Our shop sits about a mile away from the biggest dog park in the area. Consequently, we’re often asked if we take our dogs to the park, or how we feel about dog parks.
We’re not fans. In fact, we think they’re kind of bad ideas for most dogs. And while we may believe that the dog park in our town was a good thing (dogs aren’t allowed in any of the other public parks in our community), it just hasn’t worked out for us.
The dog park planners were trying to accommodate everyone – there’s a “small dog” area that’s fenced off fr
om the acres and acres allowed for the main part of the park. The problem is that you and your small dog have to walk through the big dog area to get to the small dog portion. And as soon as the outer gate opens (it’s a card key system, only for those who purchase dog park passes), all the dogs in the park gather at the inner gate to see who’s coming in. The only time I brought my little guy to the park, I had to carry him to “run the gauntlet” – with the big dogs trying to bowl me over. They almost succeeded, I’m only five feet tall.
And once we were in the small dog area, the big dogs were running the fence to watch my little guy at play. It kind of freaked both of us out – we just sat calmly and waited for the big dogs to get bored and go away.
You may ask – where were all the big dog owners while this was going on? Standing around in a group in the pavilion, chatting and drinking their coffee. Occasional shouts of “don’t worry – my dog’s friendly” came our way, but no one came to gather up his dog and help us out.
I realize there are probably a bunch of dog park “regulars” who meet at the same time, same day of the week. They and their dogs all know each other and everyone probably gets along just fine. But as we know from our training classes, a new dog in the group can change the dynamics drastically. Dogs notice who’s there, who’s familiar, and who can be picked on.
It also depends on the personality of your dog. Roc wasn’t really into playing with other dogs – I’d taken him to the park thinking we could play ball together. And if there were other little dogs, he would have been fine. He was neither aggressive nor particularly passive with other dogs, for the most part he wouldn’t have been interested. He was, however, very conscious of his size and wary of large dogs. He got along great with the big dogs he knew, but he got to know them gradually and at his own pace. One of his favorite buddies in the world was Sera, a Doberman Pinscher.
I see three different dog personalities at dog parks – bullies, victims, and the group. Unless you know exactly who’s going to be there, both dogs and people, we don’t recommend taking your little dog to an off-leash dog park. It’s just not worth it.
