# Any advice about going to the dog park?



## nfedyk (Jan 13, 2012)

I have heard people mention dog parks on here all the time. I always assumed they were talking about a regular park you would take kids to. Can you tell I'm a newbie to the dog world? LOL !!!! Anyways I was at the hairdresser this morning and she mentioned she took her dog to the dog park the other day. I enquired more and found out the one here is totally fenced in and is separated into two sections. One for dogs under 35 pounds and one for dogs over 35 pounds. I was so excited that when I got home I googled dog parks in my moms area to see if there is one near her that she could take Oliver to. He loves to run around and play outside but it is hard since she lives in a townhouse development. It turns out that one of the top ten dog parks in our state is 5 minutes from her house. I will be seeing her tomorrow and will take her and Oliver over to check it out. I am so excited. Is there anything important I should know before going? Oliver is 11 months old, weighs 8.5 pounds and this will be his first visit to a dog park. Thanks for your input.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Well, some dog parks make you register and pay a fee to enter. Check and see if you can get in before you go over there.

Oliver should have a great time!


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

Yeah, don't go. 

LOL seriously, I can't stand dog parks. Not just because I have Bully breeds who don't belong in them.. I just find them to be breeding grounds for disease, worms, you name it. That and it's usually a bunch of hyped up ("Fluffy needs to blow off some steam, dog park time!"), out of control dogs whose owners don't supervise properly. Recipe for disaster.


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## Gracelikerain (Jan 4, 2012)

Some dogs love them and others would rather sit in a corner and chew on a stick. I certainly do not think there is any harm in trying them out. I found the dog parks in my area to be clean, well-managed, and full of well-socialized dogs (with a few exceptions). I took dexter to the park 3-4 days a week when he first came home and I think it is one of the reasons he is so great with dogs of all ages and sizes. Unlike a preplanned "play date" where there are expectations that the dogs will instantly fall in love and play, no one will care if your dog doesn't immediately jump into the middle of the action.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

yes, we always had good experiences at the dog park. But we did learn when certain dogs were in there we needed to either leave or go to the other side. but the vast, vast majority of dogs were just having a good time like we were.

I quit taking Snorkels because she hated it. She doesn't need/want to socialize or run off that much energy. you just have to know your dogs (and the other dogs).

But when we lived in Indy, it was a great place to take Rebel so he could run. There really wasn't another place.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Rhett loves the dog park/beach.....he loves IT so much that he ignors all other dogs(aside from the one that we went with) and got "into trouble" because of it. He and I ignore others 95% of the time...it got me yelled at 4x in 3 visits because of him and/or I just playing between the two of us!!LOL

But in general I totall agree with Kady....I don't like them, will always choose to not go if it is at all possible. 

But a couple things to know....do you need his shots records to show up the first time? ALWAYS take a normal 4-6 foot leash, NO FLEXIES! And while yes you want to let dogs be dogs and play amoung themselves also watch for the little bugger who is only there to bully others and who's owner is only there to gossip/read/be on the phone/etc.


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## Itty bitty Kitty (Dec 26, 2011)

I'm no expert here but here's my opinion,

I think it really depends on the actual dog park, the owners and how your dog is. There are people who will have negative experiences and others with positive. How about you go check out the park(s) without your dog first? Play specter and sit on a bench and watch everyone. This way you can analyze how the environment is and how dog owners handle their dogs. You can find an 'escape route' this way by getting familiar with the area ahead of time, in case you're overwhelmed and your dog wants to retreat somewhere quiet and undisturbed. If you like it enough and think you and your dog can handle the park(s) you visit, I say it's worth to try it once.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

kady05 said:


> Yeah, don't go.
> 
> LOL seriously, I can't stand dog parks. Not just because I have Bully breeds who don't belong in them.. I just find them to be breeding grounds for disease, worms, you name it. That and it's usually a bunch of hyped up ("Fluffy needs to blow off some steam, dog park time!"), out of control dogs whose owners don't supervise properly. Recipe for disaster.


This ^^^
Dog parks are cess pools.

I love open space parks


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## nfedyk (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks everyone. We will definitely check it out and see what it is like. There is no cost to go to this one either.


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## xchairity_casex (Oct 8, 2011)

ive never been to a dog park i dont think theres a single one in the entire UP.
if there was a dog park here i would deff take Cesar simply becuase i trust myself and my abilities.

dog parks can be bad places when morons take there dogs let them loose and ignore them. so you must always keep your eyes open for not so nice dogs,or dogs who can cause a reaction from your own dog.


