First time at dog park
 

On Sunday later on the evening I took Suzi at a local dog park , it was still a little warm outside but not so hot, anyway they have two sides at the dog prk one is larger more for the big dogs, and a smaller one, so I unleasehed Suzi on the smaller side of the park. Well to my surprise Suzi really acted like she did not know what to do. We did get her to follow us around the park, and she smelled a lot and peed a lot, but did not actually run all around and play. A man brought two of his dogs into our side, one was not that big and the other dog he had was med. sized, Well the med. sized dog quickly mounted Suzi :eek: And I did not see it, they were under the bench where I was seated, however my son quickly told me, and I emmediately pushed the male off Suzi:eek: Suzi is not in heat and not spayed , the owner of the dog told me the dog is fixed, but does not have any social graces. Shortly there after the owner took his two dogs and put them in where the larger dogs were. Maybe Suzi wsa too hot outside or something, I brought bottled water for her and a plastic container to place water for her, she drank a little bit, and my son left the dog area a couple of times, and she was looking for him, then saw him and focused her attention on my son, her ears perked up and she got into the standing position when any of the larger dogs came up to the fence, but I was too uncomfortable to allow her in the other side where their was a chocolate lab and then a very active full sized boxer they were playing together that ws cute, but Suzi is so much smaller. i'll try again anther day and see if she is more active and has more fun, but overall experience was not too great.
If you have taken yours to a dog park how did they like it? what was the first time like for our yorkie?

You know, IF Peanut liked it there I would probably take him more (maybe)…. But he doesn’t LOL. The times I have taken him there all he does is walk around and sniff Pee and then Pee on everything- Also he doesn’t like when “new” dogs get up in his space, one time a dog came up and humped him and the look he gave me was like “Momma get this dog off me or I am going to freak out”! Peanut would much rather go on a nice walk than play at a dirty dog park! Plus I am OCD I always think he is going to catch something there, because you never know what type of dogs go in there… carrying who knows what!

Dog Parks are not for us :D

Oh, don't give up on the dog park quite yet! Luma was the same way her first time. The first time we went, a med. sized dog that IMO should've been in the big dog section, tackled her >:( After that, anytime a dog would come near her she'd flatten herself to the ground and be submissive. Which isn't a BAD thing, but half of them would hump her which I do not like at all, even if she wasn't in heat. Agreed, bad social graces.

the dog park is her favorite place, second only to in her mama's arms OF COURSE :rolleyes: :p And now she even has her own little spots she thinks are "hers", like a tree stump and one of the benches. She sticks up for herself now, and runs around and plays with the other dogs. Still working on getting her to like the little dog pool they have there though :) lol.

We have a dog park that sounds exactly like that that. 2 sections, one for dogs under 30lbs.( I think) and a bigger section for over 30lbs. Ahi seems to always be the smallest one there. She is also very submissive so she keeps trying to roll over under everyother pup she sees. She will only run a little, pee, and try to say hello to the humans. I think she loves people better than other canines. Other than that, she will just sit between my feet. :) I get nervous about the other germs out there too.

Toki really enjoys it! There usually aren't too many other little dogs but she loves to play with medium dogs and can hold her own. She loves having a big open space to run in circles around!

One of my pet peeves is that a couple times people have picked her up. Just because she is small and at a dog park doesn't mean it's acceptable! It pisses me off so much! I don't even pet other people's dogs without asking and I sure am not trying to pick up their German Shorthaired Pointer or Golden Retriever.

Overall, it's been a great experience at the dog park! You get to meet a lot of nice people and see a lot of different types of dogs! Be sure to closely monitor your dog though.... You don't want any negative socialization experiences

We just came home from the dog park. Zoey and Jackson (my Maltese) love going there. They say hello to all the dogs and people and then Jackson and I play ball and Zoey sits under a tree and watches. Jackson is shy and will not play with other dogs. Zoey wants to sit on people's laps. Most people want to let her sit on them. I try to keep her off people but not alway successful.
Our park has three pens. Small dogs, large dogs and all dogs. There is something for every size.

The best part of the dog park experience for Macy is the car ride to and from the dog park. Once she gets there she smells, pees and then finds me and wants to be held. We have tried it off and on for 2 years and nothing has changed. The last time we went she became sick a few days after we were there and the vet said she probably picked something up at the dog park. I always took wipes to wipe her feet off before she got in the car but she picked up something somewhere. We have stopped going now. I would love for her to go and play with other little dogs but she wants nothing to do with the dog park.

I love our dog park and so does Jackson! But he's been going since he was pretty young (6 months or so). And he's always been out and about with me and around other family and friends dogs and such, and highly socialized, so I think it was just natural for him.

Some days, there's a group of dogs that he REALLY clicks with and likes, and other days, he just enjoys to wander around and smell.

Humping isn't a huge deal - it happens. They're dogs, LOL. At least the owner moved them to the other side. I don't appreciate when a dog will continually do it, and yet the owner doesn't do anything. That's annoying. You also learn when to leave when certain dogs walk in once you start going weekly and getting to know ppl, haha, and on the flip side you learn when the 'good' dogs are there!

Here's one of our dog park days:

I love watching Jackson! He's too cute! He looks like a leader and is super fast. lol :D

I really have to bring Truffles back to Island to play with Ahi! She is the always smallest one in dog park and that's exactly wheat she does! :D

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
He is sooooo happy to play and run! run! run! I love it!

We've been taking jaeger to the dog park every week or so for the last two months. He was like a lot of your dogs at first, trying to get into everyone s laps, leaving the other dogs adobe. It just took him time to gain confidence. We went today and he was playing and asserting himself and had a blast. He is way more comfortablewith smaller dogs, but usually there aren't many small digs so we all hang out together and I just keep an eye out.

