Another dog was killed at our dog park.

[Brad]

Ya, I guess I take it for granted, but hearing what is available to some people, I'm going to appreciate where I live a bit more!

[eclare]

For me, the worst dogs to run into are the Jack Russell Terrorists, they're always trying to mix it up

 

 

We have problems with ill-mannered boston terriers and french bulldogs. They're not actively mean or aggressive, but they have zero ability to understand other dogs' "back off" signals.

[Cody & Duchess]

Once again a very enlightening discussion. I felt my dogs deprived since we don't have a dog part around here- now I am glad we missed it. Also, I am such a worry wart that I would be to nervous about bullying dogs. Don't want anyone to hurt my Cody, and Duchess would fell the need to stand her ground if anyone picked on her. She is the littler one but takes grief from no dog.

[Lizmo]

I've never been to a dog park, but what I've read about them from some people scares the crap out of me about DPs.

 

We don't have a dog park here, either. But if I want my dogs to play off lead with other dogs I'd much, much rather do it with some I know and respect and someone who knows their dogs.

 

I was at the lake/beachy area with Blaze a few weekends ago, and it was pretty busy so Blaze and I walked down a little further away from everyone. This lady comes over with her boxer-looking dog and asks if Blaze is friendly, which I reply yes. Both dogs are off leash, so since my dog is intact and off leash, I ask if her dog is intact. To which she replies "What is that?". I then ask if her dog is spayed. "No..." I politely told her I didn't want my dog playing with her dog, since I didn't know anything about her dog, and she honestly looked very confused about the whole conversation.

 

That said, I don't use DP's, simply from what I've read - and I have other places that I can take my dog. But if someone has found a DP that suits them and no dogs are getting hurt, it's fine with me.

[shanty]

I find it very enlightening to see the different opinions on DPs here. I admire those owners who know their dogs so well that they limit what type of encounters they have with other dogs. I am trying to be more like that.

 

I must admit that I ve looked to dog parks to give Truman socialization and playtime as I don t have friends with dogs or the ones who have them don t seem motivated to meet up for playtime. I guess they have their own routines.

 

I ve recently started agility, but I do not compare that to the freedom and exercise he gets out on a field. Its also expensive and only once a week. In agility he stays on his leash until its his turn and I m also protecting him from some nuts in the class who really don t respect boundaries. Generally in the dog park I ve found helpful advice and tolerance for my dogs fear. However, I realised that his nervousness was making HIM a bad candidate for the dog park and have since found other places to exercise him.

 

He has good recall and never runs away so the dykes and fields are safe that way, and the town is quite tolerant and dog-centric but I do wish he had the opportunity to play with other dogs more since he really wants to.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

It's obvious that the difference is in the communities and the people who frequent these parks. Personally I don't think a dog park is the place to socialize your puppy or older dog that needs socialization. The dog park we frequent is huge (I'll post a pic.) and is under-going some enhancements. There was a really bad flood a few years ago that devastated the park, so while they were re-claiming the banks they decided to add some nice features, which I love BUT we rarely go for many reasons. The sheer volume of dogs is insane, there are more that have bad manners than good, most of them don't have a recall and the level of adrenaline is a fight waiting to happen. There are a lot of owners who enter, unleash their dogs and dial up bff on their cell phones, not to mention the ones that I've seen sitting in the car waiting for their dog to get tired. Daisy had two really bad experiences here as a pup, that I'm convinced helped her on her road to dog issues. We only go early in the morning in the summer, but I can afford to do other things with my dog and it's true, this may be the only option for some dogs owners. I do admit that sometimes I wish people did have to pay to use this park because it might get rid of some people who really don't care that their dog is a jerk. I'm not saying it's the people who can't afford fees that have problem dogs, I am saying that the people who don't care won't be bothered to pay fees because that is generally the way those people are. There are other parks in the city where the dogs are worse though, so we continue to go here once in a while, we like the scenery and the chance to see wild life in the inner city.

[juliepoudrier]

Too bad dog parks don't require the owners and their dogs to pass some sort of obedience/control test before being allowed to use the park. If people actually had to train their dogs before being allowed to use such parks, either the idiots would stay home, or they'd manage to train their dogs.

 

J.

[mbc1963]

I don't do DPs for reasons stated above - but I sure as heck take Buddy to the reservoir and let him run. It's a leash-only area, but hey - if I get there at the right time of day, I can go for miles without meeting anyone. I typically keep Buddy off-leash and make him do a sit/stay if people pass me, and I leash him and warn approaching "friendly" dog owners that he might be snippy. They generally grab their dog until we go by, though sometimes I have to do more controlling of their dog than they manage.

