Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My suggestion would be to use the small dog area ONLY for your little guy. the bigger dogs often times play rough, and many large breeds have a strong prey drive. you little guy could be hurt on accident by a large hyper dog, or a group of large dogs playing rough/running around. keep in mind that you don't know what the other dogs in the park play like- and you can't always trust what the owner tells you. your small pup will be much safer playing with smaller dogs.
i used to love going to our dog park, but i no longer go. people just let their dogs go too wild. many large, unaltered males getting into fights. one of the last times i went, i had an akita and a APBT get into a fight nearly in my lap because they were both trying to get to my dog's water dish. their owners were clear on the other side of the park.
ours is a free, city run park. maybe your park will have better owners attending, because there is a fee and owners have to provide some proof of vetting. maybe that will weed out some of the idiot types that attend the local park here. i just don't want to take the risk with mine anymore. i had a couple of heart-in-my-throat moments worrying about my dog's saftey in our park - and she's 65-70lbs.
I also do not take my dogs to dog parks. Besides the problems mentioned by subject2change, snofarmer, and phonelady, I do not wish to stress out my dogs by placing them in a confined area with a lot of strange dogs.
Thankfully, where I live, dog parks are not necessary. I have miles and miles of wilderness where my dogs can play. My biggest concern, as far as my dogs are concerned, are wolves. Moose and bear are also present, but they are a bigger concern for me than my dogs. My dogs can out run either a moose or bear, but they stand absolutely no chance against a pack of wolves.
I have used several dogs parks for my resident and foster dogs and have had generally positive experiences. None have charged a fee, and some had separate areas for large/small dogs.
The first time I use a new dog park, I try to go when I know it is likely to be empty, or at least not crowded (e.g., very early in the morning). That way my dog gets to know the space without the distraction of other dogs.
The first several times we go to a new dog park, we only stay a short while - no more than 30 minutes. That way the experience isn't too much.
You get to know your dog's preferences - if s/he will or will not do well in a dog park, and what kind of dogs (and owners!) your dog will or won't do well with. You just have to be observant and be OK with leaving before you planned if your dog signals that it's time to go.
I like dog parks - I can't let my beagle off-leash unless he's in a fenced area. And I don't have a yard of my own. Mostly he just enjoys being off-leash and rolling, rolling, rolling in the grass!
When I was there on Monday evening, 2 dogs and owners of the same dogs were leaving when I was coming. There was only the one Lab, as I mentioned so no one was on the small dog side. His buddy is a Lab/Husky mix in our neighborhood so I thought they would be okay together. They smelled each other, but that Lab was running like no tomorrow. So when I saw too much action ya might say, I covered my little guy and then decided to go on the small dog side and check it out even tho no one was over there. I also failed to mention how from there we also tried another nearby dog park. We have 4 here in Louisville. There we went on the small dog side. There were 2 dogs already there, a Puggle and a mix of something looking like a Beagle and taller than the Puggle. They ganged up on my little Yorkshire Terrier whose 8.5lbs and sniffed him out. That was okay until the Beagle mix barked at him right in his face like he/she was "king of the dog park". The lady took him out. So that is why I posted here. I am wondering if I made a mistake~? We have a fenced yard, and also walk the neighborhood. It use to be everyone would be walking the same time and be so friendly....and well not so anymore. So now and then we venture over to my neighbor friend who has the Lab/Husky mix and 2 other dogs and a cat just so he can socialize with someone other than myself. Also I did notice when I was at dog park #1, that there was a mess no one cleaned up
We go to our local dog park all the time, and it is free to use. There are 2 lakes in the area that the dogs can play in. The only problem I've had is with owners bringing aggressive dogs on leashes, and they walk right through the group of loose dogs and get mad when their dog gets in a fight. Then the aggressive dog's owner inevitably yells at someone else to control their dog. If several dogs are playing nice, and your dog comes along and fighting breaks out, IT'S YOU!!!!!
