Dog Parks: Yay or Nay?

For me, nay.  I have a HUGE yard where my dogs can run and play and I have my own agility equipment, plus we have permission to turn them loose in the baseball fields at the college, so we arrange play dates with other dogs.  At our training center, we let the dogs play off lead before and after class.  That's a decent amount of socialization for my dogs.  Kenya doesn't really care to "play" with other dogs besides Coke anyway, so she doesn't get sufficient exercise being off-lead with strange dogs.  The only dog park around here I would trust costs over $200 to use.

However, some people have really nice dogs and well established groups of dogs at parks.  If so, go for it!  It all depends on your dogs and the other dogs at the park. 

I've personally really enjoyed using our local off leash parks.  It seems that most of the others that go have dogs similar to ours - it's a big hunting community.  My two are very good at listening to me and when I call them out of a group they come.  I can also tell them to "leave it" if they show any interest in a dog that seems nervous or aggresive.

Have they had the odd tousle? - yes.  Have I met idiots there? - yes.  The benefit of the excercise and the training that we do off leash is very important to me so the benefit outweighs the drawbacks.

do a search in teh forums, you'll find countless topics about this

I LOVE the dog park. It's a lot of fun to watch the dogs all interact. The one I go to everyone keeps a good eye on their dog, so any problem behavior is usually addressed quickly.

I personally wouldn't worry about germs too much as long as your dog is up to date on vaccs.  I'd probably do some research to see if Lepto is in your area if you havn't vaccinated against it.  I do get Sophie the kennel cough vaccine since the dogs do share water bowls.

Yay with reservations.  Kennel cough might be a good idea prior to going, it is contagious.  Some dogs at my park have gotten worms again and again despite being on preventative, so that is a concern.  I think you have to be pretty dog savvy and able to read dog body language well.  Before I started taking Woobie, I had read a book on Calming Signals that really helped me understand not only signs in Woobie that mean he's uncomfortable but also other dogs' body language.  If I get "that feeling", I leave, immediately.  I've had one situation where a dad let his kid get too close despite my warnings that Woobie is afraid of kids.  I got lucky and nothing bad happened, I left within 5 minutes, because I was kind of perterbed that this guy with no dog brought his kid and invaded our space and ruined our time, but in the end I still left, just should have done it earlier.  I would also recommend going on off-times in the beginning.  Most parks get crowded and crazy after work hours and on weekends.  If you can arrange going at a slower time, it makes for a better introduction.  Woobie can handle weekend times (Mom can't always) but that took several months of going during the slow times and getting comfortable.

Have fun!

I think I'd go a couple of times without the dog just to watch from outside the fence and see how things go.  There are times when there will be just a few dogs there (earlier in the morning) and times when the park is a zoo (after 5:00 p.m. when everyone is getting home from work and on weekends).

Joyce

Liesje

However, some people have really nice dogs and well established groups of dogs at parks.  If so, go for it!  It all depends on your dogs and the other dogs at the park.

Finding a good dog park was essential for Honor, because an AKK believes that everything should be done at warp speed!  Since we live in an apartment, the dog park has been an incredible outlet for Honor.  I would advise vaccinating against bordetella though.  Many of the dogs in our dog park will share water, so it's a good precaution.

If you find a good dog park, I would definitely say yay. 

Nay for me.  I've thought about it though and visited the closest dog park to me without my dogs, to get a feel for it.  The things I worry about are owners that don't have a clue how their untrained dog would behave in a unleashed environment (and you know that happens).  I worry about fights breaking out.  My young dog does not have 100% recall yet...although we are getting very close

I've thought about it because I think they would both enjoy the interaction and new scenery.  They both enjoy hanging out with the neighbors dogs and play well with them.  Heidi really enjoyed her basic obedience class where she socialized with other dogs her age.  That's why I think she would enjoy the dog park.  I just don't have 100% confidence in other people and other dogs nor her recall yet.  And, of course...I would be tense and worrying about others, and my dogs and other dogs would pick up on that.  I would need to practice some deep breathing exercises first, perhaps do some yoga while the dogs are running around the park. LOL.  Now that would be a sight. 

We live on an acre and a half, so we don't need to run them off property.  I certainly see the benefit for those folks that live on a smaller lot or an apartment.

I take my dogs to the dog parks a lot and love it. I don't worry about my dogs getting hurt. If it happens, it happens. My husky has been bit once but that was it. I trust my dogs to speak good doggy language and hold their own. 

I'm a supporter of them.  We don't have any official ones in DC yet...they finally passed legislation to allow them but it will take a while to get any established.  I think they are great if they are well run, but they are not for all dogs at all times.  Mosby loves going to the park to be around other dogs but yeah, if you get a few poorly behaved ones, you can have a problem.  We have a few unofficial parks (where the neighbors and cops don't enforce the leash law as long as we keep the area clean and dogs in one area).  They are not completely fenced in so my sister's dog can't go  She is the kind of dog that would really benefit from a big fenced-in area where she can play with other dogs. 

we like to go a couple of times a week. I think it's great! I like allowing Max to meet all sorts of dogs, big, small all diffrent breeds.

The dogs should be all up to date on teir vaccinations. and, NO females who are or have been in heat with in 2 weeks prior. It's great for us 2 leggers too. We get to meet other people who are just as into dogs as we are. I would deffinatly take him If I were you. 

We go ALL the time and have a great time.   You get to see the same people my two have "friends" now :)  We have never had any issues with getting sick there either, but I hear occasionally cocci or giardia goes around.  I avoid the park after it rains for this reason.  I especially love how tired they are when they get home ;)

 I'm pretty much nay on dog parks - I don't trust pet owners to know if their dog is suitable for off lead play and/or to be capable of controling their dog if need be.

Just wanted to add that an even more attractive alternative is a membership based park.  I had heard about these, but never found one around here.  I just found out from our dog park friends that a members only park will be opening in May.  :)  Since most of our dog park friends will probably join (those of us who complain about the riff raff and inattentive owners LOL!) I will probably sign up too.  It's $375/yr and that will cover both of my dogs (yay!) it will have 5 acres of play area (our current "park" is a fenced in dirt/grass area the size of a football field), nature trails, a pool and an agility area with equipment to practice on.  My only problem is that they won't accept titers I had done on Woobie that show he is adequately protected for Distemper and Parvo (our daycare did accept these) and so I'll either have to convince the vet owner or have him vaccinated before we can join.  There's a temperament test for each dog in the family and no children under 4 feet tall allowed.  If you don't follow the rules or have an incident with a dog, your membership can be revoked.  I like this because Woobie is really afraid of kids and this will give him a break from the people who insist on bringing their kids to the public park even though it's prohibited (no kids under 10 w/o parent, no kids under 4 period, but people still bring toddlers and kids in strollers!) and although an unexpected incident can happen with ANY dog, it reduces the chances of an aggressive dog becoming a persistent problem.  Totally worth the $375 to me for the pool and the agility equipment!