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 Snickmom on
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Someone on this forum said they were glad they taught hand signals with their commands when their dog lost its hearing with age. A great idea!
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Permalink Reply by Ludi on
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Sadly I usually need to recall him when he's completely out of sight - there is a hedge under which the dogs love to pass and then run into a muddy bit of water. Ace LOVES mud and being at the water's edge, but I hate having to deal with the aftermath on his fur. I usually end up keeping him close to me as we near the hedge, but sometimes it slips my mind and he goes running off with the others. I could be more strict and forbid the hedge entirely, but I want Ace to be able to be a dog too, sometimes!
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Permalink Reply by Jenny, Tucker, & Zoey on
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Hmm... I've noticed that the "big dog" side can get out of control, especially during peak hours. The dogs tend to form a pack, and that's never good. The small side is usually ok. I just worry about the size difference between the Corgis and the teacup dogs. If it's busy, we go to the little dog side. If there's just a handful of big dogs, sometimes we go over there. I do enjoy the dog park, though. Lots of room to run free and a great place to practice recalls! People don't usually talk to me other than "Is that a Corgi?" or related questions. Never anything personal. Sometimes people share about themselves, but I just let them talk and try to be polite.
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There is a woman at my usual park who has the smallest Yorkshire Terrier I've ever seen - it is truly minuscule. Ace is a very gentle dog with the Yorkie, and pretty tough and tumble with others of his size, but for some reason the Yorkie's owner FREAKS out when Ace sniffs her dog. She bops Ace on the nose and swipes her dog off the ground away from him. I am not a confrontational person but it really made me angry to see someone swat him on the nose, particularly when he was being a very good pup. Just another reason to not go back, I guess...
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Marie O'Bryan on
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i have mixed reviews. when teddy was alive (R.I.P) he got injured at dog park by a rottie and pit at the same time and he was only 4months old. he carried that memory with him and didnt like other dogs for the longest time. i worked with him for 6months to get him to trust them again.
on a happier note. when i got baden the only place to socialize him was in fact the dog park and my work. i take him there about 3times a week and he REALLY loves it. i took him to work every day. i have gotten to know almost all the people that go there and we have exchanged phone number so we could have doggie play dates. once in awhile there will be an unruly dog with bad habits and i either leave and go walk the trail next to the park or go to the other fenced off part with my friend. since this park is on base everyone here is so nice to talk to, i haven ever had a problem.i have even had some say that they ran into some bad dogs and told me what car they drove so i dont run into them again! baden just loves jumping out that car and running to the gate door to say hi to all the dogs. Baden is very well mannered. the other day this yorkie was so scared but wanted to play so baden did a play bow and let the yorki sniff him, he then rolled on his back and then the yorkie did the same. after that they were the best of friends. when its bigger dogs he lowers his body and licks the sides of their mouths, once he knows its ok he will run and chase.
baden so far knows to come when called. i always praise him for coming to me on his own also so he comes in a flash if i say his name.
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Permalink Reply by Lindsey Corkern on
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I tried dog parks about two years ago when we first got Leia. I wanted her to be socialized and I did not live close to other friends with dogs, so a dog park was the only way I could socialize her. I noticed that other dogs were not very well behaved just like you did. I started going at "off" times because I found that I ran into less people with untrained, impolite dogs. But Leia was afraid of larger dogs and just wanted to play ball with me. The park has tons of tennis balls, so avoiding them was not possible. We tried different dog parks, but no luck. Large groups of dogs would just gang up on her and scare her. She is very submissive and was, at the time, still a puppy. She wanted to play with them, but they were too rough for her. We tried - we really did. But dog parks are not for us. Leia simply does not enjoy them. Its not the park - its the other dogs. The other owners were not disciplining their dogs properly and Leia had a bad experience and is poorly socialized because of it. We are still dealing with the effects and Leia is 2 years old. She is wary of other dogs that she does not know. She prefers her space when familiar dogs are around but is great about sharing attention and toys with them. She plays and gets along very well with her 5 month old cardigan "brother." We just visit regular parks now for a good ball playing session once in a while. Dog parks are out for us.
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