Dog Park Nightmares Nobody Warned You About
How Taking Your Canine Friend to Dog Parks Will Ruin it

Prepare to accept these risks the minute you step inside ANY dog park:

There Will Be Dogs that Pick on Your Dog Just for the Heck of It

Haven’t you met someone that just didn’t really like you for no apparent reason? It was obvious by the way that individual looked at you, talked to you, or perhaps gave you a hard time. What’s even more bizarre is, most of these folks can’t even tell you themselves why they don’t like you, they just don’t. It’s not much different when it comes to our four-legged friends in dog parks.

You might see all the dogs get along fine with each other and think it is safe to walk in. But the minute you and your doggie step inside that dog park, it’s just a matter of minutes or even seconds before your dog is pinned down on his back, fighting for its life. There will be the dog that doesn’t care much for you OR your pooch. We have racist folks among us. Some dogs are also known to be prejudiced toward certain breeds and see them as targets. There will be a dog that may not care for your dog’s long ears, short ears, flat nose, cropped ears or curly coat for that matter. Let’s face it. If someone wants to really pick on you, ANY excuse will do. Dogs aren’t that picky either. For instance, a male dog might get jealous over your dog having his testicles, and why his were chopped off at the vet’s office last summer.

99.9 Percent of These Dogs Are NOT Going to Be “Off-Leash Trained”

This simply means a dog that will most likely ignore the lovely owners’ commands such as: “Be nice,” “Leave it,” “NO Bite,” “Shush,” “Not yours,” “Gentle,” “No humping,” “Off,” “Drop it” or the usual “Come” command. Trainers also refer to Come Command as “Recall.” I finally figured out why this term. It is because once your dog bolts away from you, it doesn’t recall anything. Not his name, not your love, not your voice, and not the fact you are worried sick that he might get lost, get hit by a car, or get attacked by another dog.

Your Dog Is “Guaranteed” to Learn More Bad Habits than Good

Let’s forget about dogs for a moment. Answer this: Do your good habits come to you more naturally or your bad ones? This is where you let dogs be dogs. So barking dogs keep on barking, chasers keep on chasing, snappers keep on snapping, humpers keep on humping any dog or even a person who lets them, markers keep on marking, and jumpers keep on jumping on other dogs and even on you and other dog owners. Oh, let’s not forget alpha dogs that keep on trying to intimidate the weaker dogs until they finally meet their match, and that’s when you see an ugly dog fight occur.

You see, most bullies, just like a typical bully, pick on much smaller, less confident, or very weak and harmless puppies. They keep on chasing, lunging, cornering and eventually snapping at these poor dogs trying to establish their dominance over them. Now, how do you suppose your dog will learn anything good out of this? Keep reading. It gets worse.

Most Owners Are Clueless in Reading Dogs’ Body Language

As a dog owner, you should be able to detect any dog’s fearful aggression, territorial aggression, to even dominance aggression in different situations. This is so you at least try to jump in when you fear dog playing inside a dog park is turning into a serious dog fight. Sadly, the majority of you either overreact, or do not react in a timely manner. Now here’s what’s interesting about this: If you do overreact, dogs get a sense of something being wrong and feel that negative energy, which could make them get even more overprotective toward one another. And if you DO NOT do anything and just sit back and observe, your poor dog could get scarred for rest of its life by getting attacked unfairly.

Many dog owners, just because they’ve owned different breeds of dogs throughout their lives, automatically assume that they’re qualified to have a real knowledge of dogs and their temperament. Remember—just because someone has been driving over twenty years doesn’t make them a smart and safe driver. I myself drive like a maniac and even have a valid driving license to prove it. I look like a Vato Loco in my license, but at least I’m a proud donor. So if someone had ten different breeds of dogs throughout their life, that doesn’t automatically make them a dog behaviorist. And to become a dog trainer, all you have to do is call yourself one.

Not All of These Dog Are Going to Be Spayed or Neutered

This alone creates tension among all dogs. Any breeder, trainer and veterinarian will agree that unaltered dogs are much more pushy, moody, overly-protective and in most cases also very dominant, compared to dogs that already have been spayed/neutered.

Besides, not all dog owners are fully aware if their bitch going in heat, or whether her cycle is truly over. This results in male dogs getting in fights over the female in heat and, believe it or not, even female dogs getting jealous over why the new bitch is getting all the attention. (Well, as we all know. Because we are not talking about any bitch--but a bitch in heat for crying out loud. Maybe they all want to make babies just like The Maury Povich Show. Is that wrong?)

