Do you have dog parks in your area?

[LisaRN]

There are some specific areas in parks for dogs in this area, but I've never taken Chester as I'm afraid of other dogs As in, chasing me and hurting me and him. I know it's a crazy fear - but 2 years ago a pit bull was roaming when I had out little shih tzu out for a walk and that was not a good experience.

I think they are a great idea.. and then one day a year they have "Paws in the Park".. which we missed out on this year.

 

[Bella'sMom]

We have all kinds of off leash parks around here. I love them! There is a theory about off leash parks. I have heard that dogs don't tend to bother others when off leash. I guess when on leash they feel trapped and then defenseless, thus causing them to attack if approached. Off leash they are able to run if they feel threatened and there is no feeling of being trapped, thus no aggression. I don't know if this is why, but off leash parks do work. Of course owners have to be responsible for there pet, if it is an aggressive one to begin with, do not bring it. Also all the off leash parks here allow only neutered males.
Most are for cost, those are the ones that have pools, creeks, poop bags, water bowls etc... The city of Jacksonville has a free pet park, not as nice but free to everyone. Here in Florida we even have a "inside" pet park, pool, play room with ramps etc...
These parks are great for socializing your dog. You will find that your bulldog will get the most attention though.

 

[bullmama]

Wow those parks sound like fun! More than anything I fear germs and disease... I would go nuts I think.

 

[Bella'sMom]

It really isn't bad at all, they have very strict vaccination rules and I have yet to see it not kept clean. Our Bulldog meet-up goes all the time. Of course the real nice one are more expensive to visit. You are looking about $10 per visit. Cheaper than places I took my skin kids when they were young.

 

[KMARINO]

We have a few very nice off leash parks here in Bradenton Florida, the thing is it is to hot to take him. He LOVES to go. We also have a dog beach, I was leary to take him but my 23 year old son took him and yep I was right he immediately started drinking the salt water, he got a few licks in and my son started back to the car, before he even got to the car Vegas started spraying poo all over the place! So NO dog beach again for him EVER, I know how dangerous salt water is, but I was hoping he had enough sense not to drink it, I was wrong!! I am looking forward to cooler weather for his sake and mine. He is wore out when we get home. I wish we had an indoor park here.

 

[TessaAndSamson]

I guess when on leash they feel trapped and then defenseless, thus causing them to attack if approached. Off leash they are able to run if they feel threatened and there is no feeling of being trapped, thus no aggression.

And thats how Samson got attacked. There was a male pitbull that was being a total bully with the other dogs in the dog park. So his owner put him on a leash but stayed in the park. Samson happily walked up to them, got love from the owner, then turned around to sniff the male pitbull and the dog instantly latched onto to Samson's head. The owner pulled on his pitbulls leash lifting the dog off his front paws so he was only standing on his back 2 but still latching onto Samson's head. Samson was dangling in the air in this dogs mouth!!!! All the while I am sprinting from one side of the park to where he was, once I got there we got Sam free right away. The owner apologized and said his pitbull has its good days and bad days!!!!! I was so shaken up and upset that I didn't say anything but if I could go back I'd scream in that guys face, you don't bring a dog to a dog park that has bad days!!!!! Thank goodness Samson was fine, he still has a small bald spot on his head from that pitbulls teeth though. This was like 3 years ago and we've never been to a dog park since, I just don't feel comfortable going. Oh and now I am taking a Animal Sanitation & Disease Control class and am becoming very paranoid! Now I REALLY wouldn't want to go, this class is going to turn me into a basketcase of a bully mama LOL

 

[Bella'sMom]

OMG, I would have blown up. I hope this park requires vaccination records, if not, I would have insisted that the police be involved to investigate and make sure that the dog was up to date. Your are completely correct in saying that the dog should never be brought to the park if he has "bad" days...Poor Samson! I am so glad he came through this alright!

 

[TessaAndSamson]

OMG, I would have blown up. I hope this park requires vaccination records, if not, I would have insisted that the police be involved to investigate and make sure that the dog was up to date. Your are completely correct in saying that the dog should never be brought to the park if he has "bad" days...Poor Samson! I am so glad he came through this alright!

Yeah they require vaccine records. Luckily Samson has that strong bulldog skull, if Samson was another breed I think it could have caused alot more damage.

 

[Libra926]

Carry dog mace. We do when we are on walks. If I feel threatened... out comes the mace. Any dog that tries to attack us..........SPRAYED! We've been to a couple of dog parks. Vegas loves them. We stopped going when he started becoming obsessive over the water bowl. He literally kept stepping in it and ducking his full head in it. He wouldn't leave it to play with other dogs. He would be soaked from head to toe. He definately had a human gathering of laughing park goers....he was such a site. A big 65 pound bulldog trying to bathe himself in a gallon of water...and succeeding!

 

[Bella'sMom]

Carry dog mace. We do when we are on walks. If I feel threatened... out comes the mace. Any dog that tries to attack us..........SPRAYED! We've been to a couple of dog parks. Vegas loves them. We stopped going when he started becoming obsessive over the water bowl. He literally kept stepping in it and ducking his full head in it. He wouldn't leave it to play with other dogs. He would be soaked from head to toe. He definately had a human gathering of laughing park goers....he was such a site. A big 65 pound bulldog trying to bathe himself in a gallon of water...and succeeding!

Is there a difference between dog mace and human mace? That is a great idea! we had a dog attack us while camping. The owners chained him to a tree for the day, while they went to town shopping, Go figure. Anyway he came to our site while cooking breakfast and attacked our dogs!!!(they were leashed) Since my kids were little and in the middle of the mess, I had to beat that dog off with a fire log....that was the closest thing.

 

[Libra926]

There are different types. We have one that is acutally 1% citronella. It's a deterrent, for low to medium aggression. It also will not harm you if it's blown back into your face...and it's not supposed to cause more aggression...just deter. It's called SprayShield. No website on the can, but the phone number is 888-640-8840. [MENTION=770]Bella'sMom[/MENTION]

 

[sheshistory]

There are a ton of dog parks around Phoenix and I took Bentley and Linus usually a few times a year during the winter. I was a little nervous with Linus because he's fearless and there is water at one near our house but Bentley usually stuck close by unless he saw a person willing to pet him. Linus also made me laugh because he'd try to race the big, fast dogs to a ball, get to it, then not return it to the owner who threw it - making the owner walk ALL the way to where he tossed the ball to retrieve it.

The best part is how exhausted they are after their time at the park - I think they slept for a day straight!

 

[kazzy220]

This is one of the things that I miss about England. There may be leash laws in cities, but in the country you don't have to have your dog on a leash unless of course you can't control it or it has aggression issues. So we could drive about 10 minutes from where we lived out into the countryside to Hatfield Forest and just let them off the leash. They used to just run in big circles around us as we walked for miles seeing nobody ............ really miss that!