Play Date??

[Scarlet13]

Hello,

We are looking to make play dates for Bibi we live in Changwon, near Busan. Is there anyone in the area? We wan't her to be comfortable around other dogs, she will be going to Canada this summer, where she will meet her big brother and sister.

[alibuch]

My dog and Bibi have actually met before but it's so far away. :(

[Scarlet13]

It seems like no one is in this end:(

[pukka]

Oh I am so sorry,that is really sad because my dogs would love to
play with her ;)
Move to Daejeon? :D

[Scarlet13]

lol...she won't even be able to come with us on the 8th when we go to the shelter:(

[teamq]

Anyone around Songtan or Osan area? We've been looking for a dog park around our area but no luck. Chopper loves to play with other dogs but on the other hand, every time we see other dogs on a leash, their owners never want to stop. They just keep on walking and Chopper starts to whine. I feel bad for him. So if anyone is in the area, lets set a play date:)

[pukka]

Why aren't the people stopping to say Hi to Chopper? Was he not
leashed? I don't understand.It is so good to socialize your dog.

[teamq]

We don't understand either, pukka. Chopper is such a sweet and friendly dog. We have him on a leash every time we take him out on walks...only because we observed that most of the people that live in our apartment complex are afraid of him. When we first took him home, we use to let him run leash-free in the grassy area in front of our apartment until we noticed that people that walk by scream their heads off as soon as Chopper approaches them. Note that Chopper never barks and he's waaaaaay smaller than them. There was one incident when a young lady took her shoulder bag off and was trying to wack Chopper with it. Believe me, if her shoulder bag touched Chopper's skin, hell would break through in a heart beat! What in the world was she thinking?! Thankfully, there are children around that love to play with Chopper every time they see him, but I would also like to socialize my dog with other dogs.

[Karen]

Sadly, I can't meet anyone for play dates as we're a bit too far... wish I could because you guys look like such a friendly bunch!! :)

But teamq, I know exactly what you mean. My schnauzer got the same reaction, even as a puppy (thankfully no one tried to whack her, mind you). I have a theory that it's colour-related. Actually, I don't think mine ever got to play with a single small white dog until we met pukka's family because all other small white dog owners would scoop up their little ones when they saw us coming... Even though she was always on lead.

Anyway, I noticed a HUGE difference in how people treated the white dogs that I was fostering. It was unbelievable how many people said Aw cute, and wanted to pet them. I did notice that people were less afraid of Sage if she was wearing a t-shirt, but she only wears one for cold weather and to hide a bad haircut.

I can see the effects of under-socialization... Sage is OK with dogs but with strangers she's just crazy, I think she thinks screaming at new people is normal because that's a lot of what she heard. :o

Well, hopefully you'll meet someone with a brown or black dog living near you!

[alibuch]

teamq: I live sort of near Gangnam... I might be one of the closest to you, sadly. haha I don't even know of any dog parks around here.
The people in my neighborhood are afraid of Louise too... which is funny since she pays them no attention at all.

[pukka]

Poor Chopper. I am sorry to hear that :(
Well,actually I do have 2 white dogs and the one of my avatar is
only 3KG but he is not shaved like other malteses here in Korea.
His brother's fur is very long but this one has middle long fur and
because of the hair he looks bigger (ahem,what is big,still tiny)

Many many times people are really afraid of him and to protect
themself they take the bag of their shoulder like you said and
''swing'' with it near their body.
One time an Ajjuma did hit my dog with her shopping bag while my
dog did nothing. My dog was surprised.
That reaction made my quiet and sweet dog now a protector and
he is now growling at people who has stuff in their hands like
the cleaning women with her tools or people with shopping bags in
their arms.

My dogs are always leashed unless we are going to a quiet spot where
they can run a little before we go home after a nice walk.
I don't understand why they were afraid of my dog before my dog even did anything.

I hope you can meet up with Alibuch,that would be a wonderful start :D

[pukka]

Here is my dog,be aware he is very scary :D

After he gives himself a parfume bath outside
and when he looks civilized :D

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z227/La_doo/S5033328-vi.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z227/La_doo/AYoni.jpg

[alibuch]

I think everyone here seems to be afraid of dogs. If I had a great dane and was walking it around, then I could see people being nervous.... but really... a dog between 2-10kg? Those are pretty small dogs. I had an ajjuma yell at me because my dog walked too close to her... Stupid people.

[Scarlet13]

Scarlets boyfriend : ive seen many a manly 6 foot korean man jump in fright and almost scream upon seeing our fearsum bibi in her rabbit pj's .

[alibuch]

hahaha I forgot how terrifying Bibi was!

[teamq]

Pukka- Love the comment and picture of your dog. I can't believe someone purposely hit your dog with a shopping bag! Shame on them.

