14 JanEpisode 188 | Two dog trainers’ tips on bringing your dog to a dog park
Dog parks aren't appropriate for every dog, and urban dog parks have their own unique challenges--a revolving population and small footprints, to name a few. If Annie had her way, all dog parks would have lifeguards! She gives some reasons why you might think twice before bringing just any dog to any dog park. If you've decided the dog park might be a good thing for your dog, take some tips from Annie's partner Kate Senisi, a trainer with an expertise in working with high-arousal urban dogs. Annie shares Kate's top eight tips, and adds a few of her own. This episode talks about how to enter the park, what to bring, signs it may be time to leave, and more.
This episode offers special thanks to Alexandra Messiter, who, along with her dog Cooper, has been students at SFTD since 2019. Alexandra and her husband gave a generous donation to our Scholarship Fund recently, and we are so appreciative! "I felt moved to donate mostly because Cooper (who we adopted from Bideawee in 2019) is just so awesome - he's such a fun, smart, loving companion and has made my husband and I much more passionate about trying to encourage folks to consider rescuing. Because we know that lack of access to affordable quality training can lead to more dogs being surrendered -- and can discourage folks from adopting great dogs with some behavior concerns -- we're always happy to help any organization that is filling a need, which SFTD is definitely doing here." -- Alexandra Messiter
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Mentioned in this episode:
Learn more about our Scholarship Fund
Get half off our on-demand dog body language course using code HALFOFFBODYLANG
Related episodes:
SniffSpot: Episode 128 | Air B and…Pee? Sniff Spot allows dog owners to rent people's yards! Genius!
Transcript:
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Annie:
Hey all. Annie here. Today, I wanted to talk about dog parks. Dog parks are not appropriate for every dog, and dog parks in cities have their own unique challenges. They can be very small and dense, and they can have a highly revolving population. Meaning that a lot of people in a big city, a lot of people bring their dogs to a big city dog park means that you might see a lot of different dogs there. It's not just a small population of a dozen or so dogs, like I imagine maybe some small town dog park, what that must be like.
It can be challenging for dogs and for people. One time at the dog park closest to me, I witnessed an argument between two people where one person was mad at the other person for bringing in a ball that was larger than the size of a tennis ball, which she said was the only allowable ball size at that dog run. And the whole thing devolved to the point of him calling her the C word and her yelling at him, “I hope you go home and kill yourself.” So that was pretty much when my fear of dog parks began.
If I had my way, all dog parks would have a referee or lifeguard. Call it what you will. At School For The Dogs, that means we have a trainer at every off-leash play session who is in charge. In charge of making sure that all the dogs who are present are going to be set up for success, and also is in charge of helping the dog owners who are there learn what is and isn't appropriate in an off-leash setting.
Play and fighting in dogs can look very similar, which by the way, is not so different than with humans. Lots of play, be it adult play or child play really can resemble some kind of non-peaceful interactions, whether that's a game of tag, or capture the flag, or playing mortal combat.
The best thing you can do as a dog owner, if you are planning to bring your dog to a dog park, is have something of a plan and develop your ability to read doggy body language. That is what is going to help keep your dog safe and happy. If you have a dog who has good doggy communication skills and enjoys meeting and playing with other dogs, a dog park could be a good option for exercising your dog and just enriching your dog's life.
Now, I like to remind people that dogs generally play best one on one, and they almost always play better with dogs that they know, that they have a play history with, than they're gonna with dogs who they are meeting for the very first time. So I highly encourage you, dear dog owner, to try and figure out doggy play dates for your dog, ideally in some kind of fenced in space, whether that's a private space or a public space, where they don't necessarily need to interact with other dogs who are unknown quantities.
If you do not have your own indoor or outdoor space that is big enough, I am a big fan of the app Sniff Spot. I interviewed it's creator some months ago. And it's a really cool app where you can go in and find people near you who have safe, fenced-in outdoor areas where dogs can play, so you and your dog’s friends can go rent it. I believe it's by the hour.
If you are going to go to a public dog park, here are some tips. These tips were put together by my partner, my blonder half, Kate Senisi.
