Dog parks - yes or no?

[slleipnir]

I was wondering about this...I use to take Josie to the dog park all the time. She loved playing with all the dogs. I slowly noticed she stopped wanting to play with the dogs. She just wanted to sniff. That's fine. But one day she growled and snapped at a dog.

I've asked several trainers and as soon as I mentioned "dog park" they said "ahhh, that's the problem" they said they hated the dog park and a lot of people who come to them with aggressive dogs was from going to the dog park. I guess you get dogs there with no manners or who are aggressive themselves. I do remember dogs picking a fight with Josie for no reason.

So I won't take Zeke to a dog park. (unless it's for a PT meeting ) The last thing I want is forhim to be aggressive, seeing his such a sweet dog. I can't even picture him being aggressive, but you never know. I guess most dogs won't have a problem, but I suppose it can happen.

What do you think about dog parks? I know most here go tothem.

[Cataholic]

I have heard this. My father refuses to take his boxers to parks for this sort of reason.

[pitc9]

Sierra Looooves playing with other dogs, she has so much fun! I've only been to a dog park once, that was at the Park Park in Findaly. Sierra was in HEAVEN!!
I take her to my friends house, she has 2 Mals and a GSD she never wants to leave when it's time to go home!
Buddy.... he's a different story... he doesn't like anyone getting near his mama!!

[lv4dogs]

I have heard the same stories from some people. Then again I hear some people that love the dog parks & don't have any problems.

We don't have any dog parks near me but even if we did I would only take my dogs there is it was not crowded. I'd also go there a couple times before I brought my dogs to see what the dogs are like that visit there often. If I noticed any aggression or bad behavior I would stop going to them.


I do get together with friends & their dogs & go to parks with them & don't have any problems. But then again there's not too many dogs & they have met quite a few times before.

[jackie]

I have never heard of dog parks fueling agression, but I supposed in some was it makes sense that you dog can pick up bad habits. BUT I think the pros of socialization and exercise more than make up for the slight chance your dog will become agressive. I wish there were dog parks here, or at least dog friendly areas. Where I live is SO anti-pet.

[king2005]

I've never even seen a dog park. I just use to take my dog & his buddy Rocky, to the tennis court & let them run wild in there chasing after balls & other toys.

Maybe if the park has no dogs in it & u bring ur 2 there to play with eachother, it might be ok.

[Lobodeb]

I don't like to take Maggy because she's very protective of me. If another dog comes close to me, she has a fit. I used to think that she just wasn't dog friendly, but the groomer that I take her to, lets the dog friendly dogs run loose. I told her that Maggy wasn't, but she said, "let me try, if she starts getting out of hand, I'll cage her."

Wouldn't you know that my little stinker found some other Shih Tzus and was actually playing with them? I was amazed when I went to pick her up. She was fine with them until she saw me. One of the other dogs came to greet me before she noticed me and that set off that little short fuse of hers.

Long story short, I can't take her to dog parks.

*edit to add that I do take her to parks, but we have to make sure and stay away from other dogs. Just as a precaution.

[king2005]

My dad would love to go to a dog park, but as Audrey knows, buttons isn't really dog friendly after buttons wanted to eat Zeke (buttones is only 5p by the way) hehe

Max use to kick buttons when he pulled that BS with him, it was quite funny as Max was much larger then zeke.

[Dixieland Dancer]

I strongly urge people to make sure your dog has a strong recall and proper socialization if you intend to take your pup to the dog park. You can't always be sure what other dogs are going to do so anytime a new dog comes along to "play", I always use caution and check the newcomer out before letting my guys run around freely. I've seen one too many unprovoked dog fights at the dog park.

The problem is dogs are already in an aroused state getting to go off leash and run. Put that together with dominant dogs, aggressive dogs and unsocilized dogs and it has all the ingredients for disaster. I do not advocate NOT taking your dog to the park unless you know your dog is a problem child around other dogs. I do advocate always being on guard. I have a friend who prefers to not go to the park just because she always has to be on guard and really doesn't enjoy herself even though the dogs do. Myself.... I love going to the park because my dogs enjoy it so much. I do not like always being on guard but it's worth it to see them both having such a enjoyable time. I actually meet a lot of nice people at the dog park.

[ramanth]

I love taking Kia to the dog park. It's so large and open that the few tiffs I've seen are few and far between.

Kia will sometimes chase a large pack of running dogs, but other than that, she just likes to smell around. She's never been the playful, wrestling type.

[cali]

Ripley is our only dog that likes the dog park, he could care less about the other dogs he just likes to run lol all the girls cant stand dogs getting in there faces, and Blair enjoyed it at first but then he got scared and started hiding behind my mom. Happy does not go for obvious reasons lol and I really dont know how Misty would react without Happy with her, so I will continue to just let the gals run off leash is whatever park or feild.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

I won't take my dogs to a public dog park because of the possibility of aggressive dogs being there. The park I take my dogs to is private and only members can come in, if someone shows up while I'm already there I can stay for another 20mins before the other person is allowed to come in but I usually invite them in anyway if they say their dogs are good with other dogs....

[Kfamr]

I say yes. I think as long as you keep control of your dog and let them know when they're out of line, there should be no aggression problems resulting from trips to the dog park.

I love taking Kiara to the dog park/offleash beach because it gives us a great opportunity to work on commands and her socialization. She's become a lot more brave and social because of the park & beach. She also has a great time and absolutely loves it.
The distractions of the park are great to work with your pup, that way they'll be used to performing with distractions.

[pnance]

I've tried a dog park and beach a couple of times with Hunter and Nikka, (my other 2 can be aggessive with some dogs, so I don't chance it). Each of the times we ran into at least one aggressive dog whose owner didn't bother to stop him/her, it really ticked me off. Once I even had put Nikka on a leash and was leaving because of the problem and another dog ran up and started nipping at her, the owner didn't seem to care even when I called out to him, in fact he blamed me because I had put her on a leash! A dog in Hunters training class was severly injured at a dog park, several hundred dollars in vet bills later he recovered. The owner of the dog who attacked her's didn't even apologize! So bottom line is, I think the concept is a good idea if owners were more responsible, until that happens I'm not really a big fan of them.

[Lobodeb]

Originally posted by Kfamr
I say yes. I think as long as you keep control of your dog and let them know when they're out of line, there should be no aggression problems resulting from trips to the dog park.

I've tried letting Maggy know that it's not ok to show her cute little underbite to other dogs, but she just doesn't get it. She's very stubborn. (The hubby says she gets that from me )