A lot of people seem pretty negative about dog parks.

I read the link here about them, but I'm really just hearing about dog fights, and the dangers of dog parks in that sense.

Is there another reason?

I go to a members only dog park, you pay and prove your shots to get in there.
I take her there every weekend, she's great there and loves it there.
There is this beautiful dog park near my house, over an acre of land.
Water, agility course, hills, and a little forest area.
There is also a small dog area, and then big dogs, some people don't use it though.
Plus lots of pinic tables, when we went last week there were about 35 - 40 dogs there.

Anyways, mostly people are good about not bringing aggressive dogs there, sometimes there are some snarls and such, but Jynx (my dog) doesn't even notice it, and comes when she's called right away.

So should I really not bring her to the dog park?
I mean, sometimes she doesn't really even play with the dogs, she just likes exploring, says hello to dog and leaves.
We've done some distraction training there as well, no problems.

Anyways, I'm worried there are other reasons that everyone seems to be negative about it, anyways thanks.

I actually looked it up.

It's four acres, but two of them aren't going to be open for a couple more weeks.

http://www.totoredaca.org/index.html
They have a website too.

I suppose a "members only" style of dogpark would be ok but there aren't any around here. we have problems at regular parks when the dogs are supposed to stay on leash but some brain dead moron thinks he/she is the exception

I'm actually guilty of that.

Sometimes when no one is around at night or early in the morning, we take her off least at a regular park, just to throw the ball and such she's never bothered with anyone though.

We actually live in an apartment so we play with her a lot outside at the park.

 Quote: Carley Hillhouse

I'm actually guilty of that.

Sometimes when no one is around at night or early in the morning, we take her off least at a regular park, just to throw the ball and such she's never bothered with anyone though.

We actually live in an apartment so we play with her a lot outside at the park.

that's using common sense, nobody around it doesn't matter

 Quote: carley hillhouse

... Anyways, mostly people are good about not bringing aggressive dogs there

That's the rub.

"Mostly." All it takes is one.

There's no way to know the level of control the other people have over their unleashed dogs.

It takes once -- just once -- to change my dog's personality forever. Maybe this sounds overly dramatic, but I mean it literally. Even if my dog was not seriously wounded or killed in an attack, the effect it could (and very likely would) have on his/her present attitude about strange dogs (neutral and non-reactive) is something I don't want, and I don't like the odds.

I've seen people chatting together or on cell phones, paying zero attention to what's going on around them, having no idea whether a dog-aggro dog ("He just wants to play!") has come in or whether some moron has introduced food or toys into a group of strange dogs or anything else.

I think that putting a bunch of strange dogs (or 23 "dog friends" and one reactive newcomer, for that matter) together, off leash, is a recipe for disaster. I have no reason in the world to assume that every other human there has good control over his/her dog(s).

Personally, I'll go so far as to say that even "members only" with loss of privileges if there is an attack isn't good enough for me. I don't want my dogs to be the attackee in the incident that bans the dog-aggro dog.

All JMO. I feel very strongly about it, but it's still just my opinion, and plenty of folks use dog parks happily.

I don't mean to sound combative or self-righteous or whatever it is (unpleasant) that I see there when I re-read my post.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I don't mean to sound combative or self-righteous or whatever it is (unpleasant) that I see there when I re-read my post.

B#@ch!!

I took my dog to a dog park when he was young and thought it was fine because I didn't run into issues with him, but there was always someone snarling and carrying on; so I guess I was lucky.

The reason I would not frequent with any future dogs is in building a relationship with a pup; it is damn difficult to out do another pup for attention, energy or playtime and I did end up with a dog who preferred his own kind to me.....not the relationship I was looking for.

Trading the dog park time in for one on one time reversed that. With that being said I did not curtail all his other dog interactions but they were limited to a few dogs that I knew well who have like minded owners.

My dog is dog aggressive but we got that under control, as long as the other dog is minding his own business I can foos and walk right by them. but if the other dog wants to do the meet and great and rank thing then she reacts poorly. point is, your dog may want to just play, mine doesn't.

There are two private dog parks near here that I really like. One is run by a local shelter who suggests donations for its use, it's one owner at a time 1/2 to 1 acre runs. Your dog can be off lead inside to run on fort knox security level (I've never seen such secure fences anywhere else.) You can also have multiples of your own dogs there, just one owner at a time. It amazes me that this place is so empty all the time.

The other is where I work where the dogs are required to have completed an obedience course, have all of it's shots, and play well with others to join up. All evaluations are done under distraction by the park owner. Even when someone is using it there are only a couple dogs usually belonging to one person.

Again to me the major failing of public dog parks is that they don't set up to foster positive relationships with either owners or other dogs, they breed disease, and that there is no barrier to entry for anyone and no consequences for owners who cause problems. If you take your aggressive dog in and it happens to injure or kill another dog, you can walk away knowing that there are no legal repercussions to that action. If you were the owner of that killed dog you have no right to anything because usually there is a use at your own risk disclaimer on the gate. Honestly you have more rights walking your dog on the sidewalk.

Then again there is the thought of what is a dog park for? At least here locally it's where irresponsible owners are gated in because they were kicked out of the rest of the park for not picking up dog poop or letting their dog run amok off leash.