You Never Know Which Dog is Sick/Fully Vaccinated and Which isn’t

As you walk inside a dog park, there is a sign advising dog owners to make sure all that their dog is current on their vaccinations, but who’s really going to check? You never know which dog is healthy and which isn’t. Also, the plastic pool in which the dogs swim and drink from, is usually muddy, full of urine and mixed with a little bit of feces for flavor. Most of these pools are full of germs and parasites. Viruses such as kennel cough, Coccidia or even worse—Giardia which are very contagious and cause dogs to have diarrhea for days and sometimes even weeks down the line, are found in these pools. This virus is only treatable with a series of antibiotics. In case you didn’t know, Giardia is also very easily passed to humans. Maybe you will do your best to keep your dog away from that pool. However, other dogs that have been swimming in it, could easily pass the infection on to your dog by getting it wet. And then your doggie comes to mommy and gives you kisses right in the face and in the mouth. Hmm… yummy. Hey, why not? They say, “Dogs have a very clean mouth.” Sure they do. Do you really know what was the last thing your dog licked or ate? Do you really want to know? I didn’t think so.

Dog Parks Are Known to Have Their Own Usual Crowd

Just like in gyms, bingo halls or chess clubs where you have your particular types of fanatics, you most likely see the same dog owners and the same dog walkers, bringing their dogs around the same time of day--at the same dog park. And guess what? This is how you form a “dog pack” my friend. Sure it may not be a balanced pack with a “set leader,” but they don’t know really care about this. So once you walk in with your new dog, it will sense the pressure of being challenged by a few alpha dogs and, of course sooner or later, by The Top Dog. This always starts with a tense posture, hackles being up, growling and lots of pushing and pawing each other. Some of the dogs after they sniff your dog’s genital area, will try to push against your pooch, while holding a stiff posture. Some bring out their chest out and circle around your dog and get on their hind legs as they keep their front paws on your dog’s back. Some hump your dog and keep on puffing on that Cuban cigar while winking at you. Even male dogs hump other males. (And female dogs hump one another and I don’t always notice a rainbow collar on them either.) So it’s not always a sexual thing.

All these are the warning signs of a dog trying to dominate. Basically your dog is being warned by these bullies or wannabe bullies that, “Just to let you know, I run things around here. So don’t even think about it, Curly.” Which as we all know could result in severe dog fights, hefty vet bills, losing your home insurance or even a nasty lawsuit.

Your Dog Is NOT Allowed to Fight Back or Play Roughly

Did you know that if your dog doesn’t consider you as his leader, he definitely thinks of you as his protector? Now I want you to really think about this for a moment. Once the mommy or even the daddy couldn’t protect it from being mauled by a vicious dog, that is when your dog completely loses trust and confidence in you. And the dogs inside a dog park or even on walks that were somewhat trained and polite, look for your approval and notice that even “you” couldn’t do much, which isn’t realistic to think you could in many of these circumstances.

Look. Dogs are a lot like us. Not every dog will stand up for himself, and those that DO choose to fight back--will be labeled as aggressive and banned from that dog park permanently. So the dogs that are sweet and have no intention of hurting even a fly, their confidence and self-esteem will be ruined after being attacked by a bully, and the dogs that WILL stand up for themselves and choose to fight back, will be kicked out for standing for themselves. So you ultimately lose either way! The next time when you take your dog for a walk and he sees another dog, he could get aggressive and start to lunge, snap, bark, growl and show those nice teeth at the other dog. And I don’t think you can really blame him, can you? Remembering from the last incident, your dog is taking matters into his own paws. This is why no matter how much you know or trust your dog, and no matter how trained or tough your dog may be, it is not safe OR smart to let him roam around freely on walks or in your local park.

Dogs Get in Fights Over Toys, Treats and Even Their Lovely “Owners”

“That’s my mommy. Get away from her!” “How dare you pet, give attention or even smile at the other dog mommy! I thought you loved me the most?” “Hey, where’s my treat?” “Why are all these dogs after the ball in which you threw for me to fetch?” “Wait a minute…didn’t we bring our own toy from home, Mommy?” These are all thoughts that cross the dogs’ minds in dog parks. There will be dogs that just HAVE to get to that ball first. Look Einstein. Do you really think other dogs care that you brought in YOUR OWN ball from home? Don’t ever play fetch with your dog, or any other dog inside a dog park. Period. Do it when you two are all by yourself in your local park or your backyard. This alone gets all the retrievers and other dogs fired up competing over the ball. Just like kids and even some adults, not all dogs play fair or nicely. 

There Will Be Those Dogs that Never Do Well in a Large Group

We have lots of antisocial people among us. It’s not much different when it comes to dogs. So why force it? One of my brothers is like that. He says one sentence per day and then disappears in his room for hours and days to come. Did we try to get him to join us for many family gatherings? Absolutely! Did it work? Well, to some extent. Let’s say he says he has his own circle of friends. Just because nobody saw or heard of any, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Don’t worry, he will never read this or even admit to reading it. He is much smarter than me. Oops. I meant, smarter than I. Aren’t you, Frankie?

Some Owners Are Busy and live in Their Own World

I’ve seen owners who instead of keeping an eye on their dog, were talking on the phone, text messaging, reading a book, playing a game on their phone, listening to their headphone, or chatting with other owners. I once saw someone drop off three dogs and come back after an hour to pick them back up. As if the dog park was some sort of doggie daycare.

