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dog park or not?

jtj

Member
i was just reading another post where someone said why would you take a dogo to a dog park? I do realize their capability. A friend of mine breeds dogos. His male is 160 lbs. he said he takes him all the time and hes good. I've got 2 boys, they're 3 1/2 months. I would love to start taking them after they have had all they're shots at 4 months, for socialization, and was wondering what other dogo owners might have to say about this.
 

TylerDurden

Well-Known Member
I‘m not sure if there is a lot of active dogo owners on the forum, so my response is a "general Mastiff" response.
I personally don‘t take my Mastiff to dog parks for the simple reason that I do not trust other owners. In other words, I don‘t want my dog to get in trouble because of irresponsible owners. He plays well with other dogs, but at a smaller more controllable environment (e.g. friend has a huge yard and a large dog he plays with).
 

glen

Super Moderator
Staff member
I dont take my 3 ccs to dog parks, too many owners with uncontrollable dogs, as pups yours could get hurt or have bad experiences, iv found them to be a free for all just to let dogs do as they want, i didnt want a dog coming over showing aggression to my pups with an owner nowhere in sight to control them, the pups natural instinct will either be to attack back or get fearful of other dogs,
I agree with tyler, a controlled play with people and dogs you know is what i did, that way its a good experience for the pups and you can control the behaviour to what you want when they are fully grown .
 

trg

Well-Known Member
I dont take my 3 ccs to dog parks, too many owners with uncontrollable dogs, as pups yours could get hurt or have bad experiences, iv found them to be a free for all just to let dogs do as they want, i didnt want a dog coming over showing aggression to my pups with an owner nowhere in sight to control them, the pups natural instinct will either be to attack back or get fearful of other dogs,
I agree with tyler, a controlled play with people and dogs you know is what i did, that way its a good experience for the pups and you can control the behaviour to what you want when they are fully grown .
So totally different perspective here, as living in the country, I don’t want my two dogs getting accustomed to other dogs. My Greater Swiss Mtn Dog has dog aggression anyways. If introduced in a friendly environment she copes well. If a dog randomly comes in the yard she puts on quite the show of aggression ( this happened a month ago with a large spainial type) So with that in mind, so a rabid coyote wanders into the yard then I know the kids would be safe. With Georgia and hopefully Gus, when going to the vet and whatnot they are different, we still watch Georgia close and take precautions, she will gruff and that’s about it.
 

Bailey's Mom

Super Moderator
Super Moderator
We love our dog park. It's large and has different elevations, good paths and different areas: open field, woods, meadow, paths. Small Dog Area, too. Oh, there are things that I would change, and occasionally (very occasionally) we have problem dogs come in and we have to break up fights that thankfully are more sound and fury than actually bloody. By and large it is a congenial community of caring dog lovers, so we all act protectively of our dogs. For instance, yesterday a very cute, very small wire haired (?) something with one blue eye and one brown, was tumbled painfully by two Rottie-mixes. I didn't wait for their owner to jump in, I did and rescued the little fellow and scolded the Rottie-mixes. When their mom caught up with me she wasn't angry, she thanked me. Yup, I used my Mom Voice, the "Do It or Else Voice" and it stopped them dead in their tracks.

Look, dog parks can be wonderful depending on the people that use them. I'm constantly asking people to read the rules posted at the gate. No puppies younger than 4 months (all shots), no aggressive dogs or dogs that can't be controlled; dog tags; current shots, etc., etc., Obligations to clean up after their pets and a suggestion (big one) that small children don't work well in a dog playground. Putting your 20 or 30 lb child down on the ground to wander around large, hurtling dogs is bad parenting 20-30 lbs against an 130 lb Corso running at 30 MPH. Bad Mistake! But, if everyone adheres to the rules, respects the other members and supports healthy play, it becomes a wonderful place. My dog loves it. It is her happy place.

I love my dog and my dog loves visiting her friends at the dog park. She has a reputation for kindness and often steps in to rescue smaller dogs being harassed. She loves the smaller pups. I didn't believe it at first, but other people told me about the times they've witnessed her settling an issue with more aggressive dogs. She gets in between and gives them the look..."run along." And then she turns and gives love to her little friend and they play. She's the best dog citizen that I know.

Personally, I love the dog park. I hope you find one as good as ours.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
I am also not a fan of dog parks for the reasons Michele, Glen, and Tyler stated. I will use the area surrounding the park for training. At a very safe distance, it can be useful for working with reactive dogs or working around high distractions. You still have to be very aware and make sure you can get away if you need to, in the case of reactivity.
 

