Not interested in the dog park anymore

JacksonsMom

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#1
Normal, right??

Jackson is going to be 4 this week, and he simply has no interest in the dog park anymore. I mean, he goes off and walks around and sniffs other dogs, etc, but he doesn't play anymore.

It kind of makes me sad because it used to be like his all-time FAVORITE thing to do. He loooveeddd the dog park. He would always find at least one dog to run around and play with. Now he's just not even really interested. I mean, occasionally, he'll find the right dog and get in a big running/chase game... but yeah, just... not so into it anymore. I think he's bored with it. We really don't go that much anymore at all though.

It's giving me the itch even more so to get a puppy though, because he loves puppies, and I miss seeing him play. A few weekends ago, my neighbor brought his Lab puppy over and I loved seeing Jackson all back in play-mode with the dog.

Now he come home from the dog park and then whines at me and drives me crazy because he wants to do something since he got NO exercise at the dog park... lol. The only time we ever go now is if we're meeting my uncle up there, or a friend, etc.
 

CaliTerp07

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#2
Lucy's 8, and I can see her becoming very calculating at the park. She used to chase anyone and everyone who walked through the gates. Now she mentally determines whether it's worth the effort, and instead of running laps around the perimeter for an hour, she'll cut the corners and do 30 second bee-lines to cut off a dog. She's becoming very efficient!

It is odd to see such a drastic change in energy levels though. When I brought her home at 3, she literally needed 1-2 hours of solid running a day to be a liveable apartment dog. Now, she's pretty content with just some short sprints (though she CAN still go...she doesn't need or choose to on a regular basis).
 
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#3
That's why I love my dog park. The point is not to play with dogs, the point is to run around on the trails, go hiking and swimming. I think I would be way bored of a small dog park before my dog was.

Sorry Jackson isn't feeling it anymore! Maybe go exploring and find some places you can take him off leash safely?

Or get a puppy, that works too.
 

Finkie_Mom

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#4
Yeah, Kimma used to LOVE dog parks, but now not so much. I just think she's getting older (almost 3) and she doesn't have time for random dogs jumping on her trying to play (she's more in to chasing than wrestling nowadays). She is also getting more content with less exercise in a typical day and looks to me for training and play instead of other dogs like she used to. Also, I basically have a small dog park living at my house, so they play pretty regularly during the day, and I have friends with dogs that they play with.
 

smkie

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#5
Four seems awfully early for such a drastic change. I would investigate all health issues just in case. Victor has settled, but even at 8 almost 9 the dog park still brings out the race and play, not to the extreme as before but it deffinatly brings out the desire. Not saying that anything is wrong, just, when my Bronki had a real change at 7 I wish I would have done a health check at that time. It can't hurt to play it on the safe side.
 

JacksonsMom

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#6
Four seems awfully early for such a drastic change. I would investigate all health issues just in case. Victor has settled, but even at 8 almost 9 the dog park still brings out the race and play, not to the extreme as before but it deffinatly brings out the desire. Not saying that anything is wrong, just, when my Bronki had a real change at 7 I wish I would have done a health check at that time. It can't hurt to play it on the safe side.
He's certainly not "old" or old acting. I wouldn't say it was drastic per say, his interest has been lessening more and more over the past year. He's extremely active and can go ALL day long. He just doesn't care to play with other dogs so much anymore *sad face* Like I said, we get home and then he's driving me crazy because he didn't get any exercise LOL. So we'll play outside with some ball or frisbee and go on a long walk. He also RUNS at full speed at my dads house when we visit a few times a week and chases us on the four wheelers (he runs next to me, inside the fence, at 20mph from how I clocked him!) and swims all summer long. So he's fine/healthy in all other regards, just doesn't want to play with other dogs at the dog park how he used to...

But then again, lately it's been all bigger dogs, and I haven't seen a lot of small dogs. So hopefully we have a day this fall where there's a lot of small dogs. I think sometimes he's intimidating by the bigger guys - he is very aware of his size so tends to stay away from rough and tumbling bigger dogs.

But irregardless, he has his yearly coming up, where we'll do bloodwork and checkup and stuff anyways. :)
 

yoko

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#7
Is it possible to find someone with a dog and set up regular playdates? Maybe just have a regular friend would keep him excited.
 

JacksonsMom

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#8
Yeah, Kimma used to LOVE dog parks, but now not so much. I just think she's getting older (almost 3) and she doesn't have time for random dogs jumping on her trying to play (she's more in to chasing than wrestling nowadays). She is also getting more content with less exercise in a typical day and looks to me for training and play instead of other dogs like she used to. Also, I basically have a small dog park living at my house, so they play pretty regularly during the day, and I have friends with dogs that they play with.
Yes! This is definitely Jackson... he's becoming more into looking to ME for training/play than ever before.

Luckily, he does spend a ton of time with my dads dogs, as well as some close friends dogs. But he doesn't really play with my dads dogs too much.

Ugh, the itch for a second dog has never been greater... lol.
 

