Thousand Trails

I reserved a stay at South Jetty in Florence, OR. I was there one day and two different staff members became authoritarian and rude. I was chastised by a ranger that didn't see (only heard) my dog defend himself with two barks after a puppy lunged at him. Rather than ask what happened she chastised me and said that violent dogs are not permitted in the park. I was later reprimanded because I got lost and ended up in an employee-only area in the rain. Rather than helping me get to where I needed to be, he was rude, authoritarian and disrespectful. A full six days later I received a letter of warning. I find this reprehensible and petty. I will address these issues separately.

RULE 9d. - RANGER STATION: My dog is an ADA registered service dog that alerts on my blood glucose levels. He is extremely well trained, very mellow and has never bitten or attacked another dog or human. He himself has been attacked at 3 different Thousand Trails parks, specifically Palm Springs, Morgan Hill, and Las Vegas and I have not complained. Rather, I helped the owner learn how to train their dog to prevent it from happening again. The incident in question occurred when I went to the guard shack to update my check out date. An obviously uneducated and seemingly intoxicated woman and her puppy approached us as we were standing outside waiting for assistance. The woman had little control over her puppy as it was lunging and pulling to get to my dog, Karl. As it excitedly lunged and pawed at Karl, he first backed up a couple of paces. The puppy lunged again and Karl barked at it to correct its behavior, which nearly all adult dogs will do when a puppy is displaying a lack of manners. It's dog nature to communicate this way. Karl has little patience for puppies and I have little patience for humans that are oblivious to training or are ignorant to instinctive dog behavior.

I used to be a dog trainer so you can take me at my word or read up on it. Here is an interesting article on the subject. https://barkpost.com/discover/why-do-some-dogs-not-like-puppies/

The owner of the puppy aggressively yanked the poor thing back and yelled that Karl tried to bite it. I explained that it was not aggression and that Karl was correcting the puppy's behavior in dog language. I further explained that it was just his voice and he was establishing a boundary. Dogs only know one word and they can't speak it without opening their mouths.

Most barking is not aggression. The woman wouldn't listen and kept saying that Karl tried to bite. At this point, the ranger came out and asked if it was my dog that barked. I said, "Yes. But it wasn't aggression. He was just talking." She proceeded to tell me that I had to keep him from all other dogs and that "vicious dogs are not permitted in the park." I was taken aback. If you saw my dog or his demeanor, there is nothing vicious about him. We actually joke that if he were any more docile he'd be walking backward. I explained to the ranger exactly what I just explained here. She said, "Well maybe I should let corporate know about it then." I said, "Yes, you should. I'd be happy to discuss it." I find it ridiculous that I would be 'warned' about an incident that 1.) she didn't see, 2.) is natural dog behavior and 3.) caused no harm or issue to anyone or anything. Absolutely ridiculous. There is a high amount of barking dogs in this park as in any other. I would like this ranger and others to be dealt with accordingly, trained properly and the warning to be removed from my account.

RULE 5a. & RULE 9b - LOCAL RULES AND LEASH: It was my first afternoon in the park and I had started walking Karl before it started raining. It was quite chilly, but it was dry. We walked out the back side of the park to the highway 101. I turned left thinking I would come to South Jetty Rd and get back to the front of the campground in just a few hundred feet. We walked for quite a while before I realized we must have gone the wrong way. We were on the shoulder of a major 4-lane with no sidewalk. I had thought we would only be on it for a few minutes, but due to my wrong turn, we were on it for quite a while. By the time I realized I was mistaken, it had started raining. I could tell Karl was getting scared and was really uncomfortable so I tried to hurry to get back to South Jetty Rd. We got to the road and were both wet and cold. He was tired as he is only 20 pounds and it takes a lot to walk for that distance. As we passed a gated entrance I realized it went into the park. It was before the main entrance, but I also realized it would cut the distance to my RV in half. The sign said No Trespassing or Loitering. I was doing neither as I am a paying member of Thousand Trails. I decided to take the shortcut to get us home and warm.

As we're walking up the road a man with white hair and a white bushy mustache, who I later learned is the maintenance man, Keith, walked briskly toward us waving his left arm that we weren't allowed to be there. We had already gone what I figured to be half the distance of this particular road. I apologized and let him know that I was a member, gave him my site number and said that we had gotten lost on the road and were taking a shortcut to get out of the rain and cold. He was rude and continued to press that we ‘weren't allowed and didn't belong." Karl was walking slowly behind me with his leash dragging as I often do when there are no humans, dogs or traffic. As he is a registered service animal, he doesn't even have to be on a leash, but I do it in high traffic areas, where required and to appease others. Keith leaned down and started petting him so he stopped following me. He then told me that the dog needed to be on a leash. I called Karl to me. He came immediately. I kept walking as the only alternative would have been to go 4x the distance.

At no time did I see a sign that said I couldn't be in that area. I was causing no disturbance and was not bothering anyone. While I understand that there is an employee only sign at the other end of the area, there wasn't one from the road. I feel an appropriate response may have been for him to offer to help us to our site and then maybe explain the rules. Instead, he was rude, authoritarian and short with me.

I would like this man to be dealt with accordingly, provided some customer experience or social training and the warning to be removed from my account. I would also add that I've seen him doing well over 5 mph on several occasions, yet hadn't thought to bring it up. However, if he is so empirical about the rules, perhaps he should follow them as well?