What is Dog Park ettiquette?

[TugsMommy]

We have never been to one, and I am thinking that when I get home from my business trip I will take Tuggy to one. Can you run around with them and play chase, or do they just run around by themselves? I know you have to pick up the p00pies, but what is playing ettiquette?

I know the Tuggy will want me to run around and play with him(until another =fun dog comes around then he will forget about me)

 

[MICHFONT]

good behavior

I Have Been To The Dog Park Many, Many Times And Only Experienced Bad Behavior Twice. It Seems The Dogs Are On Neutral Territory And Everyone Knows They Are There To Have Fun. One Time A Small Dog (that Should Have Been In The Smaller Dog Area) Got Aggresive, And Another Time An Owner Brought His Dog In And Left Him On A Leash I Think He Felt Restrained And Wasn't Comfortable With The Other Dogs Being Around Him. They Left Pretty Quickly. Don't Worry You'll Have So Much Fun You'll Be Addicted!

 

[meliss&kash]

Unless you are alone there, I say don't bring any toys and let the dogs play with each other. Otherwise... you never know, they might fight over the toys. Or some other dog will just grab the toy you intended for your dog and you'll never see it again! Other than that, just let 'em be!

Melissa

 

[boazdad]

That's so great that you have access to one in your community! So many places don't have dog runs yet:( I live in Manhattan, where there are about 31 of them. I've got one just 2 blocks away, and two others with in a 12 block radius! It's definitely one advantage of being an NYC dog owner. Here are the things that I see upsetting people and/or dogs...and for some reason, it doesn't seem to be "common sense" to everyone.

If a toy or object starts to create a problem, get rid of it. Playing with special things from home is a priveledge, not a right at the park. Some dogs make be too possessive to watch your dog play with a brand new frisbee while all they get is a dingy old tennis ball. Also, if you bring a toy, you must accept that it becomes community property until you leave (at which point, of course, you have every right to take it home with you). But while at the park, dogs may share or steal toys. As long as there are no fights, then it's fine.

Bring food and children at the run at your own risk, and knowing that it's your job to guard/watch them. You can't expect someone to keep yelling at their big dog (who may not be accustomed to small kids running around) to keep a distance. Also, dogs are going to come and sniff/beg your food, don't blame other owners for not keeping their dogs away.

Only run around if you sense that all the dogs at the park don't mind. But many dogs chase running people (my boxer sure does...and he tackles!) So if this happens, don't run around. It's exercise time for the dogs, not the owners.

Most other rules are a given...like breaking up fights, cleaning up after your dog, etc. It can be frustrating sometimes because people all have different beliefs on what "healthy playing" is. Some people truly belief that any mouthing is fighting and will ask you to break it up. And we all know Boxers like to make noise when they play, so people may tell you to take your "Pitt Bull" out of the park! Lots of people think mounting is totally inappropriate, but I tend to think that owners object to it more often than the dogs do.

Anyway, generally it is such a great time and you learn to ignore/avoid the neighborhood "crazies." And Michfont is right...you'll get addicted!

 

[tessmonster]

Have fun!!

A couple of things...

Let your dog off (and put him back on) leash in the little area between the inner and outer gate so that he won't feel threatened upon entering the park when he's rushed by all the off-leash "greeters/butt-sniffers." Dogs on leash feel vulnerable to off leash dogs, which sometimes causes aggressive and/or defensive behavior uncharacteristic of your dog.

It goes without saying to keep your eyes on your dog at all times. Boxers tend to get themselves into trouble sometimes because they are VERY high energy and they play really rough, which is fine 90% of the time. But, sometimes they box the WRONG dog. (Tess LOVES the wrong dog - every time.) You want to be paying enough attention to detect when a dog is approaching his "boxer puppy tolerance maximum" and redirect your pup somewhere else.

It's totally acceptable to play with them - encouraged by most trainers, but don't get your feelings hurt if he doesn't want to. Other dogs are much more fun becuase they let him box and chew on them.

Toys and food aren't a good idea unless there aren't any other dogs to play with. They have tennis balls at the parks, so you'll have something for him to fetch if he wants.

You're going to LOVE it! It is often the best part of my day to watch Tess play with her friends at the park. It's DEFINITELY the best part of HER day.

Have fun!!!
Julie

P.S.
Don't worry about the grumps. Understand what aggressive/dominant behavior is unacceptable in your dog and don't allow him to do those things. If he's just playing rough, dog park people (the ones you'll see every day) will recognize that. The people who don't know the difference in play and aggression aren't dog park people and you won't likely see them again.

 

[FarleyBoxer]

My friendly advice is to be open and kind to other dog parents about, for instance, how roughly your pup plays. In other words, if you know Tuggy has a tendency to barrel in and start wrestling dogs and is a big rough-houser, tell the other dog's owner to let you know if anything Tuggy does makes him/her uncomfortable. Someone said that to me one day when her Lab was gnawing on Farley's neck and I really appreciated it. The Lab wasn't being mean really, but I didn't really like the way he was playing, and the woman was very nice and called her dog off when he got 'too rough.'

My point is, while some people may just be ignorant and think all roughousing is aggression, sometimes it just makes people uncomfortable and I think we should all respect that. Farley has a tendency to get bullied if I don't intervene. The others probably wouldn't actually hurt him, but he's obviously not having a good time.

Also, if your park doesn't have drinking water, be sure to bring your own!

Camille

 

[BooBoo & Riley]

I would offer the following suggestions:

1) keep them leashed until you've past the first set of gates.
2) call your dogs away from the ones that they seem to bully... i had a fellow boxer owner once tell me to "control your dogs" when my little Courage, all 50# of her pushed down an English Mastif to let her know that she is in charge, but Courage didn't do anything further to harm her... So learn to re-direct your dog's attention would be good.

3) get them to the water fountain often, playing dogs tend to forget to stop to drink.
4) practice the recall command so that your dog will listen when it really matters. You can practice this at the dog park...
5) stay with your dog so that you can grab him from a fight if need be...

 

[ricos_mama]

I think that everything has been pretty much covered... the only thing i could think of is dont sit on the ground unless you are going to be prepared to be approached by ALL the dogs in the park. At one of the dog parks i go to their is a group of women who sit on the grass and then squeal whenever a dog comes over to them, of course rico runs right up and gives them all slobberry kisses which is really funny because they get mad...