List reasons why you hate dog parks :)

[oriondw]

I basically hate 99% of dog parks. Here's a main reasons that I could think of right now and wrote article about it here:

Why dog parks are bad

Please throw in your opinion and I will gladly add your reasons to my list.

I think people should literally never bring a young puppy to a dog park and most of the times its rather dangerous to bring a full grown dog too.

 

[lakotasong]

You summed up most of the reasons why I don't like them. Also, most of them are poorly run and under-regulated. I think there should be an animal control officer present the entire time the park is open during the day.

 

[Brattina88]

The owner's at dog parks, who are actually watching the dogs, often do not know dog behavior very well. The can somehow see an aggressive warning as "oh, he likes you. he wants to play. how cute, they're friends"

 

[StealthDog]

Sorry, Winnie and I love our dog parks. Minnesota has an awesome parks system, and we've been to most of the parks in the Twin Cities area. We are probably what you would consider "weekend users", although even if I took Winnie every day she'd still be a crazy hyper-butt as soon as we arrived.

Winnie is up-to-date on her shots... I don't depend on other dog owners to protect her from diseases.

For me, with a small, unfenced yard in the city, dog parks are one of the few safe (and the only legal) place to let my dog off-leash. For Win, the exercise and socialization benefits outweigh the risks.

 

[Meggie]

I'm sorry you've seemed to have bad experiences in dog parks. I can only really speak from my own experiences in our city's well-run off-leash parks.

Right now the local Dog Association is attempting to establish a few more off-leash areas in our city. The one I go to is extremely well-taken care of and kept pretty clean. The average dog owner does not seem to be shy about bringing up the rules to people who are.... bending them. It's not often you see a young child running rampant or small puppies. But that's just my experience.

But I read your article and can see your points, but I've just got to ask..... What kind of stupid do you have to be to sit in a rare and small patch of grass in a dog park? LOL, omgosh, they've GOT to know that some dog walked into the park and said to himself, "Manna from Heaven! Grass! Must pee and poop on it!" recently. Ewww!

 

[gamecockgirl]

I understand why some people would hate dog parks, but I absolutely love the one where I take Saluda just about every day.

Our dog park has very strict membership rules that are always enforced. Dogs must be spayed/neutered, and up to date on all vaccinations. This information is checked once a year, regardless of how many years you have been a member. There is a lock on the gate with a combination that changes monthly that only allows approved members in the dog park.

Regarding problems with aggressive dogs, the park has some effective rules. For dogs that cause more minor problems, there's a "3 strikes and you're out" policy. For very, very serious problems, this changes to a "1 strike and you're out" policy. While there really aren't that many problems with aggressive dogs, the park officers are very strict about enforcing these rules when a situation occurs.

What I like most about this dog park is that it's basically the same people and dogs who come each day, so I know which dogs Saluda gets along with and of which ones I need to be more cautious. People do sit around and "chit chat", but the chairs and benches are set up in a way that you have no choice but to watch your dog.

Here's Saluda playing with some of her best friends at the dog park. (yep, even the pit bull. oh no! A pit bull at the dog park! :yikes: )

 

[iamawesum69420]

Lola is not even close enough to be ready to go to the dog park, but I've been thinking about taking her. My friend goes with her dog and she says that her little Alice loves it and that she's had good experiences there. What I will probably do is take Lola with me and go but just stand outside the fence. That will give me a chance to scope out the place and Lola a chance to sort of be around other dogs, at least get her used to the sounds and sights.

 

[Bobsk8]

I agree with all the reasons that you listed and I have a brand new dog park that is only a 5 minute walk from my home. I will use it during the week, if I know the dog(s) that are in there and I am always watching the entrance to see what is on it's way in.

There are several dogs, that when I see them approaching the park, I bail out and leave. So far in just a few months, in this park and one other dog park about 10 miles away, I have seen dogs bitten, a lady dog owner bitten, ( and the owner of the dog that attacked her, leashed up his dog and left immediately, all the while saying.." she is usually so friendly), several dog fights, dog's without even a rabies tags, dogs that were flea infested and so on.