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## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

I like taking my two to the dog park.The park I go to is very clean, but it doesn't have many "ammenitties" (we have to bring our own water, and if an owner wants to sit they have to supply their own chairs).There are a few things I look out for. Before I go in I watch how the other dogs are acting, check to see if there are any "bossy" dogs, dogs playing too aggressivley, or too many dogs. After going in, I keep an eye out for how the dogs are interacting with mine, I make sure to stop away, with the boys, from the entry and check out any "newcomers" and check out the doggie/owner interactions. The first time I took the boys, I made sure that it was a "quiet" day (not many there), they were not on a leash, and kept them from "cornering" themselves against the fence..


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

nfedyk said:


> Thanks everyone. We will definitely check it out and see what it is like. There is no cost to go to this one either.


Isn't this the dog that has had constant issue's with giardia like symptoms? Or was it something totally different? If it is then I'd stay as far away as possible...


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

We absolutely love the dog park. I honestly don't know why people hate them so much. Buck would never get the exercise he needs if we didn't have the park available. He can outlast us both on runs and is a year old dog who definitely needs the exercise. 

I think those who hate them probably ended up at a dirty park or a park with careless owners. Our town is extremely dog friendly and it seems to be filled with great dog owners. Yes, you have your few bad eggs but you learn what kind of dogs yours can play with. You have to be willing to leave early or not go in at all if a dog yours doesn't get along with is there. 

We don't have many of those owners who sit and chit chat or talk on their cell phones. Our park is also big enough that, if there is an owner not watching their dog, we can take ours to the other side where the dogs can play separately. 

I do think we have an exceptionally good park though. The one across town isn't one I would take my dogs to. Fights break out over there all the time and it seems to attract more careless owners. 

I don't think anyone should tell you not to go or that you have to go. I think it is up to you to know your dog and know whether you are capable of protecting your dog should something happen. If you don't think you could protect or control your dog then I would advise you to stay home but your abilities are up to you to decide.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Dude and Bucks Mamma said:


> We absolutely love the dog park. I honestly don't know why people hate them so much. Buck would never get the exercise he needs if we didn't have the park available. He can outlast us both on runs and is a year old dog who definitely needs the exercise.
> 
> I think those who hate them probably ended up at a dirty park or a park with careless owners. Our town is extremely dog friendly and it seems to be filled with great dog owners. Yes, you have your few bad eggs but you learn what kind of dogs yours can play with. You have to be willing to leave early or not go in at all if a dog yours doesn't get along with is there.
> 
> ...



We have an exceptionally great park for dogs. I have never had a bad experience but I stay out of the fenced in area. I keep to the off leash hiking instead. It's more fun and the dogs continually have something to interest them. I like in fenced in areas, they create things to do which can lead to trouble.

There are pretty much good people that frequent our park but there is the odd idiot who brings their maltiepoo on a flexi lead or the boxer that runs around swating dogs. My personal favorite was the guy who had a DA golden retriever on a leash, on the off leash track. Genius right there


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

We have a "dog park" that I take Tucker to...It's technically a human park, has two baseball diamonds, a basketball court, and a soccer field. It's almost entirely fenced in except for a few entrances that do not have gates. I'm pretty sure it sees more dogs and owners than dogless people in a week, it's an unoffocial dogs park. I love taking him. Because it's so large, if there is a dog that Tucker doesn't like we can just move to the other end and it's so far that the other dogs never run all the way down there or follow us. I find most dogs parks to be too small. There are always regulars that go so you get to know the dogs and the owners which is really nice, I also know the times that it's busy and times when it's dead, though I choose to go when it's busy, the sole reason I take him is so he can socialize with other dogs. Busy at this place is never more than 7 other dogs at once, more usually you get about 3-4 other dogs at once, they leave, another groupd comes, etc. throughout the afternoon.

