Dog Parks - More Harm than Help?
I have been taking Ace to a dog park for a good two, two and a half months now. While it's basically his favourite place on Earth, as he is a huge fan of other dogs, I'm starting to feel like it's doing more harm than good.
For starters, Ace is easily the most trained dog out of the group, despite being the youngest. What does that mean? Well, he is at risk of picking up pretty bad habits. The others knock into humans, are loud, have HUGE resource guarding issues, and often pretend to be deaf on their recalls. When I am alone, and call Ace off of something, he responds almost immediately. When I am in a group of 7 other people all yelling and screaming at their dogs to come back, Ace can't hear me. So, naturally, he just wanders over to the dog I was telling him to avoid.
Aside from the training issues, I'm also starting to feel a bit testy at having the others talk to me about my private life. I made the mistake of going to a birthday party for one of the folks there, and now it seems like the others are VERY comfortable in asking about my job situation, and telling me to what kind of positions I should be applying. I do not come to a dog park to have a group of people tell me to work the shelves of a supermarket, or to be a shop clerk. I go so that Ace gets to stretch his legs with others of his kind, but it's starting to feel like the drawbacks outweigh the benefits.
What do you all think about dog parks and the people in them? Have any of you had "Nosy Nancies" start prying into your life when you became a regular?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tracy Dusek on
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I've never taken Wryn to a dog park, never will. It simply seems contrary to dog training to me. (that may not make sense, let me try to explain) Dogs are pack animals yes, but a dogs nature is to try to be alpha, right? (yes, human Mom and Dad are true alpha, but she's top dog) so she gets into a group and suddenly she isn't sure where she belongs in this group....she's got to figure it all out this time and next, and the next time, and each time you go it's different....I just think it's got to mess with a dog's mind....take her out for a fun walk, try to find different places so her mind is stimulated.
I hope this make sense?
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Permalink Reply by Ludi on
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Luckily, our group is fairly static and there isn't a real surge for power from any one dog. Ace is definitely the most submissive of the "pack", and as such he gets humped... ALL the time. He doesn't even tell the offending dog off! He just stands there with a goofy grin on his face. I usually let such behaviour play itself out as eventually the others realize that Ace is not going to respond, and they get on with playing. But the other owners usually get screechy about it and try to swat their dogs off of Ace, and I don't want him to get hand-shy. He's already shy of strange humans, in general!
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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanton on
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When I was new to my area, I went to a local dog park to see what was what, but I worked odd hours, so was able to go mid-day during the week, when there were very few people there. I got to know a small group of about five or so, and our dogs got to know each other, and that was quite pleasant -- not nosey, just friendly and kind, with dogs we knew and trusted. But I never, ever went late in the day or on weekends -- way too many people, way too little control of their dogs, and a lot of strange behaviors (both human and canine). Eventually I stopped going altogether, as my work hours changed and my little band of week-day folks faded with time, and I was increasingly uncomfortable with the whole set up. I'm not a big fan of dog parks -- I prefer to let my dogs socialize in other settings, as you say, that are fun or stimulating, but not completely wild or out of control, and where I know both owner and dog well. I am particularly tired of people with clearly untrained dogs that charge us, while the owner shouts, "Brutus, gentle! be gentle!" while I think, should I just fall on Bertie and Ethel and we curl up in a fetal position together or what should we do....
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Yes, I am put off by the more out of control dogs. A couple days ago, there was a female boxer (obviously nursing) who came across our group while on a walk. It seems the others knew the owner, as they went up to greet him and the dog. The latter was straining, and I mean that in the strongest sense of the word, to get at the other dogs. She didn't have an aggressive hair on her, but all that muscle and slobber pulling like an ox at the end of her leash was pretty stressful, to me. Then, her owner unclipped her and she went berserk running around (and into) the other dogs. There happened to be two tiny chihuahuas and they were bowled over by her. Their startled shrieks awakened the boxer's prey drive, and she went after them (in play mode). They SCREAMED bloody murder, oh God it was awful. And then of course, the humans started yelling, and by that time Ace and I had distanced ourselves. Ace was pretty stressed hearing all of this commotion and wanted to see what was going on, but I didn't want him to get overexcited like the rest. :|
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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I don't like dog parks. . We used to go everyday, had a set time and a set group of dogs that came at that time. Then new people started coming and on the first occassion a rambunctious husky came barreling in and made a bee line to Franklin. Smashed him into the ground (slammed his face so he bit his tongue and it was bleeding all over), before the owner could get control. Franklin seemed ok, the owner kept his dog away and things were ok. Then a few days later ANOTHER husky smashed Franklin, he didnt get hurt but after the second incident he was beginning to show fear of larger dogs. After that I'd leave the park if I saw huskies coming. Then a few weeks later a client from the vet I worked at showed up with his two great danes. They came running in and causing chaos while the owner just sat and talked and paid zero attention to them. After a bit both dogs went after Franklin, mauled him and broke his leg before I could get him out of the mix. I was holding him above my head with two great danes as tall as I am trying to jump all over and bite him. The owner did NOTHING and it took about 5 people to pull the dogs off. After that it took me almost 2 years to get Franklin over his fear of dogs, he still is terrified when we go to a dog park and is very wary of strange dogs (big or small). With a proper greeting he will still play and have fun, but if a dog comes running up to him he get nippy and run to me very scared. Things at dog parks are just too out of control and go from bad to worse in the blink of an eye. Its just so not worth it to me anymore. I'd get the contact info for some of the dogs Ace likes to play with and set up playdates in a safer environment.
