Dog Park Etiquette

Our city built its first dog park a few years ago and our family became one of the first families to take advantage of the four and a half acre fenced in dog park. Many of the regular families began to see some unpleasant behaviors from visiting dogs and humans. Some of these behaviors discouraged first time families from returning to the dog park. By using the etiquettes below you can ensure that you and your dog have fun while visiting the dog park.

When Arriving
Most, if not all, dog parks have a double gate entry. The double gates work by walking through one gate into a small opening and closing the first gate behind you. After, and only after, closing the first gate do you open the second gate that leads into the dog park. The double gates are employed so that any dogs near the gates cannot escape the park as you enter.

Not properly using the double gates can lead to tragedy. On one of our regular visits we witnessed such a tragedy. A young woman arrived with her german shepherd in tow while chatting on her cell phone she blatantly opened the first gate and plowed right on through the second gate not closing either gate behind her. Unfortunately, a medium sized dog was near the gate and ran out before anyone could get over the gate. The escaping dog ran right in front of another arriving car and was severely injured.

Use the Trash
Just because you are at a dog park does not mean you don't have to pick up after yourself and your dog. Whether your dog park provides doggie pickup bags or you have to provide them you must pick up your dogs feces. Thousands of dogs and people may come in contact with your dogs feces. Your dogs feces may spread bacteria onto another dogs toys and then onto the hands of a child or adult that is visiting the dog park with their dog.

The trash cans at dog parks are not just for bags of feces. Many humans bring food and drinks into the dog park but forget, or refuse, to throw away the containers from their food and drinks. Please feel free to place all trash into the provided trash cans at your local dog park.

Bigotry and Racism
The misconceptions that people have regarding dogs and people never cease to amaze me. Yes there are breeds that are more dominant and yes there are people that are not like you. That does not automatically make the dog or the people trouble.

We all bring our personal baggage and misconceptions with us to the dog park. It's just who we are as people, however we need to remember that just like people, not all dogs are created equal. Not every pitbull that walks through the gate will be aggressive and not every jack russell that walks through the gate will be a hyper, jumping, ball obsessed, bundle of energy. On the same line, not all tattooed bald guys are skin heads and not all average looking people are "normal."

Use common courtesy and ettiquette and give each dog and person that walk through the gates of the dog park a fair chance. Do not assume that the particular breed will be trouble and do not assume that the person will act the way they look.