I REALLY need advice.....

[laylaloo]

Hello everyone, this is my first post.
I have a 3 year old yorkie and I have a questions about "dog parks", actually it is more of a concern.
I recently dicovered a dog park by my house, it is a fenced in area, quite large with dog bowls filled with water, and made up mainly of wood chips, not much grass. I brought my dog into the dog park one day last week for the first time because she cannot be let off her leash when we are taking a walk and at the mention of my vet she needs to loose a few pounds so i figured this would be great she will do alot of running and it will help. I brought her maybe 3 or 4 times and only let her go in if there are NO other dogs in there, and she loves it and has since lost 6 oz. Here is where my concern comes in, I heard from my neighbor that he dosent allow his dog in this area because it is so EASY to pick up different diseases and what not, he said if a skunk or racoon were to go in at night and just drool and your dog sniffs it she could catch something. This really concerns me. I pulled a DEER TICK off my dog after returning from the park last week, this was the first time this has EVER happened, we walk through a trail in the woods to get to the park I imagine this is where she picked it up. I use revolution but apparently it dosent stand up to its claims... I have not brought her back since. Does anyone have any advice for me regarding these "dog parks" are they unsafe, even If your dog is up to date on all her shots and heartworm meds and what not? I hate that I cant bring her there, but I refuse to do so If I'm putting her at risk.
Any advice would be really appreciated, anyone with similiar experiences, good or bad, I'm open to all suggestions and advice. Plus I have since added a TICK only collar to my dogs regimen. I'm desperate for advice!
Thanx for listening.
A concerned mommie!
xoxo

[bogolove]

Have you tried Frontline? I think it works pretty good. I figure if she is up to date on her shots, and medications, then she will probably be fine, but I guess it is better to be safe than sorry. My dog has a lot of play buddies and we all go on frequent walks and he has been fine so far. He sniffs everywhere and I imagine that he has sniffed many spots where other animlas have urinated (dogs, deer, racoons, skunks) and I don't think it has affected him. it is kind of like a child, you just protect them as well as you can, but they will still be subjected to stuff. Now I have a pretty big dog compared to yours, so it may effect a smaller dog differently. But he stays in my backyard unless I take him somewhere. I just make sure he has all his shots , heartworm, and flea/tick stuff and he has been fine. I can see the concern about the dogpark, but then I think of how many people have dogs in my neighborhood and walk them and I figure it may be about the same thing. Maybe you could walk her around your neighborhood and it may be a little better? Is there a lot of feces in the park? that would be my main concern with worms and stuff like that, so if you still want to take her there, try to keep her away from that stuff. Did you ask your vet about the dog parks?

[iky]

I have to agree with bogolove, as long as the shots are up to date, and you use a good product, like Frontline, you should be ok. What I do is whenever I take Codi to the "dog park" the moment we get back, i just do a quick check over him to make sure he hasnt picked up any ticks. I find that frontline works the best, also i make sure Codi gets his flea/tick collor as well.

[laylaloo]

I originally was using frontline and then revolution came out and it is SUPPOSED to be so much better it protects from more things than frontline, however my girlfriend uses frontline and has found a tick on her dog so I dont know how good any of them are. There are NO feces in the park AT ALL, the park supplies bags to clean up after your dog and I must say everyone does.
I was thinking about calling my vet and asking his take on the dog park but he thinks I'm neurotic already LOL!!!! We'll he's right I am neurotic
Whats your take about all the dogs drinking from the same water bowls that kind of freaks me out a little too, I was thinking If I DO decide to return to the park I will buy one of those portable bowls and bring it for just my dog to drink from. nope, me? neurotic? nah....
thanx for your input I hope to get some more suggestions from others as well!
xoxo

[bogolove]

No I don't think it is a big deal for them to drink out of the same bowl. Dogs eat and drink a lot of gross stuff, they'll be fine. Their immune systems are not like ours. You can bring your own bowl if it makes you feel better, but Brady drinks out of the same bowl as other dogs all the time. You don't have to worry about urine, because it is sterile. Feces I would be cautious of b/c of worms, but mostly that is in puppies, because they have such young immune systems so you have to be careful. I still watch out for it though. How old is your dog? Is this your first dog? If she is young, I would be more careful (like if she is still a puppy - or less than a year old) But if she is a little older I wouldn't worry too much on exposing her to other dogs. It is good to expose her to other dogs because it helps her to be a well rounded ,socialized, happy dog. I realize she is small so you need to watch closely if a much bigger dog comes up to her. But then again my dog is 70 pounds and he had a Yorkie run up to him in our neighborhood the other day and he RAN from her. LOL! I told him he was a big chicken running away from from this cute little girl. But he always plays with big dogs, and he has not seen many little dogs so maybe he was freaked out. Silly dogs.

Do you have any pics of your dog on the forum? I would love to see pics of her.

[Renee750il]

I don't know a lot about how it's transmitted, but you might ask your vet about "kennel cough." There is a vaccine for it and it's usually recommended for dogs that are going to be around a heavily "pupulated" area.

Other than that, I'd take the excellent advice you've already been given here. And if it makes you feel better, go ahead and take your own water dish.

By the way, I'd suggest you read the series of James Herriot's books (All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Wise and Wonderful, etc. They're great reads, but there's one specific chapter that will have you howling. It's about a little Yorkie, or maybe a Peke, named Tricky-Woo, whose owner is extremely overprotective, to the point of harming the dog's health, and the funny measures Herriot takes to restore Tricky's health.

[laylaloo]

I do have a picture I would love to share but my scanner is broken right now, hoping santa brings me a new one. She is not a puppy she is three years old, but always will be my little puppy! I'm thinking we will return to the doggie park. She does socialize with other dogs, my mom has a yorkie and my girlfriend has one and she plays with my friends cocker spaniel so she does have a well rounded social life, but this park is just such great excersice for her that is why we both LOVE it!!!!!! Im just cautious about other dogs you never know there temperment and because she is so small I have to pay attention to the size of the dogs she plays with, she herself thinks she is a great dane, but after all the replies I've gotten I think we will be returning to the park!
Thank you so much!!!!!
xo

[agilitydobemom]

As long as your dog is up to date on all her vaccinations she should be fine as for the ticks try Advantix for dogs this works great we use it on all 16 of our hunting dogs and have never had on tick and they hunt often

[laylaloo]

I'm so torn, advantix, frontline, revolution......
I dont know if I should stick with the revolution and with adding the preventic collar she will be ok, or should I change alltogether, I just dont know. It stinx cause I bought alot of the revolution and we ALL know none of this stuff is cheap! I hate to throw it out, but I'm going to do what is best for my pup ofcourse.
Kell
xo

[Renee750il]

I don't know where you live, but in most places you only need to really be concerned about ticks through the spring and summer, so you can go ahead and use the Revolution for now and try something else next spring if you want. Most vets will sell you a one month vial of whichever flea and tick stuff so you can see what works best on your dog.