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FROM overstimulated dogs that can’t be recalled, to anxious pups and obsessive ball chasers, dog parks are rife with problems and may be doing your dog more harm than good.
That’s the view of dog behavioural expert Ian Shivers who says many owners are using dog parks all wrong.
“The biggest mistake people make is assuming their dog knows what to do at a dog park,” says the founder of Bondi Behaviourist.
“When a dog leaves the house, no dog on earth is trying to exercise, no dog is trying to lose weight or maintain its fitness, and they’re not actually out to socialise.
“Dog parks are a completely man-made concept.
“Essentially it’s a group of strangers standing in a field being a little bit weird.”
Shivers says owners assume dog parks are the best way to socialise their animal without understanding what healthy interactions look like or reading their pet’s body language.
Trying to force nervous dogs to make friends can instil more fear, while hyping up dogs in a bid to tire them out can lead to anti-social animals who can’t read others’ cues.
“And dog parks that are fenced, I personally avoid because I know they attract people who don’t have recall,” he said.
“I know that dog is probably a bit of a loose unit being allowed to just burn off excess energy. It’s a bit of a recipe for disaster,” he said.
If you want to make dog parks a positive experience, these are Shiver’s tips.
Take your dog in calmly and build their tolerance slowly to other dogs in their space.
Make yourself the focus and practise recalling your dog.
Reward calm behaviour and don’t overstimulate them.
“Your gauge is if can he sit and stay and hear you, he’s coherent,” says Shivers.
“We’re trying to keeping a dog in a social, coherent frame of mind in a dog park.”
If your dog ticks those boxes, then let him off the lead and build from there.
If you can’t pay attention to what’s happening, don’t go.
If your dog is not wanting to go off and engage, attentionseeking on you, or the other extreme, is just relentlessly into everything, back off and talk to a trainer.
It’s also a recipe for disaster in a dog park packed with variable training levels and anxieties.
Socialising and play requires having a conversation.
It's a series of invites and back offs.
Don’t take in balls and frisbees – they are valued resources your dog or other dogs could potentially guard. It's a quick way to cause conflict and ruin everyone’s day.
Instead, train them to go into parks calmly, interact and socialise.
If your dog is nervous or shows signs of stress, you can either build its tolerance up gradually by creating calm or positive experiences at the park or cut your losses.