Dog Park Etiquette

Hi everyone.
I believe within the course of this month, our town will be opening it's first dog park. We have many beautiful parks close by, but never an official 'dog park'. I was wondering about things like trusting other peoples' dogs, and other park rules. I am looking forward to going and being able to socialize Chloe. She is desperate for some playmates. Although, she tends to bark at other dogs, not with ill intention, just because she really wants to play. Now when it comes down to an actual meeting with a dog, if someone comes close, she is still completely submissive, lays there with her tail between her legs. I do believe her bark will get her in trouble. She will bark at any breed, pitbull, rotweiller, anything. She's so silly, and I'm having trouble stopping her. This being said is part of the reason I want to bring her to a dog park to desensitize her in a way. Not sure of that outcome
I'm looking for any opinions and experience with dog parks in general. Here is a link to the park and what you need to do to get in

http://www.suffolkcountyunleashed.com/membership_at_middle_island

http://www.suffolkcountyunleashed.com/progress

They plan to have separate areas for small and large dogs, and a time out area. Curious to see what you all think. Thanks for looking.

Oh lucky you. It would be wonderful to have a dedicated dog park nearby. We don't have them here, so I haven't any advice. I guess it all boils down to common sense, and if everyone uses it, it should be great. I guess you only need one irresponsible person to mess it up for everyone though.

Keep us posted as to how it all goes.

My town and surrounding towns are planning to ban dogs from all parks except for a designated dog park because of dog fowling. This is going to mean all the people who don't pick up after their dogs will be going to the same park as me. I'm going to have to fight this one as I live a 5 minute walk away from what I would call a dog park that is great, everyone is friendly. Any other park and I'll have to take a bus ride to get there first!

I know there are mixed experiences with Dog Parks but we are fans. I think having a membership park like yours is going to be is a plus as there is better control over who can come, who has shots, spay and neuter, etc. Having a small dog area is good as well. Ours is a small downtown park and it does not have a separate small dog area. Buddy is fine with that. He does occasionally get overwhelmed when there are lots of labs and lab wannabes there, running around like crazy, but then Hadley, our Clumber Spaniel does as well. They both learned quickly to stay out of trouble by escaping to the people benches! Socializing with people at the Park is good practice for therapy dog work!

Best advise I can give you is to remember the Park serves a wide variety of dogs. Sometimes you will come and the mix will not be right for you and other times it will. Try it out, find a good time to go that works for you and Chloe, make "play dates" with others Chloe likes and make "good" friends for her, and if there are "problem" dogs try to work it out without getting stressed. If it does not work for you and Chloe after you have given it a chance, try some other activity, like visits to shopping areas that allow dogs, taking a fun agility class, walks on lead in the park. We enjoy our Dog Park most of the time, but some nights it gets a little crazy and we may cut our visit short and do something else.

Hope you have fun and meet some fun new friends, canine and human!

Thank You for the input. I do bring her to the park, and we spent most of the summer at the beach. Of course she has encountered other dogs, but it's a little different, meaning people aren't always interested in letting them play.

Also I am always surprised how trusting people are of their dogs off leash. There have been quite a few times where I have seen owners dive on top of their large dogs in order to save a little passer by.

Still I am excited for the experience and I am looking forward to some play time. I think it's fun to see your dog make true friends. It will be interesting to see if she will prefer people friends over some canine playmates. Thanks again for the replies.

I take Ginger to local dog parks at least two times a month. She is not an outgoing type so she likes to sit by me and watch other dogs play. I think she just doesn't care to make new friends.

Do you know if the park will be separated into two areas for small and large dogs? I'd certainly hope so. I'd be apprehensive about taking Chloe otherwise. Doesn't mean that all small dogs are calm and submissive, but many large dogs definitely come off too scary to a Cavalier.

Hi Dawn. I live in Selden and just read about dog park yesterday. Looking forward to it, also a bit nervous. Have an 11th month old tri as well as a shihtzu and a mixed breed. Maybe I'll see you there. Nancy

nancy19 said:

Hi Dawn. I live in Selden and just read about dog park yesterday. Looking forward to it, also a bit nervous. Have an 11th month old tri as well as a shihtzu and a mixed breed. Maybe I'll see you there. Nancy

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Hi Nancy,
It looks like the park isn't going to open until late fall or early winter. I'm trying to be patient. I do hope to see you there this winter, hopefully we can have a winter with weather like today. 70's in October, can't beat that!!! Take care.

Best dog park we ever experienced was in Germany; an amazing place with paddling pools, toys, agility equipment and a doggie warden to oversee things! It was massive with fenced in seperate areas for toy breeds etc, so the little dogs were never in a position to be set upon by the bigger breeds. It was excellent fun and we used to meet up with mostly Cavis, dashunds and Yorkshire Terriers. Another area of this park had dog training classes once a week.