I think whether a dog park is good or bad depends a lot on the size of the park and who's going. I wouldn't like a park that wouldn't allow me to move away from dogs Tucker doesn't like, since we usually encounter at least one every trip (he doesn't enjoy overly boisterous dogs that don't properly introduce themselves before chasing and leaping all over him, they frighten him and if they don't read dog very well and just keep coming despite his obvious go away signs he'll start snarling and snapping). At our park I can usually tell if he's not going to like a dog by watching it play with others so we just move off and wait until it's gone. Our park also has very respectful people that are watching their dogs very closely. I've only ever encountered one guy that I got frustrated with because he wouldn't come collect his doodly poo puppy that I was obviously trying to get away from because Tucker wanted none of it's puppy antics. I was holding it back by it's collar (which is not something I'd like to do to someone elses dog but I needed it to get off my dog) and trying to walk away but he just stood over with the other owners and stared at us. But he wasn't a regular and I've not seen him before or since.

However it must always be remembered that dog parks can be dangerous. Fights can happen, high prey drives can happen. Before I ever went to ours I had heard about a Husky that killed a Chihuahua there, which isn't terribly shocking but is obviously tragic. Very high prey drive breed coupled with very small animal, bad things happen. It's a bunch of loose dgs that don't know each other, each with it's own play style and pet peeves. I've found a lot of dogs are really oblivious to dog body language, others are very skilled. It's important because when dogs ignore other dogs who say they are tired or scared or don't want to play, fights happen. A lot of owners are obvlivious to dog body language too. I had to remove my dog from another dog because mine was laying down out of exhaustion after having a good chase with this other dog, but it just wouldn't stop pestering him, jumping on and biting him and despite Tucker's growls and glares it wouldn't stop and the owners had no idea there was an issue. So only after I went and picked Tucker up did they try and control their dog.

People also rarely have control of their dogs, some do, many don't. I remember having Tucker on his 50' leash and someone with their offleash dog asking why I wouldn't let him off. I said he didn't always listen when I said come and she responded "yeah, he *pointing to dog* doesn't listen to a word we say"....greeeaaat. I've seen people who spend half the visit screaming come at the top of their lungs as their dogs completely ignore them. Then when they finally get them they don't leash them and the whole scenario happens again. 

So you have to weigh the risks and benefits and be careful, watch other people's dogs and make sure you feel they are behaving in a safe manner. Make sure your dog has a good recall. Dn't let your dog ignore other's dogs signals to go away, learn about dog body language so you know when issues are starting to crop up.


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

Sprocket said:


> This ^^^
> Dog parks are cess pools.
> 
> I love open space parks


Me too! All of the pictures I post of my guys running around were taken at a 100 acre park 



Dude and Bucks Mamma said:


> We absolutely love the dog park. I honestly don't know why people hate them so much. Buck would never get the exercise he needs if we didn't have the park available. He can outlast us both on runs and is a year old dog who definitely needs the exercise.
> 
> *I think those who hate them probably ended up at a dirty park or a park with careless owners.* Our town is extremely dog friendly and it seems to be filled with great dog owners. Yes, you have your few bad eggs but you learn what kind of dogs yours can play with. You have to be willing to leave early or not go in at all if a dog yours doesn't get along with is there.
> 
> ...


Not really.. I just don't like the idea of them! Let's get a group of strange dogs together, with owners who don't know each other, and let them all run around like idiots! Of course I realize after awhile, the regulars get to know each other, but still, there is always the chance of a strange dog with no social skills coming in. Or the owner who gets pissed if your dog plays too rough with theirs. 

I took Wilson to the dog park twice when he was around.. 9 months old (before I knew any better). First time, was fine, although I remember standing there watching how the owners were totally clueless to dog behavior, among other things. Second time, someone brought in a VERY rude intact male (which aren't allowed). Other dogs got annoyed, including Wilson, and a fight broke out. I'd say it involved at least 10 dogs, all jumping on the intact male. What did everyone do (and mind you, these were the "regulars" from what I was told)? SCREAM. Just stood there and screamed. I'm 5'0", and 95lbs., and *I* had to go break it up! Ridiculous. Luckily, none of them were severely injured, but I vowed after that to never go back.

We have had parks around here close numerous times for Parvo though, and people still keep going back! Boggles my mind. Also had a case last summer where two dogs got into a fight and the owner of one of them threw the other dog into the river right next to the park. Dog survived, thankfully, but good god, I refuse to put my dogs lives in strangers hands! 

I have a friend in MD who works at a vet clinic that's 1mi. from a dog park.. she said they get so many dogs coming in for bite wounds. While I'm not a huge Cesar Milan fan, the "pack mentality" does take over at some dog parks, I've watched it happen (from the outside!). Dogs do tend to gang up on the submissive, weaker dogs and when you have 30 against 1, it's sometimes not pretty.. especially considering that the vast majority of people have NO idea how to properly break up a dog fight! 

