dog parks?

[Dell]

I've been scouting dog parks for when we get our boxer puppy...took our older Brittany/Beagle mix to a free-public dog park and we left quickly. He's super sociable, but the seemingly unsocialized dogs made me really nervous. He's too old to defend in a fight and there were a lot of powerful dogs giving "not so friendly" signs. And oblivious owners. Grrrr....

BUT... then I've found a private, member-only dog park that temperment tests ALL dogs prior to joining, they have separate pens for small dogs and larger dogs and even young dogs! It's not too expensive and so far everyone I've met there is way more involved, they pay attention, work their dogs, and supervise play. My old boy loves it and that's where we will take our boxer pup once it's old enough to be around all sorts of other dogs. That might be a solution for you too. I hope some of those nice dogs like boxers...

 

[dsmit]

I have taken Tyson to the dog park in the past and he loves it. He has not been in about 5 months. We have found a few neighbor hood dogs that he socializes and plays with.

The park that I was going to was a free park with mostly responsible owners who monitored their dogs' behavior. Tyson has had 3 bad incidents at the park. There is a another park close to me that charges a fee that I may take him to if I decide to visit the parks again.

Parks can be good to socialize your dog but be careful and observe the dogs behavior before entering, and if things change while in the park, remove your dog quickly.

 

[chrystel]

I used to take Snatch, where he met his best friend (another boxer)
Then.. we realised those two would just play with each other..

Also at 5 month old, he got attacked by a very alpha rottie over there.. but we kept on going and he never showed any sign of being afraid.

Then his best friend moved away, and Snatch seemed bored.. but he soon was just... looking for the water bowls!! he became a water addict! so he would drink and drink.. then run, then throw up. i was afraid he would twist his stomach.

We kept on going, unfortunately, he gets bullied by.. labradors. I have no idea why, but yellow labs always seem to get on him.

My other boxer, Oxford.. is a bully. We are working on it, with agility practice and trips to the boarding place (where he has NO problems at all). But at dog parks, he bullies EVERY dogs that run.. so pretty much any movement...
And he tries to protect Snatch from labradors..

You can imagine how soon the situation become dangerous...

so we just gave up on the dog park idea..

 

[larrygs]

We have taken Layla to dog parks quite, beginning once her shots were in place. It has been great for her, and us, on several levels.

However, we are quite diligent in keeping an eye on things. Both to keep her safe, and to prevent her from picking up bad habits. Unfortunately there are many owners who are clueless. We have learned much and will not enter or will leave very quickly when situation don't look right.

 

[MIboxermom]

My three love the park. We go three or four times a week and we've only had a couple of bad experiences. There are a couple of dogs, that when we see them there, we either move to another area or leave. Luckily we have a large park with lots of trails and two nice beaches so we have plenty of places to go. We avoid weekends and stick to late mornings when there are fewer people there.

Our first time at the park, our puppy Henry ran straight into the lake not realizing that it was deeper than his wading pool at home. He disappeared from view, and we kept waiting and waiting for him to pop up. Just as we were taking off our shoes to run in after him, he walked back out! He hadn't even inhaled any water. The goofy guy must have wondered where all the air went, and just turned around and walked out. I thought swimming was an instinct in dogs, but apparently not in boxers!