Opinions on dog parks?

[Bob Felts]

We use a commercial day care / training center. The owners are required to provide proof of vaccinations, trained staff to keep an eye out for problems, the dogs there are usually "regulars" and a known personality. They match Thane up with other dogs by size and temperment, so things go well for all concerned. He comes home worn out and loves going there. Also, he gets some water play which probably wouldn't happen at a park. Works for us.

 

[S.H.Mikeman]

Nothing but bad experiences. I have a beach by me that every other saturday you can bring your dog from 7am-10am. People would gather around our corso and ask the same old questions "what kind of dog is that, how much does he weigh, i've always wanted one... " Blah blah blah. And it bothered me because im there for my dog to run around and have fun. One time while Moose was on his leash, mind you, a little pomeranian came running up to him and wouldnt leave us alone. Out of nowhere this old sob comes running with a walking stick in the air and yelling at my dog. Wtf? If I was a few years younger I would've shoved that stick up his ass. The final straw was when a couple of smaller dogs started nipping at my dog and I had to get in the middle of it bc as I pulled moose away they kept coming at him. I wanted to let go and let moose eat them. But even though they started it and there were witnesses, my dog would have been found guilty by size. Its so sad bc all my dog wanted to do was run and swim in the water. Ignorance & stupidity are poor traits to have as a dog owner.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

 

[KMD]

Before I give my opinion, my DDB girl has been extensively socialised and attended well supervised doggy daycare daily for over a year. She knows how to play with a variety of dogs from Chihuahuas to Danes. While reactive dogs don't really bother her up to now, I don't want that to change.

I won't take my girl to dog parks outside of training time any more. Either she will bound up to dogs to play (play bow followed by rolling over to show her belly) which freaks out other dogs, presumably due to her size so they bark and lunge at her... or, other dogs run for her and won't quit going for her. If anything happens, my girl will be blamed due to size etc... I've noticed that a lot of people who can't be bothered to properly socialise their dogs take them to dog parks and let them run around either terrorising other dogs, or being freaked out and reacting badly to other dogs. Avoid them.

We have a training group and take our pack to the beach every so often so that's enough social interaction for us.

 

[Liz_M]

My incoming puppy will be doing obedience classes at a club/facility that also offers boarding and daycare and they are run very much like this. I think it's great as long as the staff is hip to what is going on with the dogs. My other dogs have gone there and love it. Even a previous DA Rottweiler - they knew him and knew which dogs he could interact with and never an incident. Of course unlike dog parks, it costs $10-15 per day, but I trust the people who run the place and IMHO worth it for days when my dog-sitting friends aren't available and I have to work a long day.

I definitely agree that if you have a big dog or a "bad boy" breed, no matter what, your dog will be the one to blame in an altercation even if your dog has been totally well-mannered and under control. I've experienced this numerous times with my Rottweilers!

 

[jessicadawnnn]

Hey just my own two cents. I take Moose about 2-4 times a week to this dog park here. It's a great place. Not fenced, there are ponds and hills and an off leash play area. In my experience bringing him there we have never encountered a huge problem with a dog, but we HAVE come across some very disturbing dog owners. Moose wears his harness and leash even when he's walking/playing freely and we usually only let him around dogs his size to play (although he doesn't play with small dogs on his own, he's very gentle and usually just shadows them/ sits where they are playing. We mostly keep him leashed around small dogs because of their owners) I should clarify we don't usually go for the sole purpose of letting him play with other dogs. It's an amazing walking area. There's tons of open space, so many places to go, swim, play catch alone or with others. It really depends on what kind of "park" you're going to.

 

[maryl]

I only brought my Carson to an off lead park once. There weren't any other dogs there at the time, sure enough, 1mo. later he came down with whip worm. No more dog parks!

 

[tmricciuto]

I only brought my Carson to an off lead park once. There weren't any other dogs there at the time, sure enough, 1mo. later he came down with whip worm. No more dog parks!

That's how I feel also. I think there is a section of pet owners who don't know what to look for and can unknowingly infect other dogs. Our girls went to obedience training sunday and then for a bath and yesterday Bella got sick...not sure what it is yet but come on.

 

[jessicadawnnn]

Wow! Reading these comments again... Where is everybody from? I've never heard of or seen a fenced dog park here (Manitoba, Canada) Especially one that is separated for big and little dogs. How is that even a "park"? I don't blame you guys for not taking your pups... Those places sound terrible lol.

