Dog parks and doggie socialization

[Smudge]

You people and your fancy dog parks. I wish we had one so I could have the option to go or not to go.

 

[SheepOfBlue]

I have never been to a dog park but was thinking on it for Sca. He likes other dogs but is pretty passive and doesn't like barkers (yes he is a Sheltie and barks some himself ) One thing I noticed here was the complaints were mostly size related. Ours has two areas, one for little dogs and one for large dogs. Is that not the norm? Did yours have that and there was still the huge bully dog? Just curious as he likes buddies but I do need to take the best care of my Sca buddy

 

[Diana]

From Labgirl:

The trouble is it only takes one irresponsible owner to ruin a dog park or the beach.

That's really the problem, isn't it? Yesterday we were there with a really annoying set of a terrier and a basset hound. This pair wasn't dangerous or anything, but the terrier was bouncing by us the entire time.... bouncing like 4 ft in the air. The owner was socializing on the other side of the park, bragging about how her dog can jump over her husband's head or something. Meanwhile her basset hound was chasing Buffy and barking at her, and then following us around looking up at us, about 2 inches away from our feet. 20 minutes later the owner finally realized her dog was stalking us, and she's like, "oh, do you have food? My dog loves food." (no, we didn't have food.) I love the people who blame you for the fact that they can't control their dogs.

I think the trick is to find times when the types of dogs that will be ok with your dogs are there.. If the only time you can go is on Sat...then its gonna be a mad house. I was lucky and didn't work during the week.. so a Mon. or Tues. morning worked out great... hardly any dogs there and mine could find one or two doggy friends to romp with.

Julie, I think you are right here. Unfortunately we both work during the week, but I think we're going to start going earlier. I don't want to give up totally because I want Buffy to be off-leash at least once in a while.

 

[Fergusmom]

You people and your fancy dog parks. I wish we had one so I could have the option to go or not to go.

I agree it would be nice to have the option. We don't have one either. There is a dog park in the planning stages in our area. They're getting some opposition from the residents in the area they plan to build so I don't know how far it'll get. Would be nice to have though.

 

[mbfrench]

Yes it would be nice here to,but heck..there isn't anything dog related with in a 4-5 hour drive from here. No obediance,no trainers...something is terribly wrong with this picture~

Course my two get tons of fun time with other dogs that visit here,my son's two chi's,& my neighbors dog will come occasionally and burn off energy here. With two acres they don't lack for run space.

 

[Chris]

After yesterday's Sheltie Scout hike, I took the pack to a local vineyard by our house (hey, it was on the way, very educational, and besides, Scoutmaster Chris wanted a glass of wine! ) There were oodles of dogs there -- it's become a dog park of sorts. The dogs were all very polite and well-behaved. wish I could say the same about the people. A group took the table next to us, proceeded to turn up their boombox and crowd my Shelties. We left.

 

[Toffee's Mom]

After yesterday's Sheltie Scout hike, I took the pack to a local vineyard by our house (hey, it was on the way, very educational, and besides, Scoutmaster Chris wanted a glass of wine! ) There were oodles of dogs there -- it's become a dog park of sorts. The dogs were all very polite and well-behaved. wish I could say the same about the people. A group took the table next to us, proceeded to turn up their boombox and crowd my Shelties. We left.

Shoulda sicced the Shelties on em, they could have barked louder n the boombox

As to dog parks, ours do not have separate areas for small and large, but I wish they did. Having said that I LOVE it, as does Toffee (and Scotty)... If there are annoying dogs and annoying owners we just keep walking, I have had a few doggy stalkers but it is generally fun, fun fun!! Even if Toffee IS the FUN POLICE,snapping sometimes at puppies (but am working on that), herding other dogs, barking at the playing and romping dogs, in particular if they chasing Scotty who loves a great game of chase (he's ALWAYS the chasee, lol...)

It IS neat however, to see packs and interactions.. .
Puppies often get told off, in general they seem to be a nuisance to the others, lol I also have to say that at my normal dog park we are a lot of regulars who are pretty fast at telling others off and teach dog park etiquette, or scare them off that we never see nuisance dogs again, lol (usually weekenders who only let their dogs out or walk them only once a week, and are surprised that their dog is compltely out of control and doesn't listen... )

 

[Ania]

Having said that I LOVE it, as does Toffee (and Scotty)... If there are annoying dogs and annoying owners we just keep walking, I have had a few doggy stalkers but it is generally fun, fun fun!! Even if Toffee IS the FUN POLICE,snapping sometimes at puppies (but am working on that), herding other dogs, barking at the playing and romping dogs, in particular if they chasing Scotty who loves a great game of chase (he's ALWAYS the chasee, lol...)