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Permalink Reply by Diane on
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Wow... You have got to be kidding. The dogs broke his leg and the owner did nothing??? That's crazy. Poor guy, no wonder he's scared of other dogs... We take ours to the beach all the time (equivalent to a dog park, except maybe bigger). Usually I just keep an eye on things and if there's a dog that seems aggressive, etc.I just move on down the beach. Or, in his case, if he's being a pest (which is more often the case ;->) I just move him along.
Not sure what I'd do if we didn't have that option. That's really the only way we can get Chewey any exercise that's faster than a walk on a daily basis. He's not all that into toys or fetch (unless it involves chasing other dogs who are fetching) so that doesn't work so well. And he may or may not be in the mood to play with a particular dog on any given day, so not sure regularly scheduled play-dates would be much better.
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Franklin and I still go to the beach when we can. The large off leash areas seem to have a different type of people as well as dogs. We visit those types of parks often because a dog has to have pretty good training to be allowed to run off leash, where the typical dog park is the place that the mostly out of control, unreliable dogs go to burn off steam. I've never had a single problem at an off leash beach or open area bc I can ask an owner to call his dog back and the dog will actually listen 9 times out of 10!
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Jeez, that is really awful. I cannot fathom the mind of someone who would just let their dogs go willy-nilly and wreak havoc on everything... while doing nothing. Sheesh!
There was a bit of a scuffle when I was at the park last; one of our regulars had his crabby spaniel off-leash and we were touring the pond. We come up on a pair of GSDs, very beautiful, but one of which had been blacklisted from many dog clubs in the area for being VERY dog aggressive. The thing is, the owner of this dog employs some pretty questionable methods of controlling his pet, and almost seems to take pride in its unruly nature. Anyway, he keeps the dog on a tight leash and generally does not come into contact with our group.
This time, it was different. The spaniel wanders up to the GSDs, sniffs are exchanged. Suddenly, a fight breaks out. Now, our regular was in the wrong here as it's his fault that his off-leash dog wandered into the safety bubble of the D.A. shepherd, but you wouldn't guess that from the amount of screaming and insults exchanged from both sides. The dog park is becoming a pretty stressful place for me, what with people telling me what menial jobs I should be taking, and all these spats breaking out because of unreliable dogs.
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That's funny you'd say that... the two times that we've had "incidents" one was with a boxer and the other was with a husky! Chewey doesn't seem to be overly fond of boxers in general, not sure if he had an incident when he was younger or what...
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I have gone as far as sitting out in the parking lot. I just am so unsure that my dogs won't get hurt that I don't want to take the chance. It just looks pretty wild sometimes and I know they are playing BUT...
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Accidents do happen, but I think the majority of injuries can be chalked up to untrained, overexcited dogs let loose on others. Ace has a great recall, and is so submissive that he wouldn't cause any spats, but I do not want to risk him being just a touch too close to a fight breaking out, and get involved somehow. I love seeing him roam freely off-leash, as he is a fantastic runner, but I am getting increasingly uncomfortable with the whole idea of dog parks. We are expecting a puppy later this year, and I think I'll use the park as a means for her to be socialized with other dogs, but I really doubt I will be staying a "regular" much longer, there.
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Permalink Reply by Napolean (Joan and Gabby) on
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We have not gone to the dog park in a while but only because I'm sad to say Napolean would be one of those out of control dogs x( Although, I plan on going again sometime but never actually going inside. The dogs in the dog park are pretty untrustworthy, especially their owners. So many people just let their dog wander while they sit on the bench reading a book or sipping some coffee. I agree with you and Ace haha. Some lady let her little Maltese hump Napolean and some other dogs for a whole 30 minutes before she noticed what was going on! Ugh. Sadly, the majority of people who own a dog take their dogs to the park only because they don't have enough time to exercise the dog on their own or they're just too lazy to walk their dog by themselves. I'm not letting Napolean play in the parks ever again because it gives him too much stress considering the first thing everyone does, is jump all over the new dog who enters through the gate. Nevertheless, I might consider bringing him to the park to only have him walk AROUND the area and train him to ignore such dogs even if they are on the other side of the fence ;)
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