I use the local dog park, which is segregated into large and small dog parks, as a place to play fetch with my dogs. I find an empty corner of the park and play with my 3 so they're there interacting with me. If other dogs come around interested I stop playing and have all my dogs sitting near me. That new dog gets bored quickly and finds something more interesting to do.

I live in an apartment and the dog park is a nearby place that's fenced, relatively safe for my dogs, and legal to have them all off leash.

I am very unimpressed with other dog owners ability to attend to or control their dogs. in general it seems like a place to let your dog wander and get into trouble while you're too busy playing with your phone to notice. As a result, I don't see much use outside of the way I use it.

For the most part...dog parks are a fight waiting to happen & they do...often. No matter how nice & dog social of a dog you have...sooner or later there will be a dog there that just doesn't like you dog & will pick a fight.

Most people that frequent dog parks...have no clue about "reading" dogs & basically just stand around talking while the dogs run free with no supervision. Most of the dogs there have no recall or any good obedience on them what so ever. Sad but true.

 Quote: Carol Blumlein

I am VERY glad to hear that, since I only have one!!

Every dog has its own personal, individual temperament, of course -- My intact male Borzoi was 7 years old when I added my female Akita weanling to our pack, in which I am the sole resident human ... He only tolerated her, but she was devoted to him.

For the rest of Lazar's life (7 more Years) his attitude toward Shaka remained, "House guests are like fish: After 3 days they STINK" -- But she profoundly grieved, mourned & pined over him for a number of months after he died ... Shaka would look for Lazar indoors, hunt for him outdoors, mope around on his old bed, show no interest in eating, and periodically offer up a long, plaintive H-O-W-L.

This from a dog who Hates all other canines -- But if Shaka had been an Only Dog from the get-go, she would have been perfectly happy with that arrangement ... I have refrained from getting a new pup in the 2.5 years since Lazar's passing, for fear that Shaka might never accept another dog into the pack & spend her time dreaming up ways to Kill any newcomer.

Totally agree, when I was working on desensitizing Amber we used a local dog park, Id have her in the empty small dog run by herself and leave if anyone wanted to use it. A nice gentleman with a very nice dog who were by themselves at the time offered to let Amber meet his dog, I declined and not 2 minutes later 3 people showed up with large dogs. I decided to leave once they were in the other section and one of those dogs attacked the guys dog I had just spoken with. I can't help thinking if I had decided to introduce Amber, she would have been attacked and how much it would have set her, possibly irretrievably back. After that, I don't even go there when its empty.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

" I think having a clear human leader is by far more important than how many other dogs are in the pack. "


So do I.

Also, FWIW, I make sure that I'm the main source of games, training, rewards, food, security, and fun. That's how I want it. I don't even want my dogs to rely on the other pack members for important aspects of their lives.

I admit that this puts a lot on me, but it's how I think it should be -- and I lead a pretty dog-centric
life.

Ditto all around!
I train outside my small back yard in the side yard (corner house). When I come back in the yard I want the dog coming up to me, not the dog I had out of the yard. That tells me I'm more important then the other dog.
Fact is my two intact male GSDs are together 24/7 and never play and react very seldom with one another. They don't NEED one another to be content.

I see a few good points among these arguments. Also made very clear is the dilemma the prevents this (and many other problems in our society) from having a clear solution.

There ARE people, many people, maybe most, that are just pet owners and never have many of the issues that we face. Not just a few of my family and close friends have loveable, social dogs that go everywhere. Some of them are "friends" with each other and play together well when family has a get-together.
However, this creates a kind of ignorant bliss among the owners, who forget that dogs are dogs and what a dog's true nature is. They may get to a point where they understand and can read their own dog, but then they expect all other dogs to be the same. My sister-in-law wanted to let her Husky Roxanne meet my dog. I told her that it wouldn't be a good idea. "Why?", she asked. I replied "There will be blood".
"Roxie is not like that!"
"Yeah, but Sadie is".
"Ohhh..."

John, you pointed out that most owners are not as diligent as you or as some of the rest of us when it comes to researching our breeds and providing for their needs. While I agree that dog parks work for some folks and dogs, and they help resolve issues for urban planners, dogs that need high levels of exercise and/or training pbly have no business being kept in urban areas. I can't imagine trying to live in a downtown apt with my dog. If you are an equestrian, you make provisions for your animal away from the congested areas because that is what's necessary. There are many types and breeds of dogs that should be regarded similarly. IMHO, failure to provide adequate housing and upkeep is cruelty in itself. One of the core reasons for many problems seen by this forum is poor choice of breed during the selection/rehoming process.

The blissfully ignorant also tend not to understand dog vs. dog liability and want to discern which dog is right and which is wrong. When two dogs are allowed to sniff each other and posture, neither is wrong when a fight starts. This is what dogs do!! The wrong parties are the owners... BOTH owners.

 Quote: Duane Hull

My sister-in-law wanted to let her Husky Roxanne meet my dog. I told her that it wouldn't be a good idea. "Why?", she asked. I replied "There will be blood".
"Roxie is not like that!"
"Yeah, but Sadie is".
"Ohhh..."

Yeah, one time I was on the front porch with my leashed female Akita beside me, when a clueless guy from around the corner approached my house with his LOOSE (and pushy) Golden bitch --"Fluffy" came bounding up the front walk, making a beeline for my highly Dog-Aggro girl ... I barely had enough time to put Shaka in a down-stay Behind me & roar: NO - GIT, while the silly owner was laughing, "She just wants to say Hi", so I yelled at him, "It'll be the LAST thing she ever says!".

I must add that to my utter SHOCK this guy actually did learn his Lesson, at least with me & my dog -- Now when they walk past our place, he always keeps his Golden on-lead ... But then I see him turn her loose again only a few more yards farther down the block (?WHAT?) No doubt he just thinks I'm CRAZY for keeping a "dangerous" dog as my house-pet.

Well, he may think you're crazy ... .... but you prevented a situation that would have been his fault but would have been highly detrimental to you, your dog, his dog, and him.

I'm thinking about starting a separate thread (or maybe someone else will) with suggestions, comments, and reminders about how we as dog owners can be proactive with management so that we can minimize the effects on us and on our dogs of others' brainless actions.

I get angry at those people too, and I always will. I've been actually shaking with anger more than once.

But I want to focus that on the kind of management and forethought that makes their actions almost irrelevant to me and (especially) my dogs.

What I'd love to see and I don't know if it wouldn't come with its own set of problems, is a dog park that in addition to having the group play areas also has small individual areas for single dogs and owners who don't want the group scenario. For people who don't have the area at home it could be a nice option to throw balls, etc. It seems the dog park planners in my area only do large space group and smaller space group. Just a thought.

 Quote: Jodi Moen

What I'd love to see and I don't know if it wouldn't come with its own set of problems, is a dog park that in addition to having the group play areas also has small individual areas for single dogs and owners who don't want the group scenario. For people who don't have the area at home it could be a nice option to throw balls, etc. It seems the dog park planners in my area only do large space group and smaller space group. Just a thought.

Doesn't that sound GREAT?!

You mean kind of like lanes at public pools, and a human, of course, would have to accompany their dog(s)?

With a signup sheet, maybe, with 45-minute spaces? High fences?

Maybe it doesn't address the common perception about "strange dogs need to play with each other," but think of the folks who live in apartments and just want to play fetch or proof their recall.

It sounds like it has more pluses than minuses, to me.

And even .... what if very small groups who know each other, and would come together, could sign up and take over sections of the park for an hour?


I'm picturing the big park, separated from these small areas ....