We go to the dog park a LOT and there are good days and bad days. Some days we will get there and there will be absolutely nobody... Other days we go and they have so much fun running around with all the other dogs. Of course we always stay on the small dog side and keep a close eye on the pups.

I think socialization is essential to have a happy healthy dog... So we take them at least 3 times a week. They LOVE it!

when we first got Samson we took him to the doggie park but stopped because our vet said in our area many dogs here pick up a lot of diseases from the parks (parvo and another one I can't think of right now). He said it was up to us but was really against it. We have 3 dogs now and we just take them to a park in our subdivision and let them off leash to play. I would love for them to play with other dogs but not enough for them to risk getting sick.

I wanted to add some more-I was on the tablet last night and it is a bear to type on, hence all the typos.

There are 3 dog parks in our area (we are so lucky!) One is really new and in a shopping/civic area, but its a bit smaller and the small dog area is TINY and full of agility equipment so there can't be a lot of full on running around. Its gravel and mulch and very dusty, there is no shade. We've never been there when other dogs were there (it was raining the day we went) but I hear it is the busier dog park in the area.

We found riverside dog park by accident, and like it better. It has two very big areas, one for small dogs and one for big dogs, its grassy, and less crowded. Because it is less crowded, the big dogs and little dogs usually play together on one side of the fence, but if the park has a ton of high-energy labs/boxers etc doing the pack mentality thing, Jaeger gets a little spooked and so if any dogs are in the small dog area, i will take him over there instead. He has more confidence around packs of smaller dogs. They have 4 dog fountains, compared to the ONE at the other park (which is in the big dogs area, you know, because little dogs don't need water) and a concrete slab with a faucet if you need to hose your dog down. If you drive a little ways, there's a river that allows dogs to cool off (but its not part of the dog park.)

The other dog park we go to is in Atlanta when my Sir is there on business. Its got a coffee shop attached, and is the smallest of the parks we go to, but I really enjoy being able to sit in one spot for 3-4 hours, enjoy a coffee, and social the dog. He's most anxious here because its mostly big dogs that come, but they have an old upside down bathtub in the yard that he likes to chill out on to escape being underfoot.

thank you for all your amazing replies. I absolutely loved the video of Jackson having so much fun at the dog park :D i hope I can get Suzi more interested in playing and running around next time I take her. I did not think of potentiel health risks though :eek: Suzi is all up to date on vaccines so I think she will be ok as long as she stays away from other people's dog poop mess, which the owners are suppose to clean up. Maybe she just did not know she could run around and play. She did a lot of sniffing and peeing though, and did follow us around the park. They do have water fountains for the dogs to drink out of, but Hanford water is awful so we bring our own. Suzi may get use to it, or maybe not, she loves walks around the neighborhood , and everytime their is a dog behind someones fence barking, she is right there , nose to nose , very curious. So I don't think she is scared of other dogs, her sister is a shih tzu , so she has a lot of contact , but not with other dogs, I've taken her to petsmart too on a number of occasions, and she pees everywhere, that is emabarrisng, one time she pooped right on the enterance floor. Of course I cleaned it up, but was horrified. Hopefully taking her to the dog park a few more times will help her come out of her shell more and it will be a good experience for her.

Maybe try bringing a favorite toy for her to play with? Jaeger doesn't use his toys at the park, he's too busy, but if another dog has a ball he's just getting confident enough to chase after the other dog.

If another dog sees your yorkie playing, that dog may join in, and she might interact with it.

Love the video! that was cute. Looks like he is a bit of a ring leader.

i've had hit and miss experiences with the dog park. we've gone in and he had a blast playing with lil dogs like min-pins. a few other times, med size dogs got a little aggressive with their humping attempts, and the owners ended up leaving so we were the only ones there besides the big dogs in the other area. Brisket is so little that he can fit between the fence and will keep trying get into the big dog area which terrifies me because the big dogs are BIG dogs: newfoundlands, great danes, etc. and he has no fear of big dogs. he's also slipped under the gate when dogs were coming in and could get out and gave me a heart attack :eek: so i've kept him on leash a few times, which just looks silly. :rolleyes:

have to agree that the best part is the car ride to and from. i think i prefer going to the regular park than risk him being around dogs. there are usually a few dogs so he can get some playtime and is happy. i haven't taken him lately b/c waiting for him to get his snip snip. last time we were there HE tried humping someone's corgi. :o lil man has NO FEAR i tell ya.

by the way - check out the website meetup.com - they have groups for toy/small dog meet ups. I haven't found one to fit our schedule/location yet, but you might have better luck. :)

When we talk about "socializing" our dogs, it doesn't mean they all have to run and play the same way. All it means is they learn how to handle themselves in a group environment.

I have a little-dog meetup group that meets twice a week for an hour at a fenced ballpark, sort of our own, private dog park.

What I've noticed over the last several years is that some dogs like to romp and play -- and other dogs don't. But they all learn to enjoy the experience in their own way.

The dogs that don't like to romp and run have ways to let the others know that they don't want to roughhouse, and the roughhousers respect it.

Mine have been going to meetups all their lives, and they've actually mellowed out. They used to be the roughhousers, and now they just visit with the people and dogs they want to.

But do keep an eye on her, especially while she's still learning what signals to send the other dogs. I try to let mine work things out, but if there's a pushy dog that is not getting the message, I step in. It shows my dogs I have their backs and they don't have to fight to get their message across.