 

[Smokeycat]

Wow! Reading these comments again... Where is everybody from? I've never heard of or seen a fenced dog park here (Manitoba, Canada) Especially one that is separated for big and little dogs. How is that even a "park"? I don't blame you guys for not taking your pups... Those places sound terrible lol.

I'm in southern Alberta (Lethbridge) and I do know of a fenced dog park in Coaldale (never been to) and there is a fenced in section of the off leash area I predominantly go to. I do think the fences enable lazy owners as they know the dog can't just run away.

 

[Nik]

jesicadawnn - Wow love the pics of the park you are going to. Just beautiful. We have some beach areas that are similar not fenced in but leash free. They are definitely a drive for us but seem like they are definitely better to avoid the sorts of dog park problems that everyone here has mentioned since it's so open and easy to avoid the other dogs and just walk or play with the dogs on our own.

To answer your question there are a ton of the fenced in dog parks around us including the kind that have separate areas for small and large dogs. I live in California.

The one I had gone to was specifically set up for off leash agility training with all of the equipment to practice with which was great and Diesel loved working on the equipment. Everyone at the park was considerate and had their dogs under control. It was a great environment. The only problem was one owner who arrived near the end of our time there (her dogs were fine just not herself) who came in and was awful, yelling at everyone, and cleared out the park with her behavior. I haven't been back since. 1. Because of all the horror stories given when I sought advice here and on the pitbull forum and 2. because if I ran into that woman again I think there might be a human aggression situation... between me and her. I don't do well around human bullies and I have a hard time reigning in my temper when confronted with bullies (of the human variety) and what I see as injustice. I basically wanted to go for her throat which is why we left along with the others. Now if I hadn't had my boys with me (both the dogs and the boyfriend) then I might not have held back... but no need to expose them to any sort of hostility.

 

[Nik]

jessicadawnn - I also have to say after seeing your pics it seems that I may need to visit Canada one of these days. That is just a spectacular view. Truly beautiful.

 

[Nik]

So with avoiding the usual close to home parks we are currently doing more training school once a week, walks, jogs, tug of war, fetch, and lots of at home training... But all of the outdoor stuff has to happen around sunset because its too hot during the day. Even with all of that I can't seem to tire him out lately (like the past week or so). The energizer bunny has nothing on Diesel. Diesel is on a whole new level of energy. Last night we did a long walk, a jog, a long training session, fetch, tug of war... I was exhausted at the end. Like can't keep my eyes open exhausted. He wasn't! I feel like I need to be in cross fit training or something to keep up with his energy levels. I hope this new energy burst thing is a temporary thing. It will either kill me or I will be in the best shape of my life at the end of it! lol

Our training school does have a paid and supervised dog social time thing and I very much trust my training school so I have been pondering trying that out. Also pondering adding a second class a week. And of course I have been trying to talk the BF into making the trek out to the beach with the dogs. I'm hoping (fingers crossed) this weekend.

 

[DennasMom]

We go to Marymoor, here in the Seattle area. It's a 40 acre dog park within a large county park. LOVE it.

We do have some other small parks that are fenced, though. They're not nearly as fun... and I've seen more issues at the smaller parks, too. Not necessarily inattentive owners, I think just a space thing. It's hard to walk away from an annoying dog if you run into a fence.

 

[DennasMom]

We did some off-leash playing at the Oregon Coast last week - but my hubby pointed out that there can be some severe rip currents in the ocean (especially the rocky Oregon Coast)...so, the dogs did more swimming in the near-by river than in the ocean.

 

[NYDDB]

We did some off-leash playing at the Oregon Coast last week - but my hubby pointed out that there can be some severe rip currents in the ocean (especially the rocky Oregon Coast)...so, the dogs did more swimming in the near-by river than in the ocean.

No pics?!

 

[Nik]

I second the request of pics


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KMD]

We have a few off-lead beaches and all of the smaller beaches are off-lead until 8am in the morning. The dogs love it!

 

[Bob Felts]

We have a few off-lead beaches and all of the smaller beaches are off-lead until 8am in the morning. The dogs love it!

Where is this hell-hole you live in? Looks like an amazing place to be. (I used to live on the Pacific at the beach.)

 

[Nik]

KMD - just gorgeous! We made it to an off lead beach this weekend. We kept diesel on lead the entire time because I wanted to feel out the place before deciding if off lead would work for Diesel there. We let cerberus off lead though since he stays by my side pretty well and has great recall.

I'm hoping to post the pics from our beach day soon in a separate thread but here is a peak for now

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KMD]

Where is this hell-hole you live in?

Australia!

I live about 30 minutes from the beach