Your Dog Will Most Likely Learn to Mark “Inappropriately!”

Many male dogs that were even neutered learn to start lift their leg up inside your home and on your lovely furniture. Some learn to mark their beds, their crates, corner of their dog house, and even urinate on your bed. Most of these dogs eventually start to drag their poor owners on walks even more to mark every bush, every tree and every pole that has other dogs’ smell on it. If you have another dog, the one that chooses to mark, will most likely start to urinate on your other dog’s urine. Now when these dogs see other dogs on walks, they sometimes act aggressive, claiming that the whole neighborhood is theirs. Even female dogs are known to mark. I’ve seen some of these bitches lift one leg up in the air and mark every bush, tree, or fire hydrant they felt like claiming as their own.

In conclusion, dogs learn to mark, bark, body-slam, steal, growl, hump, and attack each other in dog parks. Some will experience getting mauled by a much bigger and stronger dog.
.................................................................................................................................................................
Most of the fights that I’ve witnessed weren’t fair fights at all. Just like a typical bully, the dominant and strong dogs rarely pick on dogs their size!
................................................................................................................................................................. Some ignore the small dogs and prefer a real challenge, but it’s rare. Thankfully most dog parks these days are sectioned for small and big dogs. But still, the bigger dogs love to think of the small dogs as appetizers or squeak toys. Some love to floss their teeth with those wiener dogs or as I call the fat ones not a weiner dog. but a Kielbasa dog. You would be amazed how many times I’ve actually seen or heard of dogs being attacked in dog parks. Some of them were two or three dogs attacking one dog as he is fighting for his life.
Now I know some of you reading this will shake your head from side to side, saying to yourself, “I’ve been taking my dog(s) to lots of dog parks for as long as I can remember, and nothing bad ever happened to any of them.” My response is always the same: You obviously are one of the lucky ones. You really are. My whole purpose in writing this chapter was hopefully for you to at least consider the risks and compare the pros and the cons. After all, your poor dog is depending on your best judgment here. Dogs can’t think for themselves.

I know it takes a lot of effort and a very long process to build a dog park. These folks go through lots of rules, mediations, tons of paperwork, and sometimes they are forced to get all the neighbors’ permission in that vicinity to put in a dog park. So yes, I totally agree that they do it for the love of the dogs. But they too would agree with me that you have to be careful and use your own common sense, as you enter these parks.

What I wanted to point out in this chapter were the risks many of you true dog lovers overlook. I know we accept all kinds of risks in our day-to-day lives. When we drive, when we fly, or even when we make love. Hey, people have heart attacks while having sex. It happens.

Why Not Go Inside the Dog Park By Keeping Your Pooch on Leash?

Maybe it crossed your mind that if you keep your dog on a leash the entire time you are inside the dog park, you just might be able to keep him from any harm. This strategy may or may not work. But, you’ll soon about to find out that the majority of dog owners will keep on lecturing you over and over again to let your dog loose. Some will keep on giving you dirty looks or automatically assume that your dog must be either too aggressive, or too scared to even be allowed inside the dog park in the first place. Some of these owners swear that keeping your dog leashed to you will make other dogs get aggressive. This is definitely NOT TRUE, especially if you know what you are doing.

Due to my clients’ requests, I’ve taken a few dogs inside dog parks, and managed to control the situation in my favor. You have to be prepared for the unexpected. I always outthink the dogs and anticipate their next move before “they” even get to think of it.
.................................................................................................................................................................
You cannot outrun your dog, but you can definitely outsmart it. It is all in the art of anticipation while seeing the world from a “dog’s point of view.”
.................................................................................................................................................................This is when I rely on my knowledge, my skill, and my experience in dealing with thousands of different dogs. Also, to be honest, sometimes it is pure instinct. 

I want you to consider throwing doggie gatherings with your friends, relatives, neighbors and co workers instead. This is much safer and you will most likely know a lot about the dogs and their owners before hand. Always remember these factors: their temperament, their health, which dogs are spayed and neutered, and let’s not forget those dogs that actually DO AND DO NOT RESPOND to their owners around other dogs. You may start with a very small group in someone’s backyard or in your local neighborhood park, but on leash. Just in case if things turn ugly and make sure those leashed don’t get tangled to one another. This causes lots of dog fights that aren’t easy to break.

It saddens me when I see poor owners taking their pooches to dog parks hoping that their pets get socialized, exercised and have some fun, when instead, they get the complete opposite. I realize that these tragic incidents do not happen every day. If they did, they would certainly close down all dog parks. They happen once in a while. And sometimes when you think about it, once is all it takes. Wouldn’t you agree?

Did that feel like someone just threw a bucket of cold water at your face?
I hope so. If not, you might want to jump in the pool and then start reading my next chapter.

Written by International Master Trainer and Canine Psychologist, Kevin "The Dog Prodigy"