dog parks?

[caesarloosh]

does anyone take their boxers to dog parks ? I was taking my boys to a park every day. They loved it but recently my looshus got into a fight with a sheppard and loss a piece of his ear. I stopped going for two months,yesterday i went back and did'nt have good results. I think i will stay away for good

 

[Sansal]

I take both my dogs to the dogpark. However I am really careful and if I feel my dogs won't get along with one of the other dogs I immediately leave. Better safe than sorry. I also try to go at times when I know there won't be many other dogs around.

 

[Gatorblu]

I took my first boxer, Star, every weekend and never really had an issue. Then we got Thor, and while he was too small for the park our neighbors had a gate put in between our yard and theirs. So everyday her 4 dogs would come over and play in our large yard with my two. Then we moved and I started the dog park thing again. We had a couple of incidents that made me more mindful of the other dogs and owners, but nothing to make us stop going. My first girl passed away and now we have Arabella to keep Thor company. Arabella got jumped two trips in a row. We were working thru that at what I thought was great speed, then Thor went after a dog that was driving me insane howling. (It was totally my fault as Thor read my body language and reacted.) That was the last straw for Arabella. She has had issues since. We work thru them as best we can and only go to the dog park on off hours and if there are only 3-4 dogs there. I always watch the dogs before we enter to see if there are any showing signs of aggressive behavoir. If so we keep walking. We are slowly resocializing and most people are willing to help.

 

[alyssakitz]

I take both my dogs to the dogpark. However I am really careful and if I feel my dogs won't get along with one of the other dogs I immediately leave. Better safe than sorry. I also try to go at times when I know there won't be many other dogs around.

This is exactly how I feel. Zoe ended up with stitches from an unsocialized Chihuahua at the dog park and we quit going for a long time. After we got Marshall, though, I really wanted to try it out so he could have some exposure to other dogs. It's worked out wonderfully. We found a great group of owners/dogs who go at the same time pretty much every morning and now I find that I really look forward to going and it's not so stressful.

I can't tell you the number of people who have told me that their dogs don't usually like Boxers though or that they've fought with a Boxer at the dog park in the past. I suspect it's the high energy play and "boxing" that maybe sets off other dogs. I think while reading other dogs behaviour is important, it's equally important to read your own in the park - if he/she is being a nuisance and won't leave an unwilling playmate alone then probably best to leave.... not all dogs love the boxer play style!!

 

[whiskers]

We used to go a lot, but my car was broken into last month while we were there, and I just haven't felt comfortable going back since. But, I can't really recall having issues with dogs. We had an incident when Juno was about 6 months old, but luckily I've never seen the other dog at the park since then.

You just have to constantly be watching the dogs when you're there. A lot of people think they're able to "check out" when they get there, they just let their dogs run wild and don't supervise them. But not only do you have to watch your dog, you have to watch the others as well. Juno can usually find someone of her energy level to play with, but if she doesn't, she can turn into a bully. That's when we leave, or at least walk around a bit so she's not bothering the other dog. (She doesn't get mean, just demanding--in your face bark bark bark).

Always a risk though. Dog daycares that evaluate the dogs they let in are a safer option... too bad they're not free!

 

[johann]

We don't do dog parks with Johann. He gets very overwhelmed in big groups of dogs (had a bad experience at a dog park as a 6 month old) and either runs away or picks the "weakest" dog and jumps it. It's obvious that he is very stressed; even if we go when no other dogs are there...his nub is tucked down, head down with ears back, hair standing up, tries to hide. I don't know how he would do in a different dog park, but there's only 1 near me, so that's where we used to go.

We now have playdates with a friends and family members' dogs. Johann seems much more comfortable around other dogs since we stopped doing daycare and dog parks. I think some dogs are just not "dog park dogs" and others are. Just recently, Johann has been able to play at the beach with other dogs (off leash). I waited a long time before I trusted him enough to try it. He can also handle being in a bigger group of dogs on the beach than ever could at daycare or dog park.

I hope your dogs are feeling better. Can you have a playdate with dogs that you know they get along with (even better if the friendly dog looks like the dog that attacked)? That way they can resocialize in a controlled environment with dogs of known temperment/behavior.

 

[srennie]

No dog park for us. We tried a few times but each time there are dogs misbehaving so we have never gone in. One day I had myself totally confident to go in and before we could get in the first gate 2 shepherds ran over and started a fence fight so we turned around and left. Other times there are little dogs nipping at the big dogs and I don't think it's fair for me to subject mine to all of that chaos. They are both rescues so unless a dog is calm and well behaved they get uncomfortable. Our last boxer loved everyone and everything and we could take him without any problems because he seemed oblivious to their anti social behavior and was quick and agile enough to outrun pretty much anyone who tried to chase him.

 

[LillyBear]

Lilly is two and I've not taken her to the dog park yet. I've been wanting to try it, but she can be a bit of a bully. When I walk her, she does really well but if she sees another dog she pulls in that direction. I haven't begun to address that yet. So, I'm thinking the dog park would not be a good idea. There's a "human" park close by and we'll stop there sometimes on our walk. She loves it. If there's no-one around I can even take her off leash for a bit and she responds great.

 

[TinksDream]

Tinkerbell loves the dog park. When I first started taking her to one it really wasn't very good b/c she was young and there were 2 dogs that would constantly park at anyone trying to come in until you were actually in. Those particular 2 dogs were aggressive at times and very unpredictable so we only went when they weren't there and left if they showed up.
Now we go to a much larger park that has 3 different areas (2 big areas then a timid area)and if I don't like how things feel on one side it is easy to go to a different area or just move to a different side of the same area. Occasionally there will be little scuffles but most of the time people are right there taking care of things and I've never seen a dog actually injured there.

 

[Delbert]

I have been taking Delbert twice a week to the dog park for a few months now and he loves it. Besides paying for day care, I don't think he could've gained the socialization anywhere else. It has been a great experience so far, lots of nice dogs, but I am always watching him and ready to pull him out of any bad situation that comes up.