 

The key for me is that this is a human park where dogs show up, as opposed to a designated space for dogs to play. My mayor is trying to get a dog park going, since dog bites (always inside owners' homes!) have created dog hysteria. ::Sigh:: I'm kind of hoping they do build a DP, since then a lot of the clueless owners whose dogs are overly friendly and uncontrolled will go to the place that requires the least effort. I'll keep taking Buddy for long walks in the woods.

 

Mary

[Lenajo]

Dog parks are only as good as the people in them at the time. Some parks I've stopped at while traveling (which is pretty much the only time I've needed them) were great - but I was also there between 10a and 2p on a weekday. The park at the Bluegrass for example, is just fine until after 5pm on the weekdays. Then the yahoos arrive. And then I walked to the very back, where coincidentally another trialer with a large group of her dogs was as well. It was quiet, clean (no feces anywhere that I could see, and well mowed grass), and my dogs had a great time sniffing about and relaxing. We had one knotheaded ridgeback show up twice (he wasn't very bright) to solicate the girls but he got sent packing with a pointed clacking of teeth.

 

There is a park in Atlanta that is a tiny mudhole with too many dogs and no split of small and large dogs. No I would not use that park, but I certainly enjoyed giving my dogs a brisk walk around the ballfields next ot it when I visit my sister. There are always choices if you look.

 

Disease risk is everywhere. You are just as likely to have brought home parvo on your shoes from a parking lot in town as from the dog park. I agree that baby dogs don't belong there, but I also think that used as part of a common sense exercise program they are of use in socializing healthy, puppies over the age of 10 weeks. Again, you don't have to use dirty, overcrowded parks - but if you have a clean park you can access during a less crowded time, then by all means consider it. More dogs die of behaviors that result from undersocialization as puppies than disease.

 

That all said, I think people are obsessed with their dogs playing with other dogs. Somehow it has become a status sympol of good pet ownership.... Frnakly, it's not really natural for non-pack adult dogs to randomly play with just any old Joe Q Dog. Usually their is ulterior motive (mating, status - yes, both even in neutered dogs) and that's where the fights start. You know the "she's just playing, he's just talking, she's just into her ball..."

[BCjetta]

I don't take my BC to dog parks because she doesn't want to play with other dogs. She wants to play with her toy and me throwing it, and other dogs just either get in the way or steal it from her. She's also not very tolerant at all of rude dogs. The 2 dog parks where I live are smaller open fenced in areas. One is literally a block away but I've never been inside it with her, only walked around it.

[powerfulgazelle]

Timely.

 

DH was off today and decided to take the guys to the local dog park.

 

Local DP is about 0.5 mi from our front door, created at the edge of a 1500 acre forest owned by the city. At first, the park was created by a cohort of good, dog-loving folks who wanted to have someplace for dogs to exercise off leash in the city. They raised money to fence it, got some contributions from Petsmart for some amenities (water pumps, etc.) and life was good. Then it began to be the hip place for young men with "tough" dogs to hang out and be "seen" with their pits, Rotts, etc. The couple times I have gone with DH and the dogs, honestly, I am not a happy camper. I find it is full of clueless humans who don't recognize escalating dog behavior..and people bring their kids (little kids--2-5 yr olds), then look pissy when a galloping dog knocks one down or wants the snack the kids is gnawing on.

 

It is something of a bone of contention we have...DH likes Kip to be able to run, and although we have enough property, we have the world's strangest lot (full flight of winding stairs down behind the detached garage from house level to yard level #1, then down to yard level #2 by steep stone steps set in the hillside, then boggy field/vernal pool/woods, all surrounded steep hillsides---smack in the middle of the city. If we ever win the lottery and can fence it all, it will all have to be done by hand, incl hauling the fencing down there, as there is no access, except the flight of winding stairs. Until the Fenced Yard Fairy comes to my house, DH wants to let Kip run at the DP. I don't. I keep thinking about joining the new members only DP attached to the fantabulous dog hotel the guys stayed at last spring when we had to go out of town. Whatever it costs is likely less than the cost of one good dogfight's repairs or my grey hair color jobs!

[Tommy Coyote]

Oh gosh. That sounds awful. Just what you need in the neighborhood is a gangbanger hangout. Take the dog to the park and buy your drugs at the same time. What a deal.

[desertranger]

Large dog parks, agilitiy equip I';m jealous. Here the largest DP is about just about an acre and filthy. Since they closed (fenced) the wash a couple of months ago I now have to drive to where the dogs can play. Of course golf courses are off limits, The parks in Rancho Mirage are full of park Nazis really leaving only the soccer aand base ball parks in Palm Springs or the presserves and state parks. Wait a minute. Most of the preserves have been closed to dogs and the 4 major state parks here are going to be closed period because of the states economy. It seems everywhere I go is being closed to dogs and those places meant for dogs are full of irresponsible people, health hazards and are too small.

