silhouettestable Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 I keep reading about the troubles people keep having at dog parks and I have to wonder, isn't there some better alternative? I'm one of the lucky people who have acres at home for my dogs to run and play on and I can't imagine not having that, so I can certainly see the draw of going to a dog park if your only alternative is leash walking. But, with all the problems due to idiot owners and/or agressive dogs it really sounds like it ruins the whole experience. That brought me around to wondering, would anyone who has lots of space be interested in hosting play date meet-ups? I've often invited friends with dogs to come over and let them run and play in my fields, anyone else do something similar? It could be a great way to get the dogs exercised and socialized, and if it's on private property, hosted by private individuals then there shouldn't be the idiots to deal with, and if there are any problems the owners can be asked to leave. Of course doing it this way wouldn't be accessible all day long like the parks, but it might be a more enjoyable time. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 I think that's a great idea! DH has suggested I do the same thing here. I wish I could but with my mom living with us, having a number of people over stresses her out. Jake's transporter has cookouts every once in a while and even though it takes us a couple of hours to drive there, we make it a point to go. Not only do the boys get socialization, we have a blast as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becki's Boys Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 That is a great idea. That's basically what I do now. I take Jack and Star over to my Brothers house. He has a huge backyard and 4 pomeranians. They all have a great time together with no worries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HHorn Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 We do playdates with our friends dogs, although it is jsut in our backyards, it is fun for the pups to interact and get the zoomies out. All of our dogs are fixed, and we don't usually have more than 4, I think I had 5 at once and it was a bit too much. I have not been to a real dog park, I have a young child and playdates are just easier for me to handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silhouettestable Posted August 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 I especially like to have friends who are interested in sledding/skijoring come over in the winter. I maintain a trail through my fields and having the extra dogs and people around is a great training opportunity. The dogs learn to deal with distractions and passing other dogs while harnessed, and afterwards they get to run and play together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowwown Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 Oh, I would LOVE for one of my Charlotte, NC area neighbors to invite Cody over for a play date! I live in a typical suburban neighborhood with small yards; we have many farms and ranches nearby so PLEASE invite me!! I promise to clean up after myself and Cody, to be polite, to leave the place in better shape than I found it, and to bring food and beverages for the humans! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silhouettestable Posted August 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 Oh, I would LOVE for one of my Charlotte, NC area neighbors to invite Cody over for a play date! I live in a typical suburban neighborhood with small yards; we have many farms and ranches nearby so PLEASE invite me!! I promise to clean up after myself and Cody, to be polite, to leave the place in better shape than I found it, and to bring food and beverages for the humans! Maybe an idea for a new forum? Call it the Play Date forum, or the Meeting Place or something? People who are interested in hosting something like that could post where and when or have contact info where interested parties could sign up, or people looking for a group to meet with could post their location? The forum could also have an intro with basic doggie (and owner) etiquette that must be adhered to be to allowed to participate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WoobiesMom Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 I'd love that! Most of us who go to the park don't have those wide open spaces, hence the reason we have to put up with dumb bunnies sometimes. I'd kill (and pay major dinero) for a place like Kingsley has in Singapore. That would just be too cool for words! Or even for a membership park with some people who were in charge or someone on site to supervise and enforce the rules. <sigh> But, for now, I take what I can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby & Coopers Parents Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 here in with our disc dog club we have playdates with the other members to practice and have fun with our dogs also in our neighborhood we only play wth the dogs that we no not any others Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luv2napp Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 Maybe an idea for a new forum? Call it the Play Date forum, or the Meeting Place or something? People who are interested in hosting something like that could post where and when or have contact info where interested parties could sign up, or people looking for a group to meet with could post their location? The forum could also have an intro with basic doggie (and owner) etiquette that must be adhered to be to allowed to participate. I think that's a wonderful idea! My Lacee used to have a huge back yard when we lived in TX, but since moving to VA, she has nothing. (Housing prices are out of this world!) It's been a huge adjustment for the both of us. I go to my brother's sometimes so she can play with their dog. but always feel like I'm intruding. I've only seen one other BC on my walks around the neighborhood, which is surprising. A lot of Golden Retrievers. Anyhow, It would be nice to do play dates! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LJS1993 Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 I'm trying to set up something with Freckles' favorite playmate at the dog park. In fact we might go later when it is dark so our dogs can play without the distraction of other's. However once Tucker is old enough I'm hoping Frek can have her "dog" time on the ranch more often. Right now we go to the dog park alot which is something I'm not thrilled about. However, I admit it has helped us bring in Tucker since Freckles is pretty well socialized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 Oh, I would LOVE for one of my Charlotte, NC area neighbors to invite Cody over for a play date! I live in a typical suburban neighborhood with small yards; we have many farms and ranches nearby so PLEASE invite me!! I promise to clean up after myself and Cody, to be polite, to leave the place in better shape than I found it, and to bring food and beverages for the humans! nowwown, Anytime you want to come up and let Cody get a good run in, you're welcomed! I used to live in Charlotte but now I live in Iredell county between Davidson & Mooresville if that's not too far to drive. (Just don't tell everybody how messy our house is ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anda Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 I would love to do this around Denver! I live in an apartment so the only off leash time Ouzo gets are our daily dog-run frisbee/ball sessions and our weekly dog park trips, which he loves and looks forward to, especially the swimming part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silhouettestable Posted August 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 I don't know if this will help anyone or not, but here's a link that might be worth checking out Border Collie meetups I haven't checked out all the various links on that page so I don't know if they would provide any off-leash playtime, but it is a way of getting to know, and getting together with other border collie people. Brenda - your house couldn't be any worse than mine. With 6 dogs running through the fields and chicken coop twice daily and then all through my house it's disgusting, especially considering my aversion to housekeeping. Simple solution, keep the playdates all outside then nobody has to know Once I have a decent trail made in the winter, whenever it's a nice weekend and I'm not at a race I'll invite over my neighbour with her dogs and a bunch of my friends with dogs who are interested in doing a bit of recreational sledding or skijoring. We sometimes have a bonfire and cook hotdogs and marshmallows and stuff like that too. In the summer I don't really get together with others as much. I'm busier then and I like to hibernate in my basement where it's cool when I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anda Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 I went to one on the meetings from the Denver Border Collie meetup, but it happened at a pretty bare and muddy dog park, far from the ones I usualy frequent and although Ouzo made the most of it, I didn't make it back to a second meeting. You can see that the only pictures of an actual meeting posted on that group are the few crappy ones I took that one and only time we attended. I actually ended up having a bit of a war-of-words with one particular member, me defending our own Eileen Stein on that discussion board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowwown Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 nowwown, Anytime you want to come up and let Cody get a good run in, you're welcomed! I used to live in Charlotte but now I live in Iredell county between Davidson & Mooresville if that's not too far to drive. (Just don't tell everybody how messy our house is ) Hi, Brenda, Perhaps you can private-message me? I live in Huntersville, between Exit 23/25 on I-77, not far at all from you! I would love to get the dogs together -- perhaps on a weekend afternoon? Thanks for the invitation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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