One lady that I questioned about how friendly her Terrier dog was before I let Smokey in the gated area, told me that her dog was very friendly. After about 5 minutes of playing, the dog started snarling and snapping at Smokey and tried to bite Smokey several times. I had to step in and stop it, she just stood there like a bag of rocks and did nothing. Now I am looking at Smokey to make sure she wasn't injured and the women says " Look at Smokey's neck, she usually goes for the neck when she gets mad"....

Saturday I was at the park, and I see someone come in with a Pit Bull, so I went into a section of the park that is for the smaller dogs, that was empty. The owner of the PB starts heading for the exit, looking like he intends to come over to the section where I am at, and join us. He is telling me as he walks, that his dog loves other dogs, because he must have sensed my apprehension. Well I clipped Smokey's leash on, and we head for the exit to continue our walk around the park. On the next loop around the park, I see this same guy with his dog now on it's leash, arguing with another dog owner in the park, and the PB is growling and pulling towards the other dog. Apparently between the time that I left a new dog came in that the PB didn't like and they started fighting... That is another problem I often see, a new dog owner comes in and instead of walking their dog around a bit to see how the dog interacts with the other dogs that are there, they just unclip the leash as soon as tehy walk though the gate, and away the dog goes charging the other dogs.

The more I go to the park, the more I realize, that the only safe way to use the park is to have a few dogs and owners that you become friendly with, and only go in when they are there. Also watch dogs as they approach the park and if you see one pulling and yanking the owner and it doesn't look like it had much training, it might be a good time to hit the exit....

There are 2 parks within 10 miles of my house that are in wooded areas, and I won't go there at all, because all the dogs are unleashed. You can be on a path and a dog will run up to you and the owner is nowhere in site :yikes:
Thanks, but, no thanks.

While the park has a sign that says " No aggressive dogs", if an aggresive dog comes in and you call the Animal Control Number on the sign, you either get and answering machine, or someone telling you that they will be out the next day....

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

My reason, and the reason why I would NEVER go to a dog park:

Loose dogs.

I AVOID areas where there are unrestrained dogs. NO way would I EVER go to a place where I knew there would be numerous unrestrained dogs.

Some people may really enjoy them, and if you do, more power to you.

Not for me tho.

 

[RD]

Not only do you have aggressive dogs at dog parks, you have owners who can't tell aggression from their own posterior and claim that their dog is just being friendly when he starts snarling and biting at your dog.

 

[Aussie Red]

Our parks have signs telling you what is allowed and obviously no one can read.
Rather then place one of my loved ones in danger I will drive out of town into remote areas to exercise and play with them.
The dog park next to my grand daughters school has constant dog fights, bites etc. Last I heard is that it is going to be closed. I do like the concept of a place like these however you can not get people to agree and there are always going to be those who don't follow the rules. Have you been on the road latly ? that would sum it up lol.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

For Win, the exercise and socialization benefits outweigh the risks.

I felt this way also... until Buddy was attacked. And all I can say is Thank God it was at my feet and Thank God for his submissiveness at that time! To he honest with you- there are other ways to socialize your dog... other SAFER ways, in which you have full control over YOUR dog. You can NOT depend on other people to be as responsible of an owner as you are- because they aren't. Plain and simple.

Dog parks are dangerous because you never know what kind of dogs come there. You may have the friendliest dog in the world, but that doesn’t matter if someone’s untrained 100 pound Fido decides that your dog looked wrong on him. While you are trying to save your dog, a lot of owner will just stand around yelling that Fido is just playing around. This is especially dangerous for young puppies.

I wholeheartedly agree. I feel so bad that we stopped going to the dog park because the boy LOVED it. We were going nearly every day and we were running into the same people every day and it was great. Then, other, really inexperienced dumb **** people started to bring their dogs- dogs all of a sudden were not looked after, dogs were horribly untrained and dogs that were "playing" were attacking dogs. WTF.