[DTrain]

This is the opposite of a dog park and the subject of my column next week, Stupid Dog People. I was driving a dirt road this morning in the country. It is nothing but fields and fields well out of the city. I noticed a red Honda driving very slowly ahead of me. I slowed down to go around it when this big yellow lab jumped out of the ditch and I hit him. I did not see him because it was so over grown and I did not have enough room to stop on the loose gravel. Luckily the dog was not hurt but I was very upset. It turns out that the owner of the Honda, a middle aged lady from the city owns the dog. She brings her dog out to country roads, dumps him out of the car and makes him run, she explained, that is how he gets his exercise. After a few words from me ( use your imagination ) she put the dog back in her car and left. I see so many stupid things every week that I shall have something to right about I am sure for the rest of my life.

[IronHorse]

OoKy;

Finally, I have to agree with the cost issue. I don't even have to pay $65/year - every DP visit I make is 100% free.

 

Out of curiosity who pays to maintain and operate your dog parks then?

[phej]

I live in a city apartment with no yard so dog parks come in handy. That said, I only go to one of the parks around here -- its giant (maybe 40 acres or so?), it has trails, fields, woods, a creek and even a lake for swimming. Plenty of room to avoid other dogs/people if you have the desire to do so, but those of us that go there pretty much know each other, so its a fairly safe environment for the dogs. It has no fence, so it does not attract people with dogs they have no control over. It's operated by the county and you can get a yearly pass for $35 (its free btw the Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends).

 

Oh, and if you like to travel, you may like this picture of my favorite dog park in Prague -- even has an outdoor cafe where you can hang out with your dog/s!

[WildFlower]

Another reason to move Prague up on my list places to go! I have heard nothing but wonderful things about Prague from other people who have traveled there.

 

On the DP issue, I am lucky. I have a park across the street from my house. When the park was being "created" there was some debate to make an actual DP, however, the neighborhood (I was not living here at this time) voted that idea down and now it is just a City of Milwaukee Park. It's small - about a city block big - with a jungle gym, 2 tennis courts, 2 basket ball courts, and 2 baseball diamonds with extra big outfields. I think that my dog loving neighborhood voted down the DP idea because they wanted to keep the park to themselves. It is like our very own "members" only" DP. All of the dogs play out in the fields off leash after work and on the weekends. Everyone keeps their dogs under control and everyone knows one another. It's so wonderful. I've never had to go to a DP for this very reason!

[JMack]

I regularly take Durga to a park at the end of our street, which is an unofficial dog park. It's a good group of (mostly) friendly dogs and (mostly) responsible owners. There are owner/dog combos, whose appearence at the park, signals for me to leash Durga and leave. The park, though, was essential in socializing her and helping her overcome her fear, especially of men. We've made a lot of friends via the park (human and dog).

 

So, as others have said, I think it depends on the park. I do think there are many naive dog owners out there who assume that any dog wants to go play with any and all other dogs. I don't think it's laziness necessarily, just not understanding dog culture very well.

[Jimmyd65]

I rarely take Layla to dog parks. If I have a day off during the week and the weather is nice, MAYBE, since there are fewer people. When it comes to the weekends it's a crazy madhouse. One good thing about the park close to me is they have it split for Large & small dogs. Occasionally you'll have some young HOTSHOT with his prize killer Pitbull to bully everyone. I have no problems saying curb your dog or leave it they get out of hand. Other than that we enjoy taking her to her daycamp 1x per week for socialization.

[Dan28]

Well, I have probably averaged about 3 days a week at the local DP since I got Gus and got his immunizations.

 

I do kind of take a little offense that those of us who use dog parks are lazy. I still walk him 2 miles in the mornings on days we go to the dog park. We still go to other various parks and explore. I am in the city and am limited by the areas where I can have Gus off leash legaly.

 

I have a free dog park that is maintained by the Parks dept. located about 2 miles from me. Our park isn't huge but its clean. The Parks department supply bags for cleaning up after your pet and everybody tends to police each other. I'm a regular there and have met other regulars there. In a way, its a way for me to meet people who also love their dogs. There is an couple of Australian Shepherds that come regularly that Gus loves.

 

Occasionally we have had some negetive people/dogs there. When that happens they are usually asked to leave. For the most part I have a good park, and have no problems taking my dog there.

