Taking Your Dog To The Dog Park Is Not Enough

The dog park is a great place. But it shouldn't be your entire exercise regimen for your dog.

I really love taking my dogs to the dog park. They can run around, play with other dogs, chase squirrels up trees, splash around in water and roll around in the dirt. However, I have learned that this is simply not enough to exercise or socialize them fully. Since the dog park is packed with very rewarding experiences, it is much more natural for dogs to have access to it as a reward at the end of their walk rather than taking the place of their walk.

The dog park is filled with a variety of energy levels and dominance levels, and this is multiplied by the number of dogs who are there. Many times the dogs who are at the dog park were not walked before being taken there, and this can increase the tension between the dogs.

So if your dogs need to get their energy out from a focused activity like walking isn't enough incentive to take them to the dog park after their walk, remember that most dogs at the dog park will have a hyper and tense energy because their owners probably didn't walk them either. This will rub off on your dog if he hasn't had his needs met before going to the park. Excitement mixed with an over abundance of energy usually doesn't end well for everyone at the dog park.

I recommend that my clients take their dog for a good long bike ride or walk before going to the dog park, using the dog park as a reward, and intentionally socializing their dog in many settings so their dog doesn't get used to only meeting new dogs at one location.