Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Why Dog Parks Drive Me Crazy

As a dog owner, dog parks might seem like a perfect place for your dog to burn off energy and make new friends. But before you head out, it's worth reconsidering. While dog parks may seem like a canine paradise, they can often do more harm than good.

Busy as Burke street

Dog parks were originally meant for off-leash exercise and training, but today they’re often spaces where dogs practice high-arousal behaviours around unfamiliar dogs. This can lead to leash reactivity, pulling, or inappropriate social interactions that lead to conflict. Without any assessment of the dog’s you and your own canine companion will be interacting with, you never know what you’re walking into. Instead, owners should aim for calm, controlled meet-and-greets with dogs who share similar play styles.

Unreliable Recall Training

Remember, dog’s can see, hear, and smell way better than you - imagine how overstimulating dog parks are! With all these distractions, plus how interesting and fun play with other dogs would be to your own dog, this makes it a hard environment to practice a reliable recall, particularly in the teaching phase. In these environments, dogs are more likely focus more on play than on responding to cues, making recall inconsistent. Over time, they might even associate parks with freedom and ignore your calls in other situations.

Relationship Impacts

While it might seem like a bonding experience to let your dog run free, dog parks can weaken the connection between you and your dog. They’re distracted and less focused on you, with play interactions with other dogs being far more reinforcing than interactions the average owner will offer their pet in these environments. This means less attention on cues leaving no possibilities for correcting undesirable behaviour through environmental management, settling techniques, or redirection to an alternate more desirable behaviour. Additionally, if you have a dog that’s shy, fearful, or lacks confidence, a dog park can be overwhelming. Instead of helping your dog become more comfortable in social situations, the overstimulation and unpredictable behaviour can cause stress, and leads to the development of many general and social disorders such as anxiety.

Controlled Socialisation - A Better Way

Instead of dog parks, consider structured environments like training classes or supervised meetups. These settings provide a safe, controlled space where dogs can interact and also learn to disengage following along with the human at the other end of the leash. It’s a great way for dogs to learn at their own pace while helping you build confidence in managing various situations.

Dog parks can seem fun, but the risks outweigh the rewards. By focusing on positive training and controlled socialisation, you’ll strengthen your dog’s social skills and build a stronger bond.