It sounds like a really nice thing to do when someone says we’re going to the dog park so that the dogs can get some exercise and play with other dogs. The truth of the matter, though, is that it can be both stressful and risky to take your precious pooch to a park filled with unpredictable, messy and often unsupervised canines. We have dreams of blankets spread out and picnic baskets filled to the brim with delicious meals when we think of a park. Relaxing and socialising people, kids laughing and playing tag or catching baseball. Gorgeous, right? You may want to check out Dog parks in Inner West Sydney for more.
Everybody enjoys being in the park for a day. Owners often imagine the same scenario of their dog being taken to the park, they assume their dog is going to play and socialise with other pets, and it would be an opportunity for the owner to have some “me time,” maybe a coffee, talk on the phone, or other people in the park. Here’s where the problem lies, dogs are not humans, the same way we do, they don’t communicate with each other. Before they reach the park, many of the dogs in the park are in very unpredictable states of mind, and now hundreds of unbalanced dogs are affecting them.
I just went to the parks to see the dogs and their owners. I see dogs running around and being dominant, afraid, nervous, violent, and posturing. For the most part, the owners don’t even know where their pooch is at any specific moment. Unbalanced dogs left unsupervised will easily become targets for other dogs to attack. In a dog park, there are so many red flags that as a dog trainer who practises art calm and assertiveness, I have to leave because I have so much to do with the stress and likelihood of chaos, and I can’t just walk up to people and start telling them they’re doing it all wrong. I’m not going to be very famous.
When dogs are let loose together with no specific pack leader to teach them how to meet other dogs properly in a friendly and respectful manner , in order to retain power, they may take it upon themselves to claim dominance. This suggests that if both a dominant / aggressive dog and an excited / anxious dog want the same stick or toy, and there are no people right there to have guidelines and restrictions, then this will also result in one dog hitting the other. A lot of individuals even get hurt trying to break up a war.
If you go to a park, and I’m sure you know by now that I don’t suggest it, you have to make sure you’re in total charge of your dog. Before you reach the park, make sure your canine friend is in a relaxed and submissive state of mind. To measure the energy inside the park, spend some time outside the fence. You have to supervise not just your dog as you come into the park and let your dog off leash, but any puppy in the park … chances are nobody else is paying much attention.
Be prepared to protect your dog from possible danger and to retain your dog’s leadership position to stay calm and have fun, but not to imitate any dysfunctional actions they experience. You will encourage your dog to stay relaxed and submissive, and that energy will affect the rest of the dogs, and people, in the park, if you remain calm and show your authority as the pack leader. It is in a nut shell there. While the dog park is meant to be a fun place for dogs and people to go and socialise, it is more frequent than not, quite the contrary.
There are also other ways for you to have fun with your dog and provide social development for your dogs with canine companionship. Organizing parties where everyone brings their dogs, at first keeping them small, maybe three friends and three dogs. Go for walks as a party, to the beach, in the countryside, or through your area. Know this, it is the obligation of human owners to be pack leaders and role models for their dogs and to set rules and restrictions, regardless of whether it is in your back yard with the dogs or in the park with 33 dogs. If everybody did this with their pets, the park will still be a beautiful location.