It IS neat however, to see packs and interactions.. .
Puppies often get told off, in general they seem to be a nuisance to the others, lol I also have to say that at my normal dog park we are a lot of regulars who are pretty fast at telling others off and teach dog park etiquette, or scare them off that we never see nuisance dogs again, lol (usually weekenders who only let their dogs out or walk them only once a week, and are surprised that their dog is compltely out of control and doesn't listen... )

I agree. I LOVE them and so do my two. From the sounds of the posts, we are the minority. We go at least 3-4 times a week and they meet all kinds of dogs. Some they are a bit timid with (and not all big dogs by the way) and some they absolutely love. I find that they are shy around very high energy dogs. This park has so many trails through the woods that we generally don't stand around in one place and have the dogs play in a huge pack. If we meet someone, we let them sniff, say hello, the owners say hello, sometimes we talk for a minute or two and move on. The thing I love the best, is that my two get to explore the woods freely, chase squirrels, rabbits, or birds. Their confidence increases in themselves. The excitement in their face just brings a huge smile to my face, and warms my heart so much that I even take them to the park in the dead of winter, just because they love it so much.

 

[Lahree]

We took Ellie to a dog park for the first time not too long ago. In fact there is a large thread on it. We took her there to see if we could get past the disasterous history she had with "socialization" in her dog training class. During that 10 week course she got growled out, snarled at, snapped at and then finally bit through no fault of her own. Out of 10 dogs in the class, four were out-of-control aggressive. In DH and my opinion, it ruined Ellie's previous happy-go-lucky demeaner towards other dogs and made her reactive and aggressive when meeting other dogs on a leash. We HAD to see if we could get her past that.

Thank Heavens Ellie LOVES the dog park. We were VERY worried the first time we took her because while walking to the enclosed areas, she was acting very aggressive towards the other dogs we met. We had made prior arrangements to meet up with Stephen and his pup Wyatt (from the forum). Ellie met Wyatt outside of te enclosure and was non-reactive and seemed very pleased to meet Wyatt, so after we had that positive reaction we took Ellie inside on the leash to see how she did. She was wagging her tail and "smiling" iside and seemed happy to meet the other dogs, so we took her off the leash. I think she was definitely a bit overwhelmed at first, but in about 3 minutes she took off running with a Boston Bull Terrier and then had a blast.

We are very fotunate that the dog park in our area is divided into large and small dog pens. I wouldn't take Ellie if it wasn't. Every time we have been there, a fight (or 2 or 3) has broken out in the large dog pen! Ellie generally chooses to play with dogs much smaller than herself and prefers chasing games rather than any kind of wrestling. When she has had enough, she lays down behind me to rest. We watch her like a hawk and make sure she is ok and that other dogs she is playing with are well-mannered. ANy sign of a problem and we call her to us although she is never more than a few feet from us. SHe likes to stick with us. She is also extremely obedient and immediately comes when called and ignore all other dogs to go walk with us around the enclosure when we think another dog is being too much for her. It's been a highly positive experience for us!

 

[Toffee's Mom]

I agree. I LOVE them and so do my two. From the sounds of the posts, we are the minority. We go at least 3-4 times a week and they meet all kinds of dogs. Some they are a bit timid with (and not all big dogs by the way) and some they absolutely love. I find that they are shy around very high energy dogs. This park has so many trails through the woods that we generally don't stand around in one place and have the dogs play in a huge pack. If we meet someone, we let them sniff, say hello, the owners say hello, sometimes we talk for a minute or two and move on. The thing I love the best, is that my two get to explore the woods freely, chase squirrels, rabbits, or birds. Their confidence increases in themselves. The excitement in their face just brings a huge smile to my face, and warms my heart so much that I even take them to the park in the dead of winter, just because they love it so much.

YES!
It is the high energy dogs Toffee has a problem with as well... I see a Boxer coming and I am like oh darn, lol... BUT normally (if they are not puppies) they just come up, say hello and run off to wrestle with the other big oafs in the park, at which point Toffee runs off to do some big dog herding, which the 'big Oafs' (ball crazy labs and boxing Boxers and wrestling pit bulls) usually don't even notice lol and if they do they kinda laugh at him, I swear. Toffee has his tail in the air and feels his job is done... If he gets too aggressive (HIM not the other dog *sigh*) I walk away... when he behaves REALLY well, he gets a click and a treat! IF it gets too hectic we keep walking and he gets to chase the ball, or romp with Scotty...
But it's awesome for me too.. since I LOVE dogs, and I get to see 20 of them at the same time, lol

PS Lahree, I loved that thread and the pictures, and so glad you are still going, it's just good exercise and mental stimulation as well... best thing to do IS keep watch, just as you are doing!