[juliepoudrier]

I think some of you have mistaken the lazy comments as an insult to all dog park users when I think it was meant that the people who see a dog park as a means to "entertain" their dogs without any effort on the human's part (i.e., dog park as substitute for actually training or interacting with one's dog), and in doing so end up making the dog park experience unpleasant for everyone, are the ones being lazy.

 

J.

[Anda]

That was no missinterpretation, Julie. The two comments were generalized enough to offend any of us who regulary take our dogs to dog parks. And providing "agility" or "herding" as an alternative was just a poor excuse. Agility does not allow my dog to run free for two hours and swim, it would only allow him to have a regimented program a couple of times a week, maximum 20 minutes of active participation, while waiting on leash the rest of the hour for his turn. Tried that, it wasn't for us.

 

But I do agree with your take on the statements - however I wouldn't call them lazy, but rather clueless. ETA. Once again, if they were lazy, they would even load their dogs in their cars, and prefer to let them stay home in their fenced yard.

[juliepoudrier]

But I still think lazy applies to people who take their dogs to a dog park and expect the other people and/or dogs to entertain and police their animals, just the same as parents who take their kids to playgrounds and proceed to ignore them and force other parents to do the policing could be described as lazy (it gets old fast for the good parents and kids when the obnoxious kids are routinely ignored by their parents when they're clearly making trouble--that's not cluelessness; it's abrogation of responsibility). When I worked in the Hampton Roads area of VA, I used to take dogs to work with me and take them to the beach regularly. I finally gave up on the regular (open) beaches at Phoebus and went to the dog beach at Fort Monroe, even though it was a pain to get on base and get to the beach. I just got extremely tired of all the folks who would let their dogs off leash when the dogs no more paid attention to their owners than the man in the moon. Although my dogs are fairly tolerant of other dogs, I still don't appreciate other peoples' mannerless dogs running up to mine, and when those dogs are obnoxious on top of it all, it just really pisses me off....

 

But then I'm lucky to have acreage here where the dogs can run. When I still lived in Fredericksburg, a group of us dog owners would get together at an old unused highschool ball field and socialize while the dogs played off leash. As an informal dog park it was great, because folks weren't widely aware of it and so we got responsible pet owners.

 

ETA: I get your point on lazy being not willing to take the dog anywhere, but I guess it's a matter of degree.

 

J.

[Journey]

That was no missinterpretation, Julie. The two comments were generalized enough to offend any of us who regulary take our dogs to dog parks. And providing "agility" or "herding" as an alternative was just a poor excuse. Agility does not allow my dog to run free for two hours and swim, it would only allow him to have a regimented program a couple of times a week, maximum 20 minutes of active participation, while waiting on leash the rest of the hour for his turn. Tried that, it wasn't for us.

 

But I do agree with your take on the statements - however I wouldn't call them lazy, but rather clueless. ETA. Once again, if they were lazy, they would even load their dogs in their cars, and prefer to let them stay home in their fenced yard.

 

 

Yes, that was a misinterpretation, thanks Julie for writing it out. My comment said for people too lazy to actually "do something" with their dog and for people who can't be bothered to train their dog. Notice the "and". Not sure where agility and herding came into this, not from my comments. Clueless is simply an excuse for people to lazy to educate themselves, still lazy be it mentally or physically.

 

I have noticed a trend in the thread though - why do people feel the need to let their dogs "run free"? What gives? That is one of my biggest fear/dislikes of the dog parks. Dogs simply "running free" with strange dogs tends to be a train wreck waiting to happen, especially with clueless owners! If a DP works for you great but based on the heading of this thread they are not worth the life of my dog nor yours.

[Anda]

Julie and Jorney, I think we're all on the same page now Thanks for taking the time to develop on the first comments.

 

And Journey, when I say "run free", I refer to an unrestricted field, where there are no obstacles in the path of my dog chassing the ball He couldn't care less about other dogs, and only runs when I give him a command or throw the ball for him. Exception - when he runs "free" straight to the ponds, then waits for me to get there and throw the ball for him. If left "free", he would come straight to me with a ball to get me to throw it. Or to someone else, if I'm too busy. He doesn't get "zoomies" or runs like crazy from one side to the other of the park (those are reserved for inside our apartment, in the morning, before I leave for work)

 

The agility and herding suggestions were not from your reply, but from one following yours:

 

I am with Journey, people who are lazy. Of course not everyone, but people just want somewhere to turn their dogs loose while they sit on their butts and the dog burns energy. If they can go the the dog park once a week, how come they can't find an agility club once a week? How about a herding clinic?

People are stupid let's face it. I am suprised we don't hear more than we do about attacks.

Personally, I am (obviously) very anti dog park.