hartman dog park we’ve been coming for over 2 years and my dog hesitated to come in a small brown and white pure Pitbull Coco this is his name I ask the owner can we come in as she said Coco didn’t get along well with your dog last time so I said then you should leave and she did

For the most part this dog park is great. MOST of the people and dogs are all welcoming, friendly, and responsible dog owners.

But most do not mean all. There is a group of women that I call the cackle of Karen’s who seem to think the dog park is for them to socialize while paying no attention to their dogs.

It is a grey poodle name starts with a G, a German Sheppardname might be Mia and
doberman Mix I believe the dogs name is Delilah. These dogs and their owners ruin the experience for everybody.

One of my first times at this (March 31st) dog park delilah spent the entire time barking and jumping up the fence at every small dog that walked by. We were there less than an hour when delilah dug under the fence and attacked another small dog outside of the dog park. The owner was clueless until it was too late. The small dog outside of the fence could not even be consoled by its owner because they had to hold back delilah until her owner slowly made their way around to get her. You could hear the other small dog yelping and crying when it’s owner was finally able to pick it up. The IRRESPONSIBLE dog owner then proceeded to COME BACK into the dog park with their unruly dog and play the victim with the cackle of karens consoling her.

Also, the entire time we were there the poodle kept trying to mount my dog (with no reprimand from its owner) and every time I threw the ball for my dog, the German Shepard would growl, lunge and nip at my dog (not the ball, my dog).

We stopped going to this dog park for a few weeks because of this very first experience not wanting to put my dogs life at risk.

After a few weeks went by I decided to give it another try and it was a wonderful experience. I have a Chuck it and there’s no shortage on ball chasers so we all had a great time. Delilah wasn’t there and the cackle of Karens stuck to their corner for the most part. The German Shepard was there and continued lunging and nipping at my dog when I threw the ball and I was speaking with Ali’s owner who said that the German Shepard has always been a problem at the park. So much so that I won’t throw the ball for my dog if that German Shepard is in the same proximity.

We decide to go back again, this time Delilah was there, the cackle of Karens were in thier corner so I kept a very close eye on where my dog went because I will not tempt fate and allow him near a dog that will injur him while their owner plays victim. Everything was fine.

Today I go again, we have the same routine, I throw the ball, he chases it, and there are no Karens present but I do spot one of their dogs, the poodle. First 30 minutes in and everything is great. I start talking to Roxy’s owner about how the owner of the poodle has put her hands on other people at the dog park and points fingers at innocent dogs when her dog or one of the other Karen”s dog is involved in an altercation. During this time I then wide eyed watched the poodle growl and run at Roxy completely unprovoked and out of left field.

Fast forward another 20 minutes and Roxy leaves and the owner of the poodle approaches this older gentleman (him and his dog are both very kind, the dogs name might be Lo) and I overhear her say something about Roxy and her owner. I stay minding my business nut make note of the hypocrisies. My dog and lo are having a good time for about 10/15 minutes. The grey poodle is sitting in the gazebo, I am on the bench closest to the gate and Im throwing the ball over and over. As they start to chase the ball (for the 100th time in 10 minutes) and pass the gazebo the poodle runs out and nips at my dog. First time it happens I let it slide. I make my dog take a small reprieve make sure the poodle goes back to the gazebo before I throw the ball again. The poodle lunges for my dog a second time. That’s now the 3rd time in the span of roughly an hour that this dog has gone after another and I tell the woman “if your dog goes after mine one more time we will have a problem.” After a few choice words she then proceeds to leave but not before calling me an asshole.

I’ve been goinging to this park since my dog, Georgie, a standard poodle, was 4 monts old. He is now 2 1/2 years old. I think that’s him at the top of the picture, the black poodle. Georgie and I have met a lot of very nice people and dogs, until Friday April 18 at 5:30. That’s when this woman (and I need help here) is an African-American about 55 yrs old, drives a white car and has a small black and white dog and a black Giant Schnauzer. The Schnauzer walked up to my dog and suddenly, with no provocation, violenty attacked my dog biting him viciously on his back, side and neck. He then clamped his jaws on my dog’s neck and would not let go. It took me, and another guy, Steve, about 5 long minutes to get him off my dog. No amount of pulling, punching, and kicking would get that dog to release Georgie’s neck. When we finally got him off, the owner apologized and left. My dog was bleeding from 6-7 deep puncture wounds on his side,back and neck. I took him to the vet the following day (Saturday) where they cleaned up the deep bites and put him on antibiotics. Today (Tuesday) the worst puncture wounds on his back became infected so back to the vet tomorrow. What I would really like is to be able to contack the dog’s owner. Like I said, she is African-American, maybe 55, drives a white car, works maybe at Albany Med, has the dogs I described, and her name may be Deseriee. If anyone knows who this is, please post her name. She should not be taking a vicious fighting dog to this or any other dog park. Tomorrow I’m reporting this to the Albany Police Department.

This was our go-to for both of our pups before we had to say goodbye. Excellent atmosphere, and the regulars are so neat to talk to.