I think dog parks can be a great thing but they can also be completely awful...I've had both good and bad experiences. Lately more bad than good because our park is being overrun by poorly trained dogs and parents bringing their screaming little children into the big dog area so lately we have only been going in the off hours. The main thing I have noticed is as a newcomer just keep a very close eye on your dog and read their body language...as someone else had mentioned, just be ready to leave when you're dog is ready not when you are. I've seen far too many new park goers with the attitude that their dog is perfect and well behaved and everyone else's animals are at fault when in reality not every dog is a dog park dog. Also, even if your dog is not the one who is "misbehaving" sometimes it is best to just remove yourself and your dog from the situation. There have been numerous times where another dog was making Sydney uncomfortable or getting a bit too aggressive/annoying and I could see Sydney starting to get annoyed so I would grab him and leave because not everyone in the park are responsible owners so even though my dog wasn't necessarily the one at fault, its better to just remove them from the situation before anything escalates. My best advice is to try a few different parks at different times and see how it goes from there. Watch your dog closely but also give them the freedom to enjoy themselves...there are far too many "overprotective mommys and daddys" in some of the parks in our area. And also as someone else mentioned, be careful if you're bringing your little guy into the big dog area...even though you're experience in the little dog area didn't go well, bullying in the big dog area could lead to a lot worse for your little guy and many larger dogs may have a high prey drive that could be set off by your little guy so better safe than sorry...best of luck though!!
Thanks for all of your replies I do keep an eye out on my little guy since he's shy somewhat, but he can pick up for himself and snip too if a dog gets in his face and he doesn't like that dog. It's been raining and/or wet so when it clears up we will try again. I'll give it a try and see. I have 4 of them to choose from. I like walking the park loops or scenic trails and mostly when we go to different parks, we meet dogs on the way. If it doesn't work out that day, I'll get my exercise in at the park.
The dog parks near me are free; they are supposedly limited to dogs with a license from my city, but nobody ever checks that I've seen. I took my dog a few times, but she doesn't enjoy it. She thinks she's a cat, though, and doesn't quite get why all the dogs are chasing each other around. Very uncivilized of them.
Ours is divided into a big dog and a little dog side, and the little dog side always seems more mellow. The little dogs (and their owners) are better behaved. I've seen a few fights break out on the big dog side, but never any with the little dogs. Strange, because judging by what I meet on walks, I'd have guessed the opposite!
In order to socialize I started taking my lhasa to watch outside the fence at the dog park before he could go in---completed the puppy shots.
I still don't know if this was good or bad. It would have been great to have had a small dog park, jmo. When he could finally go inside the park--he would just stare at all the running, chasing and growling/barking of the larger dogs.
At 14 lbs/4yrs --he will tell other dogs to 'leave me alone'.
The choice would have been to let him grow up in isolation--I didn't know people with puppies at the time and the dogs in my neighborhood are inside unless being walked by owners.
J loves to visit dog parks--also prefers to leave if too many larger dogs are getting loud and boisterous.
what sort of deep psychological damage I have done to him --I can't say. He enjoys sniffing at the dog park --alone and he enjoys the owners of the dogs. lol--He will occasionally play with a dog---will not chase a ball at the dog park.
He seems pretty happy --fwiw. He loves to walk in the woods---or walk at any opportunity.
My dog is similar to yours, takeahike I went last night when there were more than a few small dogs on the small dog side. All my Yorkie would do would sniff some of the dogs that came up to him, but he clung to my side all the time. He's 3.5 years old too. I don't know if it was a good or bad thing to do. He's already doing agility and is good enough to compete. Just no one anymore is walking their dogs as often and/or wants to social their dog when they are walking either.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I do keep an eye out on my little guy since he's shy somewhat, but he can pick up for himself and snip too if a dog gets in his face and he doesn't like that dog. It's been raining and/or wet so when it clears up we will try again. I'll give it a try and see. I have 4 of them to choose from. I like walking the park loops or scenic trails and mostly when we go to different parks, we meet dogs on the way. If it doesn't work out that day, I'll get my exercise in at the park.