- Ensure your dog can sit and wait before entering the park. Allowing your dog to rush into the park leads to increased excitement, which can lead to inappropriate or over the top greeting and play behaviors. Teaching your dog to sit and wait before entering the park allows some of that excitement to dissipate so that your dog can enter more calmly. This will also give you the opportunity to observe how the other dogs in the run react to your dog before they enter. You can work on training this behavior by simply cueing a sit before your dog enters any new place. Your dog will come to learn that sitting is what gains access.
- Walk briskly into the run. Rather than lingering into the gate, you can go ahead of your dog and use your body to split the space between where your dog is and where the other dogs are to prevent other dogs from crowding your dog as you enter. Multiple dogs crowding all at once can be overwhelming for some dogs and can easily and quickly lead to conflict.
- Call your dog frequently for breaks. Practice calling your dog to come to you often throughout the visit, and then immediately release them back into play. This will ensure your recall cue will work when you really need it. If you are using treats, make sure to keep them hidden and try to deliver them as stealthfully as possible.
This is something we have our human students practice during our off-leash School Yard sessions at School For The Dogs. Giving out treats in any kind of sloppy and overly conspicuous way at a dog park is generally not a good idea.
- Leave toys at home. Toys and other high value resources can easily cause scuffles or actual fights, so avoid bringing toys in. And if it looks like there are resources already in the dog park when you arrive, you may choose to leave and come back when there aren't any.
Now I know this can sound like a big dose of no fun. “Hey, don't bring a ball to the park for your dog.” Every situation is gonna be different. And my dog Amos who loved tennis balls, I would sometimes bring a ball to the park with him, but only if the park was not crowded. Because your dog might be fine with a toy. However, some other dog in the park might not be.
When we are able to control our dogs’ play groups, whether that's in your home having another dog over, or in a situation like our school yard sessions, toys may sometimes be appropriate. It depends on that particular group of dogs.
- Keep visits short. Dogs, especially teenage dogs, can become very over-stimulated or overtired when you stay too long. Being over-stimulated or overtired can lead to less control over their bodies, and thus the ability to communicate what they're feeling with other dogs or even with you may deteriorate, which can lead to more conflict. So try when possible to limit visits to 15 to 20 minutes to be on the safe side.
- earn about dog body language. Do you know what a cutoff signal is? Do you know what meta signals are? Do you know what high risk behaviors look like? Becoming a better reader of your dog's body language is a must if you want to visit dog parks.
And hey, I think it's something that could be fun, because it involves spending time watching your dog. It's one of the special things about our School Yard off leash sessions at School For The Dogs is that the trainer is there to narrate play in a way that is meant to be informative and helpful and nuanced.
You know, a lot of the conversation about dog interactions at dog parks tends to be pretty reductive. A dog is being good or bad, nice or not nice. It can be pretty eye opening when you see a professional who's narrating play in a less judgemental fashion.
If you are interested in learning more about dog body language, I will put some resources in the show notes, including a link to our on demand body language course. I will put a 50% coupon to that course in the show notes. All of our on-demand courses can be found at schoolforthedogs.com/courses.
- Know how to intervene. If you see something concerning, you're going to wanna intervene physically, not verbally. There's way too much talking that goes on in dog parks, in my opinion. You could walk over to the dog and say, “Hey Banjo. I don't like how you're behaving with my dog. Can you try and be a little bit friendlier next time?” Or you can physically walk in between the dogs’ space, call your dog to you, grab your dog if necessary, and leave.
You want to avoid grabbing a dog you don't know by the collar. You could get bitten. And if there's already a fight ongoing that involves your dog. Start by making loud noises to intervene. If that doesn't work, you can try pointing a hose at the dogs or throwing water from a bottle at the dogs, or if real need be, you can grab the dog's hind legs, unless the dog is latched on. If you grab and pull a dog that is latched on, you could intensify the injuries.
If you think there might be a dog who isn't suitable for a dog park environment, if you have any concerns about your dog being in danger, leave sooner rather than later.
- Make leaving fun! The dog park might be the highlight of your dog's day. That's all the more reason to make a big deal about leaving. Give lots of treats after you get outta the dog park, walk home briskly to make the walk more fun. Or if your dog is a sniffer, walk home slowly. Practice some of your favorite training exercises together when you get home.
