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aggression, bay area, belgian tervuren, canine body language, dog bites, dog parks, dog play, food aggression, pit bulls, san francisco bay area, shiba inu, socialization, stupid pet owners
I’m addicted to dog parks.
Does one admit “addiction” to anything other than ill habits? I’ve often felt defensive about this dangerous love if only because discussions about dog parks tend to focus on their negatives — you could get yourselves killed at these places, for God’s sake! The way I see it, every dog park is beholden to specific contexts, moments, and patrons, because they are, by definition, spaces carved out of some kind of community. Rejection of dog parks is not so much a pronouncement of their inherent evilness, but more a rejection of the types of sociality that accompany them — which is fine, as neither human nor dog can be expected to socialize in the same ways. But unlike some more extreme critics of dog parks, I’m less likely to blame the park itself than the people who designed it and established patterns of antisocial use in the first place.
Now, what I call a “dog park” includes many different arrangements. For me, it’s any public space that permits the presence of dogs, ideally off leash. Some are fenced, some are designed with dogs specifically in mind and thus equipped, some are multi-functional areas that just happen to allow dogs, perhaps in designated or segregated spaces. At any rate, we have many to choose from here in the San Francisco Bay Area:
Dog parks in the East Bay (from DogGoes.com)
How do you choose, when not all options are created equal? Experiences will vary according to you, your dog, the time of day, the way the air smells at the moment… point is, I don’t know that I can generalize. I just have stories and experiences and a handful of lessons learned through repetition and observation.
Stories behind a jump for length and pictures of bruises and punctures and pain.
Park A: Fenced, approx. one acre in residential area, woodchip surface with concrete sidewalk running through the center of the park between two gated exits, folding and plastic lawn chairs scattered throughout, four picnic tables, light tree coverage.
The Good: Closest off-leash dog park to my home, so it was our most frequented site for the first few years after moving here. I got acquainted with a good group of regulars, and felt like I was initiated into an aspect of local community that I desperately needed in my process of repatriating to the United States and getting acclimated to grad school — a lifestyle that frequently isolates its constituents.
The Bad: Knowing the regulars did not make this a consistent experience. This park was such a hotbed of surprises; I only realized retrospectively how unpleasant it often became. For starters, it was far too small a park for the dogs to do anything other than interact with each other. Second, the chairs and picnic tables scattered throughout the bare, single acre encourage loafing and sedentary inattentiveness. The worst is when people assume that a picnic table in the middle of a dog park means that they’re licensed to actually have a picnic — so they bring their lunch to the park, totally disregarding how the introduction of high value human food radically alters dynamics between otherwise docile dogs. Third, its central location seemed to attract so many egregious Just-Don’t-Get-It types, I need a separate post to document all the jaw-dropping scenarios I’ve witnessed (acknowledging that I, too, was once ignorant of proper behavior).
Despite all its faults, I learned a lot about dog park culture and how to socialize with my own kind, just as Bowdu learned… and changed his perspectives, too.
Which brings us to…
The Ugly: Though Bowdu initially seemed to enjoy his time at the park, over the years he became more intolerant of other dogs and more interested in guarding his territory, which included me and wherever I happened to be sitting or standing.
The end came when Bowdu and I both got bitten badly here, effectively terminating our romance with this park. Long story short… a scuffle broke out over some combination of a stupid park toy that had been left in the woodchips, my presence, and two reactive dogs. I responded inappropriately to break up the fight, and sustained the brunt of the other dog’s fury on my right knee, while Bowdu got bitten on the back right up between his shoulder blades.
That’s basically one solid chomp that swelled and bruised all to hell. It didn’t look anything like that when I left the park… without getting the other person’s contact information, a major error on my part. We never did follow up with the woman whose dog did that to me, because we quit going to that park altogether.
In conclusion: Faults inherent to the design and location of this park promote irresponsible behavior on the part of owners and pets alike. We now avoid all small, fenced-in dog parks with similar layouts.
Park B: 31 acres of converted landfill that has long since gone back to nature; unfenced, beach access, juts out into the San Francisco Bay
The Good: This park gives access to amazing scenery, public art, graffiti, anarchist library, skate ramps, and even thickets of wild blackberries ripe for the picking. The site bristles with local activist history, which I appreciate for its own sake. The terrain is constantly changing, and every visit presents new visual and material surprises for those who thrive on the unexpected.
The Bad: A shifting population of homeless squatters and their somewhat territorial dogs started to make the park very uncomfortable for the Bows, specifically Bowdu. Those dogs were protecting their encampments as home, while we were just strolling through. The heavy duty tricycles that rattled along the back trails, carting piles of scrap metal and fuel canisters, unnerved the Bows who were not expecting such vehicles in their off-leash playgrounds.
