September 14th, 2018

Well here goes: those of you in my classes know how I feel about dog parks….on the whole I do not suggest people use them…now before you start spewing your hate mail to me I am going to give my reasons….I do NOT think that they are a good way to socialize your dog…you want your dog to be under control around other dogs…think about it …turning your dog loose to run like a maniac with other dogs does not teach them self control when encountering other dogs; all they learn is to be out of control around other dogs…. do dogs appreciate another dogs company YES! the other dog in your household or an actual dog that they are familiar with that they can have a play date with is how that works.  Do dogs play rough and tumble when with each other yes..again it does not usually involve 20 other swirling, twirling dogs.  And yes the Bully’s…there are some in every dog park…do you want your dog to become a bully? or to become so submissive that is is always picked on?  If your dog has never had any formal training and you take it to the park so that it can really ignore your commands show me the productivity in that!  Is my dog trainer’s diary full of crappy dog park stories? Do they out- number the good dog park stories? Yes and Yes…can you have a good experience at a dog park …I guess so…who should use a dog park…those of you who live in an apartment and your dog needs to get out and run some loop-de-loops preferably not with 20 other dogs chasing him…is there an alternative to dog parks?  you bet..Dog Day Cares that have a schedule and structured play times that match well suited dogs with each other You can always teach your dogs some tricks…teach him to find your cell phone, your keys….your kids….better yet let him have some “Zen” time in your yard just connecting with the earth and enjoying the day.
I’m not sure of the allure of dog parks…it makes no sense to me…I of course have multiple dogs so they have plenty of time to play with each other…do they have time to be by themselves..always…do I think they have to play well with strange dogs NO and NO and NO…are my dogs perfectly fine around strange dogs YES and YES; have they gotten that way because they went to a dog park No…and No…have they gotten that way because I let them sniff  every dog in the face that they meet? NO and NO…but that will be the next post…Meeting and Greeting….Hooey I say…
Please keep your hate mail to a minimum…you won’t change my mind…and it will just get deleted!!!