You can essentially train the behavior of leaving the dog park quickly and happily by making sure to follow dog park visits with good things in life. Otherwise said, don't go home and kill yourself.
As I said, these are tips from Kate. If I sounded like I was reading them, it’s cause I mostly was, adding my thoughts here and there. I wanted to add I think three more tips.
First, your dog does not have to play at a dog park. We call our private dog run School Yard at School For The Dogs. And when we were trying to figure out what to call it, we threw out names that had the word play in it, like play yard, or playground. Because we did not want to dissuade people from letting their dogs just chill off-leash in the presence of other dogs and other people if that's what's right for the dog, it's still a worthwhile thing.
I try to think of the dog park as an opportunity for me and my dog to hang out together without a leash between us. But if it seems like what my dog wants to do is sit quietly next to me on the bench and watch the other dogs or sit under the bench near me or whatever, that should be okay. You're not gonna see me pushing my dog off the bench saying, “Hey, we're here for you to play. Go, go, go.”
This leads me to another point which is that you can always try doing the so-called bully test with your dog. I've talked about this on previous episodes. The bully test, I believe is a term that was coined by Dr. Ian Dunbar. I think I talked in an earlier episode about why I don't love calling it the bully test. Call it whatever you wanna call it.
Basically, what you're doing is, if you think your dog is not having a good time, for instance, if your dog is being chased by a bunch of other dogs, which is something I generally don't like to see happening at dog parks, but sometimes dogs can be doing it in good fun. You can try holding your dog back, taking your dog out of the situation, giving your dog a break. Ideally the other dogs are having a break too.
When we do this kind of bully test at School For The Dogs, all the dogs are getting a break. In a public dog run, of course you can't mandate what other people do. But the goal is to see if your dog goes back for more, or not. If your dog was having a good time your dog will most likely eagerly want to return to that good time.
If your dog was not having a good time, your dog is going to be grateful that you offered the opportunity for a break and will not return to the situation with the same kind of alacrity as if he was into it. So that's another reason why you want your dog to be used to checking in with you a lot.
And it ties into the third thing I wanted to mention, which is I usually suggest that you not be too far away from your dog. That does not mean you need to be on top of your dog the whole time that you're at the dog park. But I think it is advisable to generally stay within five or 10 feet of your dog for a bunch of reasons. The main one being, if anything goes wrong, you're close enough to get in there and intervene.
Now I think in large dog parks, people are actually probably more inclined to be close to their dog because they need to keep an eye on where their dog is. If you're in a huge expanse in smaller dog parks, like the ones in New York City, I think sometimes people figure they're fine as long as they can see their dog. But in reality, that might mean that you are on a bench on one side of the park and your dog is on the other side of the park. And if you had to intervene in an emergency situation, it could take you a relatively long amount of time to actually get to your dog.
I wanted to end today's episode with a special thanks to our client, Alexandra Messer, who gave a very generous donation to our scholarship fund last month. Our scholarship fund is physically sponsored by Chappy and Friends, and through it, we are able to offer completely free private training to dog owners who have rescue dogs who have behavioral issues.
Our goal is to help use good dog training to keep dogs from being relinquished to shelters, because one of the main reasons dogs end up in shelters is because of behavioral problems. Our goal is to help people who are dealing with those problems so that they can keep their dogs in their homes.
Alexandra wrote:
I felt moved to donate, mostly because Cooper, who we adopted from Bideawee in 2019, is just so awesome. He's such a fun, smart, loving companion, and has made my husband and I much more passionate about trying to encourage folks to consider rescuing. Because we know that lack of access to affordable quality training can lead to more dogs being surrendered and can discourage folks from adopting great dogs with some behavioral concerns, we're always happy to help any work organization that is filling a need, which School For The Dogs is definitely doing here. Thanks again.
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You can learn more about the scholarship fund at schoolforthedogs.com/fund. You can apply to the fund at that same link. And thanks again to everyone who donated over the holiday season. We are hoping to help many more dogs in 2022.