The Ugly: At some point last year, as if a switch was flipped, Bowdu began refusing to enter the park of his own accord. I’d walk far down the trail with Bowpi, look back, and find Bowdu a distant speck at the head of the trail, refusing to budge no matter how much I called. Treats and other incentives didn’t seem to change his mood, either.
As his outright refusal to explore is so aberrant, I decided to heed his instincts. It’s probably best if I don’t find out what he’s sensing.
In conclusion: Apparently, here there be monsters.
Park C: Any park that shares trails with horses
The Good: Horses are beautiful creatures.
The Bad: They shit wherever they feel like it.
The Poop: Bowdu loves rolling in it.
In Conclusion: Not worth the additional time of having to bathe Bowdu whenever we get back home. Besides, neither of the Bows are horse-trained, so for the sake of everyone’s safety, we avoid any known horse trails altogether.
Park D: 23 acres, unfenced promontory extending into the San Francisco Bay with stream and beach access, completely designated as an off-leash dog park, convenient and well-managed on-site facilities including a hosedown station (free), grooming and bathing center (paid), cafe with food and drinks, free biodegradable poop bags and easy access trash cans
The Good: Since photographing dogs has become my near-daily hobby, this park has risen in the ranks as one of my personal favorites. At its best, it’s downright Edenic — wide open space and the glittering waters of the San Francisco Bay over the horizon. Nowhere else have I been exposed to such a variety of happy dogs on a regular basis. In the process of observing countless good dog-to-dog interactions, I feel like I’m learning more about canine body language than ever. With regular weekday visits, a lot of the dogs have become quite familiar.
Most importantly, both Bows get ample room to do what they are most comfortable with. Over the years, Bowdu has matured into more of an explorer, preferring to sniff and mark bushes and trot comfortably at my side. Bowpi has emerged as a socialite, enjoying meeting new dogs and often engaging them in play. There is room at this giant dog park for them each to do what they prefer without feeling pressured or claustrophobic. And as a bonus, their recall has improved as I have become a roving beacon.
The Bad: I’d wager that this is the most trafficked dog park in the East Bay, owing to its size and its reputation as a park primarily for the dogs. And so, danger is a matter of statistical probability. The more dogs you meet, the higher the chance of something happening.
The Ugly: This is where I talk about Bowpi’s at the end of last month. I’d had a general policy of avoiding this park on weekends, as Saturdays and Sundays are at least three times busier than our usual times on the weekdays. But we had recently managed a couple incidence-free Saturday afternoons, so I let my guard down.
As for what happened with Bowpi, I am not able to say exactly as I didn’t see it. No, I wasn’t on my cell phone, or busy taking photographs of someone else’s dog. Rather, I was engaged in idle chatter with another Shiba owner, monitoring my typically troublesome Shiba with my back to Bowpi. When I heard the shrieking and turned around, I wasn’t even sure it was my dog crushed underneath the bigger attacker, since as I insist, she’s usually the last one to get involved in squabbles.
A dramatization of Bowpi’s bite! No, this is not the dog that bit her, and the two are just playing here. The actual dog was a similar size though, and Bowpi’s legs were flailing like this in my memory.
The fight was broken up within seconds and Bowpi came running right to me, screaming and holding up her leg. The woman was close behind while her friend held her dog, asking me to please inspect Bowpi and make sure she was okay. She saw the punctures for herself, and immediately handed me her business card with her contact information and insisted that I get her checked out at the vet. So after everyone calmed down, I picked up Bowpi and we walked together to the parking lot.
Doesn’t look too bad after she cleaned herself, but she was definitely punctured (matching hole on other side). Better to be safe and get it cleaned up!
In conclusion: It could have been much worse. But I think this woman’s responsiveness is a testament to how conscientious local dog owners truly can and should be.
Despite our best efforts to keep our pets out of harm, nothing is foolproof. I’m mindful that accidents can happen at home too — in the yard, on the sidewalk, with other co-habitating dogs.
In the future, we will attempt to decrease some risk by avoiding this park on weekends. But in general, I think that the main reason we have as many wonderful, dog-friendly options available to us out here is because people use them instead of desert them. Dogs, like their humans, are not programmed to be perfect angels. Get enough of them together, and they will squabble, growl at, scrap with, harass, and yes, sometimes even bite each other. That’s all part of normal dog-to-dog engagement. But well-socialized dogs, as well as the human on the other end of the leash, learn how to deal with the moment, whether by properly inhibiting their bite, or responding appropriately in the first place. The path down actual desocialization is far scarier than any looming dangers I could envision.
We will return because it remains a good option for the Bows. These parks, these beaches, these woods, these trails, these dogs are far too nice to turn our backs on. But the creation of habitable, healthy spaces does take constant work, vigilance, training, observation, and effort.