So for me personally, I think there are plenty of other ways to socialize & exercise your dog that don't involve dog parks. I have 3 medium energy dogs (could be considered high energy to some), with a backyard the size of a postage stamp.. yet my dogs are still well exercised and extremely socialized. I'd much prefer to see a small group of people (think maybe 6 dogs max) get together and let their dogs play that way. 

Off my dog park soap box now :wink:


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

Sprocket said:


> We have an exceptionally great park for dogs. I have never had a bad experience but I stay out of the fenced in area. I keep to the off leash hiking instead. It's more fun and the dogs continually have something to interest them. I like in fenced in areas, they create things to do which can lead to trouble.
> 
> There are pretty much good people that frequent our park but there is the odd idiot who brings their maltiepoo on a flexi lead or the boxer that runs around swating dogs. My personal favorite was the guy who had a DA golden retriever on a leash, on the off leash track. Genius right there


Yea. We know the dogs that cause problems so we leave. I think that's how we have avoided problems. I love it now but I think that, as Buck gets older and begins to mellow out we won't go so often. We will also be leaving this area next May so it will be a challenge to find a dog park like this one if we can find one that I am happy with at all. I think we got lucky. Like I said in my last post, the dog park across town is one I would never take my boys too. We have been there once. That, along with what we have heard from MANY other people... It's just not a place you want to take your dogs too. 

I think I have been spoiled with our park. The owners of the all natural dog store in our town go to the park really early every morning to drop new toys out, hose down the tables and chairs the dogs pee on, empty the garbage cans, clean the water buckets, and pick up all of the poop that was either missed by owners or just irresponsibly left there. We have seen them there on a couple of occasions. It's too cute. They are all bundled up in their sweat pants and scarves and they walk around the park together. It's just this little old lady with her little old husband and their irish setter.



kady05 said:


> Me too! All of the pictures I post of my guys running around were taken at a 100 acre park
> 
> 
> 
> ...


And that's why you just have to be smart about dog parks. If there is a large number of dogs at the park we don't go in. We go during the times when most people are at work and there are few dogs there. It isn't hard to learn when the park is nearly empty and it's pretty easy to pack up and leave when it gets too busy or the dogs all begin to get too stimulated. I think part of the reason those things happen is because people don't know how to teach their dogs how to self regulate in their playing. If Buck gets too overstimulated we leash him up for about 5 minutes before letting him go again. Give him a break and let his mind slow back down. 

We have been taking our dogs to this park for almost a year now and we have had no one hurt while we were there. To me, it's just a matter of knowing when it's time to leave or when you should decide not to go in at all as well as knowing the times of day best to go. We often go right before dark when or really early in the morning when no one is there. Usually, we will have two or three other dogs in the park with us but they are all off doing their own thing. We always leave when that tenth dog comes in (it's a BIG park), when a dog I don't like the behavior of, when a stupid owner comes in, or when dogs start getting too overstimulated. IMO, that has been what has made the dog park such a positive experience for us. We know when to cut our losses and go home.

I'm not trying to tell you that you need to take your dogs to the park. I just get tired of hearing that it is wrong to take dogs to the park (which all four of us enjoy). Many people think having 3 active dogs with a postage stamp sized backyard is wrong (I have a yard like that too) but some people make it work just fine.

I think dog park debates are as ridiculous as ear cropping/tail docking debates and raw vs kibble debates so I am just going to step out now. I like those who I am debating with so I am not going to allow myself to participate further.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Dude and Bucks Mamma said:


> Yea. We know the dogs that cause problems so we leave. I think that's how we have avoided problems. I love it now but I think that, as Buck gets older and begins to mellow out we won't go so often. We will also be leaving this area next May so it will be a challenge to find a dog park like this one if we can find one that I am happy with at all. I think we got lucky. Like I said in my last post, the dog park across town is one I would never take my boys too. We have been there once. That, along with what we have heard from MANY other people... It's just not a place you want to take your dogs too.
> 
> I think I have been spoiled with our park. The owners of the all natural dog store in our town go to the park really early every morning to drop new toys out, hose down the tables and chairs the dogs pee on, empty the garbage cans, clean the water buckets, and pick up all of the poop that was either missed by owners or just irresponsibly left there. We have seen them there on a couple of occasions. It's too cute. They are all bundled up in their sweat pants and scarves and they walk around the park together. It's just this little old lady with her little old husband and their irish setter.
> 
> ...


