Creating Success at the Dog Park - Part 1

Despite the rainy weather, the pack visited the dog park - a rare occurrence in and of itself! Cody has been to a dog park three times - twice to this dog park and once to the meet up. While these won't be the only visits he'll make to dog parks, each one has to be approached with a strategy, goal, and contingency plan in place. While this may seem like a lot, it isn't!

The first part is having a plan. For me, that plan always starts out by taking a short to moderate walk on the way to the dog park to let the dog release a bit of tension and energy from sitting still for most of the day. We visit quieter areas of the dog park first. At this dog park there are three spaces - a wooded trail area seen directly above, a large open field, and a smaller area just for small, shy, or senior dogs. I start out in the wooded area because it encourages continual movement, partially or completely blocks the vision of other dogs in the park, and has so many interesting smells and little nooks to investigate that it encourages individual exploration rather than immediate dog:dog interaction.

I'm not against canine interaction, but I want it to be a positive interaction from two dogs who are displaying appropriate language with moderate energy - neither highly shy, reactive, or even highly excited. While this isn't always possible this is my goal - moderated interactions that allow for play periods of increased energy built on appropriate doggy language from both dogs. Since many dogs come into the dog park already highly excited and likely frustrated from sitting in a house, car, or kennel all day, I do not want two dogs in that state of mind to meet - and therefore we start out in a quiet area of the park away from other dogs.

In the picture above we see a good example of mixed energy. Cody is greeting a terrier mix on the other side of the fence. Cody is tense, his tail partially flagged, and a front paw is raised in an appeasement gesture. Cody wants to meet this dog and engage with him, but he's also a little nervous. The terrier on the other side had an even more aroused energy and really wanted to play with Cody (which would have intimidated Cody). After a few seconds of interaction I encouraged Cody to move on. Stasis in dog parks is unwelcome - keep the dogs (and therefore brains) moving and engaging with the enviroment. The more the dogs have to interest them rather than a single dog, the better. Besides, one of the reasons we go to dog parks is to encourage our dogs to move, play, and run - and none of that is accomplished standing still!

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