Dog Parks: The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

It’s funny, when yo mention dog park to a dog owner, you’re only going to get one of two reactions. “MY DOG LOVES THE DOG PARK!” OR “Absolutely Not Will Ever Go To The Dog Park Again!”


Personally, I’m a huge anti dog park guy. I’ve seen way too many things happen inside the park to ever go back. However, I’m also a dog owner who has a fairly big fenced in yard, can take his dog’s off leash in fields for running, and have the liberty to meet many friends and clients with their dogs to socialize my dogs with. I understand the appeal to dog owners have to take their dog to the dog park, and honestly on paper it sounds amazing. Here is the problem with the dog park. You have to rely on other dog owners to watch, and correct their dogs behavior as needed, and that just doesn’t happen. Too many dog owners will go to the park and either sit on their phone, converse with the other owners, smoke a cig, bring Chik-fil-a inside the park, or try and take a nap instead of being an accountable dog parent. Yes, I’ve seen all of this happen, and if you’re a regular you’ve seen it too. Without this lack of accountability and oversight from owner to dog, issues are bound to flare up more frequently than they should.


The dog park should be a reward for your dog for being well behaved, but it should not be your outlet to get rid of your dogs energy in order for your dog to be well behaved. That just doesn’t work. Over and over again you’ll hear me talk about the importance of mental exercise over physical exertion. That is what Say It Once Dog Training is built on. If you are relying on purely physical means to get your dog calm, this tends to be an issue. Multiple dogs who are high strung in the same area competing for the same ball, affection, water fountain, new dog coming into the gate, will eventually lead to a mistake. Once again, a mistake isn’t the problem, how you react, or a lack of reaction to the mistake is a problem. This is where dogs get learned behaviors, and where big time problems appear. If everyone was committed to stopping their dogs ill behavior and working with their dog to be better behaved, it would be a beautiful process, but that’s not the case. Some people don’t care enough, and that’s okay! I’m just not going to put my dogs in a position where a mistake can be made.  


If you are going to go to the park, that’s awesome! Let me give you some quick pointers on how to have a better behaved dog at the park.

1. The entrance is huge. Most dog owners pull up to the dog park and the dog either drags them on leash to the gate, or the owner lets them off leash to run to the gate. If my dog enters crazy, it’ll lead to more anxiety and issues. What I suggest is practicing opening your car door, and if your dog tries to run out, simply say no and shut the door. Repeat until they understand they have to remain in a sit, calmly, until you are ready for them to exit. (Video of this on our facebook page)
2. Once out of the car, don’t always make a B line straight for the park entrance. Do training in the parking lot, walk past the park, go to the park and turn back to the car. Keep them guessing, and keep them focused on you.
3. If you feel that your dog is acting unruly, take them out. Walk them, calm them down, and do some training. When ready, renter the park. 
4. If your dog does great with smaller groups and gets overwhelmed by larger groups, go to the park during non peak hours, and on a Tuesday instead of the weekend.
5. If your dog protects their ball at the park, not only do you need to fix that behavior, but definitely don’t bring a ball to the park.
6. When a new dog comes to the gate, this is a great time for you to practice and reinforce a stay command. Don’t let them bum rush the new pup!
7. Don’t pet jumping dogs, and try not to get the dogs overexcited. Believe me, they are amped enough, you don’t have to add any fuel to the fire.
8. Dogs have disagreements, just like humans. It’s not the end of the world. But there is a difference between and a dog being a bully. 
9. Communication between you and your dog is important, as well as communicating between you and other owners as well
10. Advocate for your dog by putting them in the best possible position!