If you live in the city do you take your dog to a dog park?

1. 67

   GDiBiaseposted 12 years ago

   If you live in the city do you take your dog to a dog park?

   replyreport
2. 91

   bankscottageposted 12 years ago

   I live in a small town so I don't.  My son lives in Pittsburgh and he often takes his dog to a dog park.  His smaller dog likes to run with the big dogs!

   replyreport
3. 96

   alexadryposted 12 years ago

   I don't. I just cannot tolerate the fact that several people are not watching their dogs and a bunch of unruly dogs are put together with the risk of creating a fight. I own Rottweilers and even though they are well-behaved, they have not much tolerance for rude behaviors and hyper dogs full of energy bouncing every where! of course, there are diligent owners and polite dogs in the mix, but why take the chances? I do however find dog parks great training opportunities because of the levels of distractions there, so I may go there to train dogs from a distance.

   replyreport
4. 0

   DoItForHerposted 12 years ago

   I quit going. Have had several negative encounters; a couple drew blood and the last one only the fur flew, but that was enough for me.
   
   I had approached the owners and said that I thought their dog(s) were being aggressive not only with my dog, but with others. They seemed put off by my comments. Only when their dog attacked another dog or my dog did they sheepishly decide to remove their dog(s) from the park.
   
   Maybe my approach was poor, but whatever the reason, I was not able to provide a safe environment for my dog, so I left.
   
   One time a couple carried their Spaniel out of the park because it couldn't walk after a thorough beating. It was conscious, but was as limp as a noodle and matted with blood. As far as I know, it didn't die and is fine now, but there was no recourse. If an aggressive dog attacks another dog like that, you are on your own. The attacking dog probably got banned. I was also told second-hand that the owner of the attacking dog didn't pay the vet bills.
   
   Maybe the owner didn't pursue it with a lawyer, but who wants to spend many hundreds of dollars to maybe win a settlement that you probably will never see? Not to mention the further victimization of going to court on top of the incident at the park?
   
   Even a Rottweiler can get an eye torn out as easily as a smaller dog. I've seen a Karelian Bear Dog, an experienced, trained bear confrontation dog, get its leg broken in a dog park. If a dog like that can get hurt, most any dog can.
   
   Not my idea of fun.

   replyreport
5. 85

   Linda Blissposted 12 years ago

   I live in London and I'm happy to say that dogs are welcome in all parks here, and I haven't seen any special parks for dogs only. One of the benefits with this is that dogs get socialised with kids, joggers and other distractions as you go along just taking them out for their daily walkies. The downside is that not all parks are fenced up so you need to have good recall. Also, not all people like dogs so you need to teach your dog to keep a distance and respect others.
   
   In general most dogs are really well behaved and I haven't seen any real incidents apart from the occasional growl and snap. I've never been to a dog park but can imagine things can get pretty intense as per the other comments - perhaps our dogs stay slightly calmer because they can choose their playmates rather than being pushed together?

   replyreport