JacksonsMom

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#9
Is it possible to find someone with a dog and set up regular playdates? Maybe just have a regular friend would keep him excited.
Yeah, we do this with a dog I used to dogsit, Toby. She then added a second dog and now Jackson hasn't played one-on-one with Toby the same since she added the new girl... because now Toby and Tessa (new dog) play and kind of leave him out, lol. Poor dude! He has the same thing happen at my dads house. Their 2 have their own little "pack" and then Jackson's like the odd one out... haha.

But then I think what happened: he was SO used to going to the dog park to meet someone, that if I took him by himself... he would spend 90% of his time staring at the gate waiting for his friend to come in! I can't win! lol.
 

JacksonsMom

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#10
That's why I love my dog park. The point is not to play with dogs, the point is to run around on the trails, go hiking and swimming. I think I would be way bored of a small dog park before my dog was.

Sorry Jackson isn't feeling it anymore! Maybe go exploring and find some places you can take him off leash safely?

Or get a puppy, that works too.
Yeah, I guess it is boring... same old same old. I would LOVE your dog park soooo much.

We do need new places! Oh and new puppy lol.
 

Laurelin

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#11
My dogs don't do dog parks at all. They actually just plain aren't interested in dogs they don't know. I think this is totally normal for mature dogs. Then again I've never had a 'dog park dog'.
 

Shakou

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#12
We stopped going to dog parks for different reasons, but that's how both of my dogs are. Once in a while they'd meet the "right dog" and would run around and play with them, but for the most part they kept to themselves. It was definitely more an exercise thing than a social thing for us.
 

Southpaw

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#13
Juno lost all interest in the dog park when she was around 2 years old. Before that, yeah, playing with dogs was the only activity she cared about. I was shocked to see her stop caring. We still go on random occasions so she can get some safe off leash running in, and every once in a while she surprises me and finds a dog she wants to play with.

But I think it's just normal when dogs mature.
 

chaospony

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#14
This is Robyn too.
Now that she is a big girl of two, playing with dogs besides her sister or her best buddy is just not interesting.
She will run and chase if there is only one or two dogs there after dark, but during the day she just sits and looks bord while Trin runs around like a freak.

Of course if the dog park is deserted she and Trin will run and run and run..... For about 10 minutes , then that's enough of that too!
Once both the snow and her new brother come I think she will be a little more interested again....maybe.

Part of me misses being able to be lazy on occasion and just turn her loose for crazy happy running time but there are a lot of jerky dogs at our dog park so we're not missing much!
 

milos_mommy

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#15
That's totally normal at 3 or 4 years of age...

but I think it means it's time for Jackson to get a little brother or sister ;)
 

Doberluv

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#16
I have found with my dogs that they get really excited and enthusiastic about novel places. I can just see them perk up when it's not the same place over and over again. Maybe that would help perk him up more. But yeah....he may have just matured into a dog that isn't thrilled with a lot of random dogs...not unusual. He might play more with another dog that he hangs out with frequently. I don't see my Chi's playing with all kinds of dogs, (if given a chance) but they sure do play with each other.
 

Shai

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#17
Now I'm kinda tempted to take the pups to the dog park this afternoon just to see if their attitudes have changed...we haven't been to one since 2010 when the little one near us was taken over by dogs without manners (to put it nicely) and we moved next to a giant fenced in balldiamond we could run the dogs in more easily.

Well, Mira & I were at Linds' dog park back in August but that was Mira and there was a chuckit and a pond so I'm not certain she knew other dogs were even there once we cleared the parking lot. Trav too. The only way we knew they each recognized the other's presence is because they swerved to avoid running one another over and if one went for a retrieve the other would respect it and look for their own toss.

Mira's not really a dog park dog, simply because there's always someone somewhere with a ball and even if she can't have it she will ignore everything else and watch. Just in case.

Kin used to be a super dog park dog though. So now I wonder...
 

Toller_08

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#18
My dogs don't play with other dogs either (except for with eachother). Ripley will occassionally, but the girls pretty well quit when both turned around 3 years old. They'll still play with another dog sometimes, but it has to be just the right dog and it's pretty rare. So, I'd say based on my own experience with my dogs that it's pretty normal for some dogs to lose interest in playing with other dogs as they get older.

The dog parks I go to are ones in which I can walk/run my dogs off leash and play with them by myself. We don't go to play with other dogs and when we happen to run into another dog, mine usually just do a quick sniff and carry on their way. They're pretty snooty. I like them that way, though.
 

Paige

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#19
Bandit is goign through a mild life crisis where he needs to act like a teenager I swaer. He is back to being so spunky and wanting to play with everyone. The only reason I use dog parks is I like to respect leash laws, my dog is a good canditate for the dog park... so yeah. A few years there he would sniff a few butts, maybe play if the dog was special in his eyes but mostly I had to play with him/walk him around so he'd get his exercise.
 
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#20
That's why I love my dog park. The point is not to play with dogs, the point is to run around on the trails, go hiking and swimming. I think I would be way bored of a small dog park before my dog was.
Same here. I think it's pretty normal for dogs. Heck, even when he was younger Pip never really cared to play with other dogs, but he looooves our dog park because it's just a place for an off leash hike and swim. And even Squash, who generally likes other dogs, would rather run around exploring than really play much with other dogs - he'll swirl around with them for a minute or two but then he's off investigating the next interesting thing.
 

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