I wasn't aware that there was a debate going on.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

i take my dog to the local dog park and everything is fine.
i live near 1,700 acres of wooded area. there's section in
the woods were people gather with their all of the time.
some times there's 25 dogs there playing and running in 
and out of the creek. the dogs range in size from giant
to Chihauhau. the leader of the pack is a female Shih Tzu.


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## nfedyk (Jan 13, 2012)

Well we went to the dog park today. First off the place was beautiful. Very clean with poop bag dispensers and garbage cans everywhere. There were also areas with picnic tables that had wooden coverings over them to get out of the sun. The place was pretty crowded with maybe 10-12 dogs in the under 35 lb section. We went in and kept Oliver on the leash at first as I was not sure how he would react. A little beagle came right over and started sniffing Oliver. At first he growled a bit but then he was ok. A few people came over to us and I told them I was hesitant to let Oliver off the leash as this was his first time. All of them encouraged me to let him off the leash and let him run with the other dogs. They were so sweet and welcoming that I felt good bringing Oliver there. Once I let him go he had a blast. He was really well behaved and had so much fun running around with the other dogs. It looks like a great place for my mom to bring him during the week as she would probably feel more comfortable with fewer dogs there. It will also be a nice place for her to socialize with other dog owners.


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

i would never go to a dog par i always get tense bringing my dogs around other dogs..i just don;t like introducing winston to other dogs....however he is friendly with the 5 and 15 pound dogs in the neighborhood..but if the person in the development behind us was waling his mastiff or if we ran into the pitbull in our dev...i would run away with winston.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

RCTRIPLEFRESH5 said:


> i would never go to a dog par i always get tense bringing my dogs around other dogs..i just don;t like introducing winston to other dogs....however he is friendly with the 5 and 15 pound dogs in the neighborhood..but if the person in the development behind us was waling his mastiff or if we ran into the pitbull in our dev...i would run away with winston.


If you get tense and paranoid about it then its probably best that you stay FAR away from any other dogs. Winston will feed off of your insecurities and possibly react negatively towards another dog.


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## StdPooDad (Mar 16, 2012)

I have a really nice dog park about 15 miles away, in Whitefish. It seems to be an exception; for the most part people are good about watching their dogs. The biggest problem that I've seen is one of clueless owners. Not clueless about watching their dogs, but *clueless about dog behavior*. Some people seem to think that if a dog barks at another one, it's being vicious and aggressive and they need to swoop over and rescue their precious fluffy.

I was there with Seamus last week. There were maybe 6 or 7 dogs there. *A woman was there with her poodle cross (Seamus is a standard poodle) who "gets it!"* Our dogs were playing rough, barking, nipping, running, making tons of noise. She turned to the onlookers and yelled something like "trust me, they're fine!" I"m sure most of the onlookers thought the dogs were going to kill each other. It was actually quite humorous. After 10-15 minutes of smoke and noise, Seamus and her dog went back to ignoring each other...lol When Poodles play, they characteristically dart in and nip the necks. It's harmless, but some people thing they're trying to kill the other dog, but in fact they're just playing. 

I don't take Teaghan anymore. She loved running around at mach 5, but she took going to the dog park as license to ignore Dad when he called her. Too many distractions for her at this point. Also, she started to get dog aggressive sometimes, you can never tell when. I think it's because she would be too stressed when too many strange dogs would come over to sniff her. 

Seamus on the other hand is a rock star there! A couple weeks ago, I was about 100 yds from the gate, he ran over to be part of the greeting committee for new dogs. I called him from the scrum of dogs gathered there, he practically knocked other dogs over to get back to Dad!

Seamus isn't all that much for playing with other dogs, he's kind of aloof a lot of the times. The best times at the dog park are when nobody else is there, we can work on recalls, off-leash walking, 
freestyle tricks, etc. If I *knew* no other dogs were going to be there I'd take Teaghan, but that's impossible to know.


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

Sprocket said:


> If you get tense and paranoid about it then its probably best that you stay FAR away from any other dogs. Winston will feed off of your insecurities and possibly react negatively towards another dog.


i don't go to dog parks as I have said. winston plays with the two dogs in the neighborhood when they are walking..one is our nxt door neighbors.