Isn’t that true of any space you would call your own?
For more information on both the good and the bad of dog parks, please visit this page at the Association of Pet Dog Trainers website.
[EDIT 24 August 2012] One more link to Dr. Sophia Yin‘s great blog entry on dog park etiquette, which comes with a downloadable poster!
Your bruise looks absolutely horrendous! I hope there wasn’t too much pain and that you recovered nicely.
Dog par scuffles are always scary – for both the attacked and the attacker. It’s so important to stay calm whenever there is an incident. Many dog owners love to blame the other owner for not having their dog under control, but in many cases it’s beyond the owner’s control.
If you have a reactive dog, then you need to monitor it at all times or keep it leashed.
I agree that certain parks are just too small for dogs to maintain peace and that you must enter with discretion. Maggie absolutely loves Fort Funston because she can run to her heart’s content and there is less opportunity for her to get into a scuffle.
Maggie also LOVES rolling in other animal’s poop/dead bodies. This is also beyond my control so I stopped freaking out whenever she takes a dive into a mound of horse poop. lol
It took a long time for the swelling and the color to go away… but I wasn’t actually punctured at the bruise, just that little spot by the kneecap. Definitely looked worse than it was. Still not an incident I am eager to repeat. Bowdu made off WAY easier, but he was a bit sore too.
I agree with your sentiments about both owners remaining CALM. Aggro strangers bring out the worst in me. However, I do think that dog park fights are pretty situational, so I realize in retrospect things I could have done to control the situation. In the above bruise example, I realized that I *might* have prevented the outburst by —
1) picking up the random park toys and putting them out of the way, perhaps leaving a note on the public community board explaining why these toys are a bad idea
2) NOT responding to a stranger’s dog when he was trying to get me to acknowledge him and his toy (because you never know how possessive a dog is going to get!)
3) stepping out of the way in the moment right before the fight happened, when Bowdu was approaching the other dog, who was between Bowdu and me. The way we were aligned created a perfect storm.
4) NOT trying to break up the fight the way I did, kicking the bigger dog off mine. Yeah, bad move.
… So that’s what I learned from this particular mistake. There will always be mistakes — if not me, then someone else. But this is what I mean about dog socialization being a constant process requiring vigilance, work, etc. We did have to WORK on Bowdu’s reactivity before I could feel comfortable with him at the park again. *I* had to work on my own reading and understanding of canine body language, too. We had to work to truly understand what sets Bowdu off, what I can do to manage both of our space, and be more proactive about creating positive experiences at the park if we are to keep it an enjoyable space for all.
So I do understand when people say the most courteous thing to do with reactive dogs is to remove them from the park. Leashing isn’t the best solution, especially when all other dogs are off-leash (another pet peeve: is when people use their 10’+ flexis instead of just letting their dog drag a leash if they really insist on keeping one on).
But instead of a permanent ban and isolation, I would hope that one actually *works* on the reactivity somehow… and I’m not talking about truly “aggressive” dogs that DON’T enjoy being at a park at all, and nobody enjoys being around them (though again, I’d argue that “aggression” is pretty situational and often mislabeled — a tangent for another time!).
Not all dogs enjoy being at the park or socializing with strange dogs… that’s fine. I get it. But because I do want mine to behave appropriately in a world that is potentially full of other dogs, and they are still eager to go to the park, I do what I can to set them up for success.
[Long response!]
You have an amazing abundance of dog parks! We do not, so I am jealous, even though we rarely go to dog parks anymore.
The worst dog park experience we have had was a family brought their dog, three children and a bucket of KFC and proceeded to try to have a picnic in the fenced in dog park. On a Saturday afternoon on a gorgeous day. Yeah, didn’t go over well and we have only been back in the middle of the morning midweek when the park is pretty empty, leaving if we feel the atmosphere is bad.
I really only take the dogs to dog parks when Annie is showing signs of needing to hang out with other dogs and I am not working for a few days.
Of course, I work at a place that runs entire large groups of 20-30 dogs with one attendant in fenced in yards, so I am pretty dog savy AND know how to break up a fight effectively and efficiently if needed. Dog parks still overwhelm me at times just by the shear number of people who claim their non-friendly dog is friendly. And let us not even mention the clueless owners who just don’t care. Or the owners who want their dogs to play with other dogs in theory, but when faced with a group of running, barking, growling, nipping dogs, freak out about aggressive dogs.
Two years ago a husky was shot and killed at a local dog park because a clueless owner didn’t let his dog off leash and felt the husky was playing too 0rough, so instead of reacting normally and removing his dog and his self and wife from the park and asking the husky’s handler to control his dog decided to shoot the husky at a close range. This is my nightmare. My husband is in law enforcement (as was the shooter of the husky) but I don’t think he would feel it necessary to bring his gun to a park, and especially wouldn’t use it against a dog that he could have easily got under control in a less fatal way. So so sad.
