{"id":12451,"date":"2020-03-02T00:36:45","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T00:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/?p=12451"},"modified":"2020-03-02T00:36:45","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T00:36:45","slug":"dog-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/02\/dog-parks\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog Parks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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am not a Dog Park advocate.<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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October 8, 2015<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Jill Kessler Miller<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\nAND HERE’S WHY:<\/p>\n

\nI don\u2019t recommend dog parks.\u00a0Not ever. The list of things that can go wrong is so long that it completely outweighs\u00a0the possible attributes; note I say \u201cpossible,\u201d because the positives are, in my opinion, only theoretical.<\/p>\n

First, dog parks are rife with disease, especially giardia. Soft stool, diarrhea that comes and goes, horrible gas?
\n\u200bHave your vet run a test for giardia. And then, of course, there\u2019s kennel cough, as well other fungi, viruses, fleas and worms.<\/p>\n

Second, I have seen way, way too many dog bites that have occurred at dog parks for my personal comfort. Mostly\u00a0to other dogs, but also to people who reach in to break up a dog fight or a to grab their dog out of harm\u2019s way.\u00a0Even though signage clearly says \u201cEnter at your own risk\u201d and admonishes entrants that the liability they\u2019re undertaking is their own, lawsuits more than often ensue. They\u2019re never simple, they\u2019re always stressful and it may threaten your homeowner\u2019s insurance coverage in the future.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s look at it from a dog\u2019s point of view. Dogs thrive on stable relationships. Notice I did not say \u201cpack!\u201d\u00a0They set up and like to maintain relationships with things that they know: their people, our human friends, their\u00a0dog friends, their housemates, etc. Unless there are the exact same dogs every time they go to the dog park\u00a0(which is nearly impossible), they have to re-establish their relationships with not only the dogs they already know\u00a0in context of the new dog present, but they also have to establish a relationship with that specific new dog. Some dogs\u00a0can handle the stress of this–but most cannot. Thus you\u2019ll get what appears to be random fighting, random aggression\u00a0towards a dog they know, random odd behaviors (\u201cgee, never done that before\u201d), seemingly sudden guarding behaviors (territory, owner, another dog) etc. It\u2019s not random or unpredictable–it\u2019s the stress you, as an owner, causes by going to the dog park! Dog parks require skills that most dogs do not possess, nor would they according to how we have bred\u00a0them for hundreds of years.<\/p>\n

Lastly, I\u2019m very wary of the \u201cunknown\u201d factors. Unknown dogs, unknown owners, unknown relationships and interactions, unknown damages. I don\u2019t like surprises, and dog parks hold way too many unknown factors for dogs\u2019 safety.<\/p>\n

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\u200bOne of my main reasons for not being a dog park advocate is what I can\u2019t control my dog\u2019s experience and\/or other\u00a0people\u2019s dogs (and I think it goes without saying, the dog owners). Because dogs are learning all the time, I must control\u00a0as much of their experiences as possible, so that they build a solid foundation of behaviors that are appropriate and\u00a0desirable, such as impulse control, bite inhabitation, and exchanging rewarding, affiliative, positive social interactions.<\/p>\n

All mammals remember frightening encounters over non-eventful or even fun encounters. It\u2019s a primal survival brain mechanism, designed to keep us alive. Dozens of positive encounters can be overridden by one bad one; thus I must\u00a0make sure my dog has only positive experiences for several years, until they are mature and have a solid foundation\u00a0before I expose them to a possibly unsure environment.
\nIf your dog gets bullied, attacked, frightened or even just overwhelmed at the dog park, he will bring that experience\u00a0and the subsequent conclusions he made with him everywhere. The reactions can vary from \u201cI\u2019m scared and must get\u00a0away as quickly as possible at all costs\u201d to \u201cIf I come on strong and attack first, maybe I\u2019ll be okay,\u201d to just about anything\u00a0in between.<\/p>\n

Also keep in mind that fighting and bullying in dogs is a learned behavior just as much as anything else, and therefore\u00a0once your dog does it a few times, it\u2019s now learned and bound to be repeated over and over again. And make\u00a0no mistake–many dogs enjoy being a jerk! Your best bet is to not let it start in the first place, whether it\u2019s your dog\u00a0being the bully or being the target.<\/p>\n

Of course I recommend dog-to-dog play! If your dog has a few friends that he or she really enjoys, please go for it!
\nSet up play dates, meet somewhere where they can safely run, sprint, wrassle, and jump about. Since dogs generally\u00a0play in pairs, try for either just the two, or in even numbers, you\u2019ll find it works out better. Some dogs only want or need\u00a0a few friends (just like people), and some are social butterflies, and can make friends wherever they go. Pay attention to\u00a0who your dog is, not who you want them to be. Stay within your dog\u2019s comfort zone, and you\u2019ll have a happier, safer dog.<\/p>\n

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So considering all the above, is this something you actually want for your dog? I doubt it! Take your dog for a walk instead<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

am not a Dog Park advocate. October 8, 2015 | Jill Kessler Miller AND HERE’S WHY: I don\u2019t recommend dog parks.\u00a0Not ever. The list of things that can go wrong is so long that it completely outweighs\u00a0the possible attributes; note I say \u201cpossible,\u201d because the positives are, in my opinion, only theoretical. First, dog parks are rife with disease, especially giardia. Soft stool, diarrhea that comes and goes, horrible gas? \u200bHave your vet run a test for giardia. And then, of course, there\u2019s kennel cough, as well other fungi, viruses, fleas and worms. Second, I have seen way, way too many dog bites that have occurred at dog parks for my personal comfort. Mostly\u00a0to other dogs, but also to people who reach in to break up a dog fight or a to grab their dog out of harm\u2019s way.\u00a0Even though signage clearly says \u201cEnter at your own risk\u201d and admonishes entrants that the liability they\u2019re undertaking is their own, lawsuits more than often ensue. They\u2019re never simple, they\u2019re always stressful and it may threaten your homeowner\u2019s insurance coverage in the future. But let\u2019s look at it from a dog\u2019s point of view. Dogs thrive on stable relationships. Notice I did […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,17,18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12451"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12451"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12452,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12451\/revisions\/12452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohiopetexpert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}