Sheila Braund

Well-Known Member
i was just reading another post where someone said why would you take a dogo to a dog park? I do realize their capability. A friend of mine breeds dogos. His male is 160 lbs. he said he takes him all the time and hes good. I've got 2 boys, they're 3 1/2 months. I would love to start taking them after they have had all they're shots at 4 months, for socialization, and was wondering what other dogo owners might have to say about this.

Hi, and this is a great question. Myself I live out in the country and Bella has well over 100 acres to run, so no dog park for us....we live on a dog park pretty much..lol.
If I was looking at taking my pups I would first get the go a head by my vet to make sure my pups are well protected with their shots.... Next I would go just myself to observe..... I would do that a couple times a round the times of the day that you'll be taking your pups.... Then you'll see the regulars and ask them questions as per if they believe it's a positive environment for pups / dogs
Then go from there.

PS if I haven't had a chance to say welcome to the forum...Welcome!
Also and there's a strict policy..... Show us the puppy pictures....:p haha just kidding...
But just so you know this community loves puppy pictures :D
 

Zeela

Well-Known Member
Zeela loves the dog park, she gets to play with her friends and her male CC friend named Zuess and they run and they tire themselves out. Fortunately, we had no bad incidents, everyone seems to keep a close eye on their dog. So I am all for the dog park and so is Zeela, she's knows we are going when I put her red bandanna on & she gets so excited, plus the fact, that it gives me a break & I've met some new kool dog people. :)
 

April Nicole

Well-Known Member
I think it just depends on the park. If we had one like Baileys mom, then I would go for it. Unfortunately ours leaves much to be desired. It's actually just a small fenced lot. We have done as Boxergirl mentioned and taken ours "near" the dog park for training. I saw a woman last week show up with 2 huge border collies. There were already 2 women in there that had 1 large mix breed and 2 small terriers. Upon arriving the one lady brought her mix breed to the enclosure to allow the woman to bring in the collies. So the women walks the collies in, unhooks their leash, then hightailed it back to her car?? The woman w the mix was just standing there befuddled....

It's situations like that, that make me choose to not use the dog park. Now we do go to a large open field park with a walking track. People are allowed to bring their dogs, but they must be on leash. And the space is so large that you can avoid people altogether if you choose to.
 

Zeela

Well-Known Member
I think it just depends on the park. If we had one like Baileys mom, then I would go for it. Unfortunately ours leaves much to be desired. It's actually just a small fenced lot. We have done as Boxergirl mentioned and taken ours "near" the dog park for training. I saw a woman last week show up with 2 huge border collies. There were already 2 women in there that had 1 large mix breed and 2 small terriers. Upon arriving the one lady brought her mix breed to the enclosure to allow the woman to bring in the collies. So the women walks the collies in, unhooks their leash, then hightailed it back to her car?? The woman w the mix was just standing there befuddled....

It's situations like that, that make me choose to not use the dog park. Now we do go to a large open field park with a walking track. People are allowed to bring their dogs, but they must be on leash. And the space is so large that you can avoid people altogether if you choose to.
Yeah, I am sure it does depend on the dog park. The only breed that seems to starts problems in our park is the pit bulls, they are very aggressive. I keep a close watch on Zeela especially when she gets in that pack mode where she goes from behind than I intervene. For the most part, she has so much fun and gets her energy out. so it's a win win for us! ;)
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
I used the dog park when Lettie was little enough to control. When she hit 7 months old, she was stronger than me so we stopped going. We have a nice dog park here, there are irresponsible owners though. I always stayed right next to Lettie. So I was there to protect her if anything went wrong. There were several owners who let their dogs do whatever wherever while they checked Facebook.

While Lettie was a puppy it was a FANTASTIC tool! A tired puppy is a good puppy and the dog park wore her out! She also learned a lot from other dogs. I noticed a huge difference in her bite pressure when we started going there. And it was nice to see how she reacted to other dogs.

I think Sheila had great advice about going and checking it out before you bring the pup. In my experience, the people at the dog park were very friendly and the “regulars” really knew the environment. They will probably be able to tell you the busy times and slow times also.
 

jtj

Member
What an excellent community:)! Really glad I joined in. Not sure what I will do. I would like to see how they would react. I suppose if I did decide to go to one, I would leave my guys in the truck and go in 1st to talk with any and everyone there beforehand. Would definitely bring a friend also since I have 2. Ill be mulling it over for some time, plus we still have to work on our training before i would consider. Theyre now 3 1/2 although they listen well in the house, not so well outside. Brodie my smaller guy is great on the leash. Frankie has recently started putting on the brakes. Hard. So Ill have to figure out how to get over that.
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Zeela