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

I have three dogs. I feel bad if I have to leave one home. Sargeant does go to "grandma's house" a lot though. He is the only one allowed over. Dozer scares my mom, even though I brought him over a few times for her to get to know him. His size just scares the crap out of her even though he is a gentle teddy bear. 
I could not comfortably keep tabs on all three dogs at a dog park. Also, Dozer does not get to be around other dogs much other than my other two. If someone brings their dogs to my house (it has happened twice) he is unpredictable. A friend brought his brothers pitt bull over and Dozer was fine with it, if a little over exuberant. The pit was running around with him but then he got nervous and went back to my friend and jumped in the truck. Dozer CAN be intimidating but he has also played with chuhuahuas. I think when he sees a dog reasonable in size to him, he wants to let loose. I need some mastiff friends. Another friend brought over his german short hair....it was not good. Dozer reverted to his roots and got all protective of his territory with this dog so they left. Then I brought Dozer to the german short haired dogs house on a leash at a party and Dozer lunged at the loose short hair and knocked me on my ass in front of at least 45 people. SO I brought him home. Point it, I never know what Dozer will do with other dogs. 

Hunter would probably bother people with his insistance that they throw his ball. The only person he allows to actually throw his ball his me. Anyone else, he does not let them get to his ball. He drops it at their feet, barks and barks, and then when the person gives in to throw his ball, he snaps it back up, with or without said persons hand attached. I worked with him on this. He used to bite hands on purpose. It took time but now he lets me pick up his ball. But how annoying would a dog like that be at a dog park?

But more so, I don't trust people. I have heard too many horror stories. So we just stay antisocial and walk in the woods together.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

> Hunter would probably bother people with his insistance that they throw his ball.


Hahaha, I went to a dog park near my friends house with her two dogs, and there was this Lab there that kept wanting us to throw his spit soaked ball. He didn't come and drop it in front of us like a normal dog, nope, shoved the ball right in your crotch, every time. We both went home with big wet spots all over our crotch and thighs, not enjoyable lol.


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

Must be a lab thing. Hunter has perfected the crotch roll up AND actually throwing it at my face. He is a great dog. But ignoring him when he wants to play fetch and you are going to get dirty for sure.


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## happygirlx3 (Feb 22, 2010)

Glad you had a great time! I love our dog park. 

We have a huge "park" here called Shelby Farms that's at least a thousand acres of land and is used for lots of things from camping to boating to jogging... They even have a section for horseback riding. A few hundred acres is sectioned off for the off-leash dog park. The whole park is dog friendly and most people don't have their dogs on leashes anyway, but this part has a different entrance just for the dogs. The park is so large that sometimes I don't even come across another person! There are 3 ponds and one of them is always crowded with people. I've never met an aggressive dog there, but mine aren't super friendly so we avoid it. It takes at least an hour to walk the perimeter and by then the dogs are tired.


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

Best advice ever! 

Not all dog parks are bad. Just because a dog park doesn't work for some doesn't mean it isn't going to work for you. Do your self on really big favor to avoid any headaches. Go into a dog park that you have chosen without your dog. See how they are behaving. Are there dogs jumping on you? Are the owners involved in conversation and ignoring their dogs? Are you afraid one of the dogs might bite you? If any of those are a yes I wouldn't bring my dog there.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

bridget246 said:


> Best advice ever!
> 
> Not all dog parks are bad. Just because a dog park doesn't work for some doesn't mean it isn't going to work for you. Do your self on really big favor to avoid any headaches. Go into a dog park that you have chosen without your dog. See how they are behaving. Are there dogs jumping on you? Are the owners involved in conversation and ignoring their dogs? Are you afraid one of the dogs might bite you? If any of those are a yes I wouldn't bring my dog there.



Our "dog park" is hundreds of acres of land. Most is on leash hiking, some of it is off leash hiking. There is a very large fenced in area but another good area for cautious owners to utilize is the second fenced in area. Its about 1/4 of the big one but its better if you don't want to deal with the masses.

You have to zoom in but you can see the Canine commons, and the off leash land. They have since doubled the parking lot too.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&s...sb&biw=1600&bih=797&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl


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## taem (Oct 29, 2011)

Here's a dude who hates dog parks so much he actually has a web presence to advocate against them: Leerburg | Dog Parks: Why They Are A Bad Idea

Here's a preview:










Me, I'd rather have an unsocialized, fat, unhappy dog than ever go back to a dog park.


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