Dog Park Etiquette

If you've spent any time in a dog park, or a public space with dogs for that matter, you're probably familiar with this scene. A small dog (often with an unfortunate name like Princess or Mr. Pickles) who doesn't stray far from their owner and meets other dogs with complete hostility. When you think of dog park etiquette, you'd think these disgruntled little Napoleons would be the ultimate offenders; but more often than not, they aren't. It's their crazy owners that create the problem.

I'm not trying to judge my fellow pet lovers, and I am definitely not claiming to be perfect, but there are just some things that you shouldn't do if you want a sociable, well-adjusted dog. For example, don't bring a baggie full of dog treats to a park with 30 other dogs, give them to your pup and then wonder why it acts aggressively when other curious noses appear. When said dog acts aggressively don't correct reward him by luring him over to a secluded corner of the park with yet another treat, ball, or toy. This is a positive outcome for unfortunate behavior (that you created, by the way) and your pet doesn't understand your full sentence explanations about why "it's not nice to growl and bite at other doggies like that. You can't make friends by being mean, so don't do that anymore, ok? Be nice." Your dog will respond with some variation of:  *blink* *blink* Is that a treat?

And God forbid you actually start feeding other people's dogs. I'm astounded that we see people bringing food into the park for their pets, but when they start feeding other people's dogs that's crossing a strange sort of line that I didn't even know existed until it happened. I never expected to have such a strong reaction to this, but the small handful of people who I've seen do it have really irritated me. We have a friendly pup and his sniffer's pretty darn good, so it usually doesn't take him long to figure out who is sneaking treats to their dog every minute and a half. He's also generally smart, so he'll hang out in this person's vicinity just in case they should lose a treat. Some people act irritated that he's hanging around expecting to get some of their dog's treats (the nerve!) and others find him endearing and share the wealth. How am I supposed to teach my dog not to harass or jump on you when you keep giving him treats? I also have no idea what that treat is and you don't know what I feed my dog on a regular basis. What happens when he gets rawhide as a treat and not doggie cookies, and those 8 biscuits you just gave my 17 pound dog means I have to deal with the runs for two days? 

Today's treat giver was a special kind of irritating. Not only did this family bring a ton of treats for their overly aggressive "in-tact" dog, they also brought some toys. At one point in time this lovely gentleman was taunting another woman's dog with the toy, pretending like he was going to throw it for him. When her dog remained glued to his side, barking at him, she naturally tried to get him to stop. But I think we all knew there's little you can do (other than confuse the hell out of your dog) when the other person is actively working against you. The solution, in this case, was to call it a day. Their tummies and our blood pressure didn't need any more of that nonsense.

All too often, the dogs that get a bad reputation for behavior that's not entirely their fault. Yes some dogs naturally have more agressive temperaments than others, but they are ultimately a product of their environment. I still like to think that these cardinal rule breakers really do have the best of intentions and don't understand that they are often a source of tension for both people and pets.

(For the record, Bear has never gotten sick from other people at the park - yet.)

Here's some more official Dog Park Etiquette, based on things other than my personal opinion.

For more amazingly ridiculous photos: www.ihasahotdog.com