Well-Known Member
What an excellent community:)! Really glad I joined in. Not sure what I will do. I would like to see how they would react. I suppose if I did decide to go to one, I would leave my guys in the truck and go in 1st to talk with any and everyone there beforehand. Would definitely bring a friend also since I have 2. Ill be mulling it over for some time, plus we still have to work on our training before i would consider. Theyre now 3 1/2 although they listen well in the house, not so well outside. Brodie my smaller guy is great on the leash. Frankie has recently started putting on the brakes. Hard. So Ill have to figure out how to get over that.
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Hey, I just want to clarify that I did not take Zeela to the park until she was about 8 months old & had her rabies. I do not think it is a good idea to bring them before 6 months at least.
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
4 months is too young, in my opinion. If you want to use a dog park for socialization around strange dogs (and their stranger humans), you need to make sure the puppy is mature enough to handle the situations....

Find a trainer that runs a puppy play group - supervised play with other puppies the same age - that will be MUCH more helpful for your puppy's mental development than dogs of all ages at a "free for all" dog park.

Denna was 7 or 8 months old when we first went to the off leash park. She was big enough to not be a target (giant breed puppies are MAJOR targets of bullying by smaller breeds), and she listened well enough that I was confident I could talk her through anything... and we DID have a situation occur pretty quickly on entering our HUGE (40 acre) dog park. An over-amorous lab would NOT leave her alone... she couldn't back up fast enough to get away from him, and was getting ready to SNAP at him when I stepped in, told the lab to leave it (which he did!), and then helped Denna to "shake it off"... which she did! She ended up running after the lab and they both enjoyed a game of chase after that - with no more humping attempts. :)

Denna loves the park, and I trust her not to engage in bad behavior. She will defend herself - but I make sure I'm there to step in if that's ever a consideration. Our big park is awesome for long runs off-leash, swimming in the river and some good butt-sniffing. We always go mid-day during the week for minimum crowds. The bigger crowds on weekends bring out the weekend warriors and overly stressed and wound up dogs looking to blow off steam.... which can be recipe for a bad experience.
 

Zeela

Well-Known Member
So, starting up this thread again. Zeela & I had a bad experience this past weekend at the dog park, some mixed lab/pitbull dog came in & basically tried to attack her, trying to bite her & nasty growling/barking noises. I never heard her scream sooo loud, I ran and slid into mud and grabbed her from underneath & told the owner, get your f#%kin dog off of mine. Don't ask me how I picked her up. Zeela is only like 20 lbs lighter than me. The guy who's dog was attacking mine, I think went into shock and mind you he is a man and I am a female & my dog is bigger. Crazy, anyway, we are fine, she just got freaked out and after we left, hosed our muddy selves off at home. I did take her the next day because I know she has fun there & I got her back. It was bad at the time, her screaming is what terrified me. Loud & loud, she's gentle. So, i still believe in the dog park, you just gotta really pay attention.
 

April Nicole

Well-Known Member
So, starting up this thread again. Zeela & I had a bad experience this past weekend at the dog park, some mixed lab/pitbull dog came in & basically tried to attack her, trying to bite her & nasty growling/barking noises. I never heard her scream sooo loud, I ran and slid into mud and grabbed her from underneath & told the owner, get your f#%kin dog off of mine. Don't ask me how I picked her up. Zeela is only like 20 lbs lighter than me. The guy who's dog was attacking mine, I think went into shock and mind you he is a man and I am a female & my dog is bigger. Crazy, anyway, we are fine, she just got freaked out and after we left, hosed our muddy selves off at home. I did take her the next day because I know she has fun there & I got her back. It was bad at the time, her screaming is what terrified me. Loud & loud, she's gentle. So, i still believe in the dog park, you just gotta really pay attention.

So glad u and Zeela are OK. The adrenaline caused you to be able to lift her... It definitely could have been a lot worse. Unfortunately, since Zeela is a large dominate breed, dogs are going to try to dominate, or attack her. Hopefully that guy realizes he can't bring his dog back to the dog park.
Maybe go when regulars are there that get along well w Zeela. And watch out for strange large dogs.
 

Zeela

Well-Known Member
So glad u and Zeela are OK. The adrenaline caused you to be able to lift her... It definitely could have been a lot worse. Unfortunately, since Zeela is a large dominate breed, dogs are going to try to dominate, or attack her. Hopefully that guy realizes he can't bring his dog back to the dog park.
Maybe go when regulars are there that get along well w Zeela. And watch out for strange large dogs.
This dog was not large, much smaller than Zeela. I always say, nothing against pit bulls but they seem to be the only ones who causes us problems. This was a lab/pitbull mix. anyway, yes, adrenaline works wonders. It's a crap shoot when you go to the park as far as who will be there. Don't get me wrong, I've seen her get a little aggressive with dogs, however, I watch her & intervene.