What's your opinion on dog parks?

[FurkidsMom]

I take my sweetie to an off-leash dog park not far from my house. Very nice large area, completely fenced and Mindy loves it. The good part is the large area, chance to socialize your dog and let your dog be a dog. The off-side is been dogs will be dogs and there will always be not-so-responsible owners but they seem to find that they aren't welcome back. My little 30-lb spaniel mix was attacked by a very large mixed breed dog who was being aggressive. I've seen dog owners who never should never have their dogs there but I would say for the most part, they are great for the dogs. The rule at my dog park is if a dog is aggressive, they're to be put on leash and leave immediately. As far as learning bad manners, it's really up to the owners, not the other dogs. Yes, they do learn from each other but the owner has the ultimate say.

[luvofallhorses]

I personally wouldn't take my personal dogs or the dogs I have in the future to one! It's a personal preference for ME. There are better ways to socialize your dog with dogs you know that your friends or family have. Not with strange dogs. Not all dogs require dog friends. JMO.

[Sowa]

As far as learning bad manners, it's really up to the owners, not the other dogs. Yes, they do learn from each other but the owner has the ultimate say.

What can I do to prevent this? She is very friendly with other dogs, and the trainer I'm going to says she has good "manners". I'm worried about another dog bullying her. Sometimes I think they're hurting her but half the time they're just playing and it just sounds bad. I can't tell the difference sometimes.


luvofallhorses: I don't take her often, but for me it's more so for exercise. Her recall isn't 100% yet so there is only a few places she can go off leash. If it's after dark is pretty much has to be there. She goes nuts with out off leash time. I'm hoping to limit it more once she listens better, I agree it's probably not the best place to go.

[Freedom]

Karen said it best, depends on the dog and the park.

I have small dogs, and around here, most of the parks do not have a separate area for small dogs. And every one of the parks has had an issue in the past 3 years of a small dog being harmed or killed at a dog park. I just don't even consider it.

I have a fenced in back yard and invite folks over; and I have a friend who does the same. So that gives our dogs play time in a safe environment.

Many places offer doggie play times. Usually it is $5 for an hour, you may want to look in to options; even if you don't go, just to find out what is available in your area! These are usually places which offer obedience classes and / or doggie day care. The play times are either Saturdays or evenings during the week, and are indoors. Again it is a safe place.

Another option is to search on meetup.com for a doggie play group near you. These may or may not have a fee, depends on who runs it, where it meets and such.

[Varga]

I personally really like taking Taggart to the dog park and he gets great enjoyment out of it too. I agree it depends on the dog though.
Taggart spends most of his time running and enjoying being off leash - that's the main reason I bring him there, because he gets such a rush from just running and that's the only place he can do that
He also seems to really like greeting every single dog and person there and that's most definitely helped with him not getting overly excited when we meet dogs on our regular walks because meeting dogs is less of a big deal when he gets to interact with them on a regular basis.

I wouldn't worry too much about the growling. The majority of dogs growl while playing and that's normal. Look at the complete body language and it shouldn't be difficult to see if it's play or not - if the body is stiff and there is growling, it means "back off". Growling while "wrestling" is just play-growling.
I personally don't intervene that much when Taggart hangs out with other dogs because he's good at speaking his own language and if a dog growls at him and tells him to get lost, he will do so.