A dog park is a park for dogs to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment under the supervision of their owners. This is a no brainer, isn’t it? However, there are still these top 3 mistakes dog owners commit at dog parks.
Not picking up after a dog
It is a must to scoop up after your dog does her business. One should think that there are a lot of diseases and parasites living in dog waste that other dogs can contract upon contact to the dog waste. After all. We know that dogs may have the possibility to touch, roll in, or eat it.
Not exercising a dog before taking her into a park.
For one dog that spends most of his time at home, then suddenly bringing him to an extremely stimulating environment is a big no-no. The reason behind this is because most likely, his energy has been pent-up. He might start running around that other dogs start to chase him, be a prey of other dogs or simply get into fight with other dogs. These are the situations one should avoid by exercising your dog regularly and having cooling off period. To understand further the biological needs of our canine companions, Raymond and Lorna Coppinger wrote Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution which will also include tons of tips for dog owners.
Picking up a dog in a fight
When it is understandable that picking up your dog in a fight is a way of protecting your pup, it is not a good idea. The most obvious reason is the possibility of getting bitten. Picking up a dog in fight will make you put your face too close to snapping jaws.
Chatting with other humans or spending more time looking at smart phone rather than supervising the dogs.
There should be no other priority when bringing your dog at the park other than playing or exercising your dog. Chatting with other humans or spending more time with your smartphone should not take priority over supervising dogs. We do not want the scenario wherein your dog is just staring at you while you are busy with other things, while your dog also wonders if you will be playing with him. If you cannot fully commit on supervising your dog while you are at the park then you can hire a dog walker to do the job for you.