Dog Park - Concerns With Off-leash Dog Parks

Concerns With Off-leash Dog Parks

Establishing a dog park can create contention within a community when residents worry about noise, smell, and traffic. The town of Leesburg took eight years to approve a small dog park in Loudoun County, Virginia that will hold only 20 dogs at once. The town of South Windsor, CT built a Bark Park on town owned land within a few hundred feet of private residences, without discussion nor notification of the homeowners. The homeowners hear barking dogs and car traffic while in their homes. This has led to a lawsuit against the town for noise nuisance. Laurel Allen, author of Dog Parks: Benefits and Liabilities points out that very few experienced experts in park design or dog behavior are consulted during the design process of dog parks:

Most dog parks result from the perceived needs of a local dog owners' community without guidance or input from experienced park designers, veterinarians, or experts on dog behavior. There is no comprehensive reference manual outlining the requirements for the design of a safe and well-maintained dog park. The only available reference for local dog park advocates is Susyn Stecchi's So You Want to Build a Dog Park? (2006), which was written from the perspective of an AAHA certified animal hospital practice manager and dog owner and co-founder of the first public dog park in Florida; Susyn operates a business that promotes dog park construction, called DogParks USA. Untapped authorities who could be used to assist novices in the design of dog parks include livestock farmers, cattlemen and ranchers, game-farmers, veterinarians, kennel owners, and zookeepers most of whom have had decades of experiences with animal husbandry.

Some experts caution that a dog park is no substitute for the daily walk, and contend that if owners walk their dogs on the leash for at least 20–30 minutes per day and play with them for 15 minutes daily, their dogs will be well-adjusted to the urban environment.

Before introducing a dog park to the community, it is best to plan thoroughly, advocate for a park on the local level with partners that can help, like public parks staff, solicit for funding, and establish a set of firm rules that will be strictly enforced by dog park officials. A primary objective - and one of the toughest - is to ensure that the location is appropriate for the dogs, their owners, and the community. The park should not be placed in environmentally sensitive areas, and it must be free of poisonous plants that might hurt the dogs and dangerous topography such as steep cliffs that might present a danger to their owners. The second objective is to ensure that the park is safe for dogs, people, and wildlife. This generally will require the park to be a some distance away from traffic to mitigate any concerns, and always requires an appropriate fence or barrier to ensure that dogs do not run away and end up in precarious situations, and adequate lighting if dog parks are open past sunset. A third objective is to make sure the size of the dog park is appropriate. Dog parks that are too big can result in opportunities for dogs to learn and demonstrate anti-social, dominant behavior, which can result in fights without swift intervention by their guardians. Smaller dog park allows an owner to react more quickly if their dog becomes unruly, but these allow only a few dogs in at a time.

Allowing dogs off-leash in the safety of a dog park is an excellent way to socialize dogs, but they must be supervised at all times. When people converse with each other they can lose sight of their dogs, which can lead to trouble. Some owners are unaware of "dog language" and inadvertently read signs of aggression where there are none. Still others ignore warning signs or mistakenly think that a stiff wagging tail means that a dog is friendly.

Some people keep their dogs locked up in a crate during the week, only to unleash their dogs in a dog park on the weekend without proper exercise, creating issues; and still others allow dogs with illnesses or unvaccinated dogs to run alongside healthy dogs. Dogs who are shy or aggressive can learn to interact safely with other dogs if their owners take the time to learn about dog behavior and acclimate them at the dog park.

The right kind of socialization is essential to the normal development of a family pet. Dogs are social creatures that crave the attention of people and the companionship of other dogs. This ability to spend time productively with both people and play with other dogs does not just come about naturally, it must be carefully fostered.

Offleash Area Segregation: Some dog parks have separate play spaces for large and small dogs. Others have one large area for dogs of all sizes. There is debate about this issue, as some argue that dogs should be segregated by size (see reference for one example in an editorial column of a newspaper), while others feel that dogs of all sizes can and should socialize together.

In any case, dog owners must make sure their dogs are well-socialized, and watch carefully so that they can intervene if the dog acts anti-socially towards other dogs or humans.