And yes, it angers me... I had to take something away from Buddy and Banzai that they loved because other people can not get their head out of their butt long enough to train Fido to sit and to come when called.

 

[darkchild16]

I used to take Walker, Scirocco, or fosters, Patches and Snow(my moms ex's dog) to the one in the same park as my hockey rink it was far back in the park and barely anyone knew about it because it was new and it was GREAT. I could let them all run around with other dogs. THere were other teens that would bring their dogs along with some of the people i played hockey with. It was my social time (while watching the dogs ) and my dogs social time. All of our dogs were well trained and loved eachother. All the dogs knew Scirocco didnt play and to just leave him alone and let him run(could finally see him run full out and OMG). Then kids told their parents about it since it was behind the elementary school and they would bring their dogs and if one wasnt well trained we would all leash up our dogs until they got control or left. And sometimes if there was enough of them we ran a little random training class. THey still do it but since i live here i cant but it will be the only park i go to i dotn trust other dogs around walker to much..

 

[gamecockgirl]

Just wondering, do the parks that you guys go to require a paid membership, or are they open to anyone?

 

[Aussie Red]

here they are open public parks.

 

[darkchild16]

open if it was members only and we had a park near us i would defianatly use it

 

[Gempress]

I used to take Odin to the dog park. The one we used was HUGE, and absolutely gorgeous though. The people were very good about picking up dog poo and such, so it was quite clean.

But I stopped going after one bad incident. Odin was attacked by a psychotic little terrier mix, one that was truly intent on ripping him to shreds. Odin was sniffing around and minding his own business when the terrier charged at him from across the field and started tearing into him. Poor Odin, although he was probably 9-10 times the size of that terrier, was still only a puppy and didn't know how to react. He was screaming and trying to get away.

I literally had to kick that terrier and beat it off with the leash to stop the attack. And the whole time, the owner did nothing.

Ever since then, I had avoided dog parks. If I want my dogs to socialize with other dogs, I think that sniffing/meeting each other while on a walk or while at Petco is perfectly fine.

 

[Road dog]

Seems that "dog parks suck" has been a pretty hot topic around here lately.

Sorry y'all had a bad time at your local dog parks. I however LOVE mine. I know the folks there, I know the dogs there, everybody is knowlegable about canine behavior and we all have a great time. We take our girls there as often as possible.

 

[Kayla]

The dog park I take Duke to is a privately run establishment which works on a membership basis where you have to pay a monthly/yearly fee or if you just want to try it out it's $10 but it soon becomes cheaper to just buy the membership. All dogs must have proof of current vaccines, an up to date rabies tag and if over 7 months neutered and spayed. They also work on a 3 strikes your out basis though if anything serious comes up your out for good. They also have two staff members patrolling the park at all times to break up any dog fights.

I only go on sundays as they have a puppy only socilization sessions where puppys under supervision can play and besides one bad incident where a sharpei attacked a smaller puppy, Duke and I have enjoyed it very much. It's also given him a chance to try out their agility eqiupment ( they have everything out besides an a frame) and meet small and large puppys, all which he likes but dosen't have much enthusaism to play with.

When he's older I may bring him once he's completed a few more levels of obidence and once I can assess how he reacts to other dogs as he continues to grow. The one thing I do like is that as long as he remains dog friendly he should be around 100 plus pounds full grown so I won't have to worry as much about other dogs attacking him as I think he would be able to hold his own until I could break anything up though I only plan on bringing him to the privately run park where I feel it's a much safer enviroment.

Just an intresting note, today while at the puppy club I noticed a dog who looked remarkably similar to Duke, it turned out to be his littermate!!! Duke didn't seem to recoginize him but his brother was going crazy licking him and jumping all over him

Cheers
Kayla

 

[~Tucker&Me~]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seems that "dog parks suck" has been a pretty hot topic around here lately.

Sorry y'all had a bad time at your local dog parks. I however LOVE mine. I know the folks there, I know the dogs there, everybody is knowlegable about canine behavior and we all have a great time. We take our girls there as often as possible.

Ditto!

~Tucker