“I have a very energetic dog, I bring him to the dog park so he can run off some of that energy”
“At our dog park, everybody knows everybody else…it is very safe”
“My dog would NEVER turn on another dog”
“My dog NEEDS the socialization”
These statements and a hundred others I have heard over and over again as to why people use dog parks. Look, do not get me wrong…I agree with the theory behind dog parks. The idea is that you can bring your dog to a fenced in area and they can romp and play with other dogs while burning off some energy. I get it and I get the attraction for both owners and dogs….THEORETICALLY. However, I believe the practical reality of dog parks, at least as they exist in this province, outweigh the advantages.
1. It is not a matter of “if” something is going to happen, it is a matter of “when”. Sooner or later, your dog is going to get it’s butt whooped or is going to whoop another dog’s butt. You may not see or notice what is going on. You may not see the signs. You may interpret the interaction as “play”. However, when it does happen, you just taught your dog a very valuable lesson…you placed your dog in harms way and could not protect them so they either learn they cannot trust you, and they have to learn they have to protect themselves. Some dogs can recover from this pretty quickly, maybe you have one of these dogs. Often times though, people do not and it can have long term impacts especially when repeated negative experiences happen when dogs are young.
2. You do not know EVERY dog there. It is the nature of a dog park….people can come and go as they please. Sooner or later there is going to come a dog that enters into the mix that throws things into disarray. When that happens, trouble occurs.
3. Even if you know every dog that is currently there every single time you are actually in the park, does not mean you know every dog that has been there. Put a female in heat in the park or even walking by the park, add a number of unneutered males to the mix, place a group in a fenced off area where excitement is high, add some distracted owners, and some owners with the idea “let them work it out”, stir……you have a pressure cooker that is going to blow.
4. While I am on the topic of “not knowing every dog that is there every single time”. You have a fenced smallish area that, especially on nice weather”, could be used by hundreds of dogs a day. They are peeing everywhere, they are eating the tender shoots growing beneath the sand, they are drinking out of the stagnant puddles of water, or the standing water left from the run off of the only faucet, that has been peed in, walked in and splashed in by every dog in the park. Proper drainage is not something that is really considered in the design of most of the dog parks…let me see: small enclosed area, used by lots of dogs of unknown medical history, poor drainage….you have a breeding ground for disease. Imagine swimming in a swimming pool that did not use chlorine. You have people spitting, peeing and sneezing in it all day…after a couple of days, things are going to get rank. That is exactly what a dog park is.
5. Some dogs, especially when they are young, do very well in the dog park. They can be rude but are just happy to be there. As they get older, they become less tolerant, more mature….this is completely normal. Picture a human that is a baby and a child…relatively easy going, non threatening…fast forward 16-25 years later…your little darling is slugging people downtown because they looked at his girl funny, or is embarrassing another girl to tears because she heard from a friend of a friend who overheard Joyce tell Suzie that she said your darling was a bitch. Point I am making is that as dogs mature, things can change. When the crap hits the fan and you are not paying attention or are a couple of hundred feet away from your dog, things can get nasty pretty darn quick.
6. There are people out there who actually believe “my dog is just rough playing” and/or “dogs should work it out”. I am not even going to get into this asinine thought process. And yes, I call it asinine. If you think this, you are wrong…period, end of story!!! As long as people even think this is OK, especially at the dog park, your dog is in danger visiting it. It does not matter if you will “leave if things get out of hand”, or if others will step in and make the person feel bad so they will not come back….you are now in damage control mode….you are closing the barn door after the horse has left the stable.
7. If you visit the dog park and your dog gets attacked…in a lot of jurisdictions dogs parks operate at a “use at your own risk”. Matter of fact, it is there in big bold letters on the sign. Most times, what this means is, if you think the other person is responsible for damages, they are not. Even IF you choose to push this, and bring it to court, know you are going to have a devil of a time proving your case and getting judgement in your favour. You may say “but my dog was attacked, he is the one that got gashed open and bitten” and you may be right BUT any defence lawyer worth their salt would say “prove your dog did not cause this”. Was your dog running after the dog who did the attacking? Was your dog trying to get the ball that the other dog was carrying. Was your dog giving the attacking dog the old hairy eye ball? Was your dog posturing? When they were playing, did your dog growl at the other dog”?
Do you see where this is going? It is next to impossible to prove/disprove any of these questions. Unless you do, there is no way to say the attack was not your dog’s fault. Sorry, the judge is not going to take “but your honour, my dog was doing nothing wrong, I saw everything…” You did not, you could not, it is impossible to do so given the nature of the dog park.
Again, I see some advantages to visiting the dog park…but I see huge disadvantages that, quite frankly, sink every last one of the advantages.
So what can you do to get all the advantages of the dog park but not actually go to a dog park
1. Take your dog into an area where they are legally allowed off leash that do not have all the disadvantages I mentioned.
2. Enrol your dog in a good, responsible, controlled and supervised doggy daycare
3. Enrol your dog in courses and activities that will challenge your dog’s brain and his body
4. Walk your dog, every day, on leash
5. Set up doggy playdates with trusted owners
Locally, I run a group called “For the Love of Dogs”. This is a great group that I started 8 years ago now because I strongly disagree with the dog parks that exist in this province in their current form. One of the things I wanted to do was offer owners and their dogs an opportunity to socialize in a controlled and safe environment. We set up weekly group dog walks. The walks are open to all, regardless of size, or disposition. We have everything from teacup chihuahuas to great danes attend. Everything from dogs that are so submissive, when you look at them they roll over on their backs and pee on themselves to dogs that are so aggressive, when you look at them, they will want to lunge and eat you. There are strict rules on the walk that everybody follows, including how to introduce yourself and your dog properly to another dog. These walks are also free by the way. I hold open a poop bag at the start of each walk, people toss in a small donation (usually $2 to $5) and that money goes to charity. We do these walks twice a weekend, every weekend and have been for years. Want to know something? We have never had anything serious happen on them. Pretty impressive when you think how often they are done and how many dogs regularly attend. However, not so impressive when you look at the controls that are put in place. All owners have to have their dog on a six foot leash or less. All owners have to be in control of their dogs at all times, meaning the dog should be by your side. There are rules around proper introductions that are explained and written for people to see. The dogs that attend the walks tend to be owned by responsible and knowledgable owners. So, yes, a controlled and safe environment. We walked 68 dogs together today. Nothing happened. There was lots of excitement, lots of interaction, lots of good, safe fun and lots of tired and happy dogs after.
If you live local or are ever in the St. John’s Metro area, check us out. You can find us on Facebook under “For the Love of Dogs”.