Those who take their dogs to dog parks..
- Thread starter MisssAshby
- Start date
imo the risk is outweighed by the benefit. An hour ago victor was climbing the walls..the weather was perfect, he knew it, and he knew i knew it. A good hard run like that cannot be obtained one an acre. Now he is sacked out on the bed, Pepper had a rock on lesson for bootcamp goes on the road, and Mary is sappy happy. THat would not have happened if i hadn't taken them there. It would take a horse and rider to give Victor the exercise he "thinks" he needs. Pepper is half as bad. There is a responsibility to having a dog like Victor, and dog parks are about the only outlet a lot of people have. I watch the basinji across the street that is on a tie out. HE is well cared for in every other respect but one. They never walk him, he doesnt' even have a fence so he runs in little circles like any other cage crazy animal. WE need dog parks for hard driving dogs. Maybe it isn't for a lot of breeds, maybe they don't need it worse then food and air to breathe like Victor does. I know only that i am grateful that such places exist and get him to one park or another every chance we get. He's never gotten sick, or been in a fight, there were two mastiffs that tried to hunt him down, but we just left to a different part of the park. OUrs is 55 acres and that is alot of room for everyone.
You can't protect them from everything...we can't protect ourselves from everything. We ride/drive cars which are one of the leading causes of death....but are we ever not going to ride/drive a car, because of the risk? You have to live, take risks, or else live in a bubble for the rest of your lives. Injuries can happen at home too. I'm not saying go and take a risk with your dog, be cautious of course, don't take an unvaccinated dog to the park, ect....but your dogs do gotta live alittle. I mean you do take your dogs on walks don't you? How many unvaccinated dogs have walk on the path you walk your dogs on?
I go to the dog park several times a week. All my dogs are vaccinated, and the dog park here (There are several actually) are very clean. Picking up your dogs waste is enforced, and just like the person above, someone cleans it up daily anyway.
My dogs have never gotten ill going there.
Also, you say a dog should be atleast 6 months? My 14 week old pug mix has been going to the dog park for a couple weeks now (he is fully vaccinated) and has not gotten sick..or anything. I take him because its very crucial to socialize him at a younger age with strange dogs, and big dogs.
Also, I worry more about taking my dogs to pet stores than the dog park. I used to work at PetSmart and people brought in sick dogs and puppies ALL the time! The people I meet at the dog park are very responsible people.
My dogs have never gotten ill going there.
Also, you say a dog should be atleast 6 months? My 14 week old pug mix has been going to the dog park for a couple weeks now (he is fully vaccinated) and has not gotten sick..or anything. I take him because its very crucial to socialize him at a younger age with strange dogs, and big dogs.
Also, I worry more about taking my dogs to pet stores than the dog park. I used to work at PetSmart and people brought in sick dogs and puppies ALL the time! The people I meet at the dog park are very responsible people.
Sorry, lol, maybe I was unclear. I meant due to irresponsible dog owners not watching their dogs or bringing DA dogs to the park. And in my case I really don't think most Rottweilers are dog park material. 
But you can try to do meet ups with regulars at certain times of the day, if you have the time, so you know that they'll control their dogs and you won't have to deal with irresponsible ones. They usually come in the afternoon, maybe you can try in the early morning and maybe in a smaller like dog park setting, rather than those big dog parks, where there's usually about 50 plus dogs, ect.
IF a dog is not well socialized, and not under control of his handler, he has no business being in an off leash dog park. THe responsiblity rest on the owner not the dog. I have seen many rotties have a grand old time. We had one at the kennels i use to care for named BABY. And BABY was a BIG BABY, for she required the largest dog house we had. A big goof is exactly right in her discription.
I've seen members of just about every "bad" breed have a fantastic time at the dog park . . . and I've seen some of those "harmless" breeds be serious trouble. It comes down to socialization .. . .
We have a number of pitties, and pittie mixes, who are regulars, and they are absolutely fine with everyone. We have chows that absolutely LIVE for the park. No rotties, though . . . but there's certainly no rule against them.
As for troublemakers, the ones I can think of off hand include a labradoodle, a beagle, several unidentifiable small mix breeds, 2 labs and a spaniel-lab mix.
Breed doesn't seem to have much to do with it.