DOG PARK ETIQUETTE SUGGESTIONS

The best dog parks are those whose users band together to create a sense of community, and who use education and peer pressure to enforce common sense dog park etiquette.

Dog park suggestions generally fall into three categories: appropriate dog behavior, appropriate human behavior, and what to do when someone doesn’t follow the rules.

Appropriate dog behavior suggestions

Not all dogs are good candidates for dog park play. A dog park is not the appropriate place for dogs who have serious behavior problems in relation to other dogs or humans. Dogs with these kinds of “issues” should be carefully socialized in environments that are far more controlled than a dog park while their owners do behavior modification work. Consider the following carefully before taking your dog through the gate into your local dog park.

• Dog-park dogs should be friendly and outgoing, without being overbearing, obnoxious, or bullying.
• Your dog should be reasonably confident and social. Those who are fearful, aggressive, or reactive are not appropriate for dog parks.
• Basic good manners are a park prerequisite. Your dog should not body-slam, mouth, jump on kids, or mark (leg-lift) humans in the park, nor should he jump into laps of random sitting humans without invitation.
• Dogs that dig can cause serious injuries to others so prevention of this behavior is important. If a dog digs a hole - please promptly fill it back in.
  
• Only healthy dogs should visit dog parks. Obviously, communicable diseases and parasites are unacceptable as these can affect and infect other dogs. Structural un-soundness that can cause pain (hip dysphasia, arthritis, etc.) are a high risk factor for causing aggression when a dog is hurt or stressed by the anticipation of being hurt.
• Before you turn him loose to play, remove all of your dog’s gear except for the easily removable plain buckle collar or harness that (we hope!) holds your dog’s ID. It’s very common for a dog to get his teeth or jaw caught in his playmate’s gear (spiked collars are very dangerous to dogs who are playing with other dogs and humans); some dogs have suffered broken jaws, and others have choked to death before they could be freed.

Human behavior suggestions

Because we humans are responsible for our dogs’ behaviors we play a critically important role in making sure proper etiquette is adhered to, by our dogs as well as ourselves.

• We suggest the first time you take your dog to the park it be at non-peak use hours, which will allow both of you to acquaint yourselves with the environment without the stress and distraction of multiple dogs.
• We recommend that dogs in heat be kept far away from the park.
  
• Even though your dog may be docile, the pheromones an unfixed dog emits can cause aggression in other dogs.
• Obey all posted park rules, even if you disagree with them.
• Don’t bring small children inside the dog park. Occasionally, dogs who are running fast in a chasing game will accidentally run into a adult, sometimes even knocking down a full-size person. Imagine what could happen to your toddler and that’s just from an accident, not even from the attention of a large dog with a strong prey drive who has never been socialized to small children!
• Keep puppies under the age of four months at home. They aren’t fully immunized yet, so are at higher risk for contracting diseases, and are very vulnerable to being traumatized by another dog’s inappropriate behavior.
• Be realistic about your dog’s potential as a park playmate. The dog park is not the appropriate place to work on fixing your dog’s aggressive behavior problems.
• Watch park play for several minutes before you take your dog inside to be sure there are no dogs present who are inappropriate play partners for your dog.
• Remove your dog’s leash as soon as you enter the off-leash area.
  
• To avoid congestion and aggression please keep your off leash dogs away from the gates.
  
• Releash your dog upon leaving the park.
• Flexi, Extention, or long training leashes are dangerous to both dogs and their owners. If you must use one, please retract it to a very short length.
• Please carefully supervise your dog’s play. Watch your dog at all times and especially when playing with other dogs. Be prepared to interrupt inappropriate play whether your dog is the perpetrator or the victim.
• Some of us have found a product called Sprayshield effective for breaking up packing aggression before it escalates. When triggered it sprays a mild citronella spray at a range up to 10 feet and because dogs hate the smell of citrus they immediately break up the pack. The label says that it does not work on dogs who are severely aggressive and one dog ( who is large and very docile seems totally immune to the smell) but I have observed its effectiveness and recommend it.
• Standing and talking in close knit groups causes dogs to run circles around their owners and form packs. This may lead to their protecting their owners, which can cause aggressive behavior in some dogs. It may be better to walk along, as you continue conversations.
  
• If you are disabled or find walking painful, do ask others for help to watch, pick up after, and supervise your dog.
• If someone complains about your dog’s behavior, be prepared to consider his or her perspective before defending your dog, or ignoring the complaint. Apologize if your dog's behavior has been inappropriate, and be willing to leave the park if your dog is being too rough. If you really disagree with the person’s assessment of your dog’s behavior, ask someone you respect for their honest and frank opinion.
• Be polite, even if someone else’s dog is inappropriate and the owner isn’t controlling her or his dog or is unwilling to take that dog out of the park.
• Keep the dog-human ratio manageable. A standard recommendation is no more than two or three dogs per person assuming those two to three dogs can be reasonably managed by one human!
  
• Remember: not all dogs enjoy playing with others. Be willing to leave if your dog isn’t having a good time. Some dogs enjoy a small circle of intimate friends but aren’t keen on crowds. Some enjoy park play as youngsters, but less so as they mature. If you love going to the park but your dog doesn’t, go without him! Go with a friend who has a more gregarious canine, or go dog-less and socialize with other owners.
• Of course, as always, clean up after your dog religiously both inside and outside the park. Be willing to clean up unclaimed piles of dog poop from visitors who don’t know or don’t follow dog-park etiquette, or perhaps who just didn’t notice their dog leaving a fecal souvenir .
• If a human or a dog is behaving inappropriately, assume they don’t know any better, and do your best to educate gently and politely.
• If you’re uncomfortable doing so, seek out the help of another park user for support. As a responsible dog-park user, you have an obligation to report inappropriate actions of other users that put the safety of dogs and humans at risk. How would you feel if you turned a blind eye to a potentially dangerous behavior, only to have another person or dog injured perhaps seriously or fatally if an incident happens in the future that you might have been able to prevent?

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Examples of positive phrases to use with an owner might include:

• Ask newcomers if they know that the state and city are not providing trash containers. It up to us to keep the park clean by picking up the stray poop and trash we see and carrying it out of the park. Offer folks who don't have one a bag and show them the locations where containers of clean bags can be found. Explain that we can all keep these containers full - with plastic bags from home and by taking bags from the recycling bins in the lobbies or outside most supermarkets.
• I myself do not always see my own dogs defecate and I try to make up for this by picking up any poop I see (and double bagging the contents to eliminate the smell), carrying the bags out of the park and disposing of them in a trash container.
• Most dogs want privacy when they poop and they go by the fence--often without their owners observing them go.
• Asking other doggers for help has been working so well that sometimes when I see my dogs going -- a fellow dogger yells out "I got It" as they bag the poop and carry it away before I have a chance to.
• If inappropriate actions are putting you or your dog at risk and the other dog owner isn’t receptive to education, take your dog and leave the park until you can ask the users’ group or other park authorities to handle the situation.
• The City has posted Rules for Dog Park Use on a sign at the entrance to the park. Please read and follow them.

The positive approach generally works better with humans, just as it does with dogs.