Karen- I can't believe some people are racists against black dogs. I have seen people favor and acknowledge white dogs more instead of the colored dogs. Sheesh, can't we all just love each other equally?! I love my little black dog:P

Alibuch- Where is Gangnam at?

Scarlet13- I've seen men scream louder than me before and I think it's sad, but entertaining!:P Come on now...a six foot guy is terrified of a little dog that's below his knees. We have the same guys that climb on walls to avoid Chopper on the sidewalk. I don't know, it must be Chopper's masculine physique and his short hairy legs that intimidate them...hahahaha! Shows that they're NOT real men!:P

What can you do though? Can't help but laugh at their reaction.

[Karen]

I couldn't understand all the fear, either, and found it fairly hilarious, especially the men. Then I heard a few stories and things started to make more sense.

Well, pets are relatively new, so I think thatmost people's impression of dogs are the dirty, not well cared for dogs in the countryside that bark, snap or bite out of fear from the people who throw sticks at them (again, out of fear), or from being unsocialized. I'm going way out on a limb, but I'm guessing the people who fear dogs now have had some bad experience. I got on this topic in an adult English class of housewives who shared a couple stories...

Also, a Korean friend told me that not so long ago, maybe 20-30 years, Korea's health care system was pretty bad and the infant mortality rate was high. Couple that with no money to care for pets, and then you can see why you'd want to stay away from countryside dogs who may transfer diseases.

This does not really make sense of the overreaction now when confronted with a clean, fleece-wearing, shampoo-fragrant puppy. But it's still a minority of Korean people who have one of those in the family to have given them a good impression.

Wow. Was I lecturing? I hope not. Sorry!

[alibuch]

teamq... gangnam is on line 2. Songtan/Osan is a bit far but I have a friend there in the Air Force so maybe one time a month I could come down or something...

[Anabolina]

Sadly, I can't meet anyone for play dates as we're a bit too far... wish I could because you guys look like such a friendly bunch!! :)

But teamq, I know exactly what you mean. My schnauzer got the same reaction, even as a puppy (thankfully no one tried to whack her, mind you). I have a theory that it's colour-related. Actually, I don't think mine ever got to play with a single small white dog until we met pukka's family because all other small white dog owners would scoop up their little ones when they saw us coming... Even though she was always on lead.

Anyway, I noticed a HUGE difference in how people treated the white dogs that I was fostering. It was unbelievable how many people said Aw cute, and wanted to pet them. I did notice that people were less afraid of Sage if she was wearing a t-shirt, but she only wears one for cold weather and to hide a bad haircut.

I can see the effects of under-socialization... Sage is OK with dogs but with strangers she's just crazy, I think she thinks screaming at new people is normal because that's a lot of what she heard. :o

Well, hopefully you'll meet someone with a brown or black dog living near you!

You're so right Karen. My Luna is a black lab mix and while so far only a couple of people have literally screamed and run away and none have tried to hit her, rarely do people return her attention. Still, there are plenty of people who do allow their dogs to play with Luna when we're walking alog the river and who will stop and pet her and allow her to lick them. There was this really hot guy who unfortunately spoke only a few words of English to my few words of Korean and he was a flirt. Hmmm, I'm used to Luna being much more of a guy magnet. Anyway, I'm thinking of getting her some doggie clothes since there's this stand at Samsung Plaza with the clothes 2 for 10,000 won and they do carry XXL (Luna's about 35-40 pounds).

Sorry OP, this doesn't really apply to you :shrugs: If only I lived a bit closer.

[alibuch]

Check the size of the clothes first. My dog is in an XL and she's only 10kg (about 18lbs I think). The clothes here run small.

Do you live in Seoul? My dog needs a play buddy...

[AfricanDream]

I wish we lived in Seoul. Minnie our retriever mix would soooooo love to play. I can just imagine her and a lab mix having a ripper of a time!!

Is there anyone in/near Daejoen that's keen for a play date?
We're in Buyeo and have exactly the same issues. People afraid, kids screaming...drives me insane since Minnie can't figure out what the deal is. Her face is like....hey man, I'm on a leash and I'm wagging my tail...you're free and screaming?Whats the deal? Mom?????
i'm pretty desperate for her to have some play time. We have a car and would drive to Daejeon with her if someone knew of a safe place for them to run and play. She's a real softy. we took her to the vet one time for a wash, and when we picked her up the vet had closed off the front of his shop and let her and a tiny little puppy play together, too cute!

[Wes]

All of my dogs are too small to play with a Lab., but I know of at least three Lab./Retriever type dogs owned by foreigners in my neighborhood. I live in Manyeon-dong in Daejon. I don't have contact info. for them but I can ask them to check this site the next time I see them around.
I often exercise my dogs next to the nearby river. Dogs are supposed to be kept on a leash, but if it's a low pedestrian traffic time or area you may be able to let them off for a while.

[Scarlet13]

We had to get a group of friends down to daejeon to adopt before we couldhave a play group, now it is up to 6 dogs!