I prefer to walk the girls on leash or bring them to work so they can go to daycare and play with their “friends” with handlers that know them and their personality quirks.
Also my girls are both very aloof with other dogs. Annie likes hanging out with them, but doesn’t exactly play much any more, and Lia would prefer to be left alone, and is not afraid to let all dogs know. They also make a lot of noise, but aren’t aggressive, just use barking, growling and whining to communicate during play or when they aren’t in the mood to have their butt sniffed.
Sorry this is so long! I
No problem with long comments here. =)
If we didn’t have so many good options and I lived in a safer neighborhood, I would probably be less of a dog park user too. If Dog Park A was the only option within driving distance, I’d probably be a Dog Park Downer, too.
I think what I envision is a more progressive future where people are more in tune with canine body language in general. But the only real way to get dog body literate is to watch thousands and thousands of spontaneous interactions, not all of them “positive.” Most people who go to dog parks have not had those opportunities, nor are they even going to the park with the purpose of observing dog-to-dog interactions. There remains a lot of room for misinterpretation and miscommunication, even if you feel like you DO know what you’re looking at.
I’m really imprecise with my terms, for instance. Not a behaviorist or professional in any way, but I can tell you that there are big differences in how a dog wags his tail and postures. There are probably technical terms for what I want to describe, but even if I knew them, doesn’t mean that the average dog park user understands… or even cares, LOL.
The incident of the husky being shot (OMG! — was there any kind of followup??) is horrific and tragic, but extreme. I hate hearing about stories like that… not that I deny that insane things happen, but that extreme examples become such easy fodder for alarmists.
Here is an article about the case, http://www.eyeonannapolis.net/2010/11/19/keith-shepherd-found-guilty-in-bear-bear-shooting/
It was really sad, and I really feel sorry for the owners of the dog that ended up dying. Yes, this is an extreme case, but it really freaked me out, despite not ever going to that particular dog park.
I know what you mean about dog behavior, even I, who has handled thousands of dogs, and have interacted with and witnessed thousands of group playtimes, sometimes have trouble reading dog body language, trying to explain it to others is definitely beyond my ability!
The guy who shot and killed the husky ended up getting charged with, I think misdemeanor animal cruelty and discharging a weapon within 100 feet of a residence. He was found guilty but I don’t think he was even fined. You can look up Bear Bear shot in Maryland, and it should give you details. The person who brought Bear Bear (the husky) to the dog park was not his owner, but I think his brother or something and the man who shot the dog claimed he was drunk or otherwise unresponsive. I personally think it was all a very big misunderstanding about dog play, because huskies are super vocal in play, which might come across as aggressive to someone not super experienced with dog play.
I understand what you are saying about room to misinterpret dog play. Even after working with dogs, training dogs, and supervising large groups of dogs in play for close to nine years now, I don’t think I am an expert, not even close. I actually am weary of those that say they are, unless they are behaviorists or trainers. And probably behaviorists and trainers would say they still have a lot to learn.
I do feel I am an expert at my own dogs though, which is good enough for me to feel I can set them up to succeed as much as possible.
So lucky to have that many parks. I have a choice between three parks that I am willing to drive to and all of them aren’t as perfect as the last one you talk about.
Great post! Always had mixed feelings about dog parks, for many of the reasons you discussed. Now we have 5 acres, but of course there are occasional wandering dogs or strays passing through. Always something I guess!
First, I laughed SO HARD at the idea of Bowdu rollin around in poop. I would not put this past Indiana, who loves finding dead birds (which are very prevalent on my new apartment property) and rolling on top of them!
My main question was: how do you trust two dog breeds notorious for bolting in a non fenced dog park? What kind of tricks and training have you done so they don’t go off into the wild? (I ask this as a the owner of a Basenji, who would love to flee and live with the coyotes.)
Gah, I had a longer response that was accidentally wiped out.
Suffice to say, I don’t really know how I trained them to be good off leash. We didn’t try with Bowdu until he was a bit older (well, a year and a half, still lots of puppy energy, but not completely spastic), and we never walk him off leash anywhere he could access traffic. I mention that many of the parks we go to are unfenced, but they’re surrounded by water or otherwise safe from outright escape.
We slooowly worked Bowpi up to off-leashing privileges, including letting her drag her leash, repeating routine paths, etc. It helped that Bowdu was able to model steady behavior for her by the time we got her, when she was about five.
I think it works in part because the novelty of being OMGOMGFREE!!!!11!! is no big deal to them. I still keep treats on me and periodically reward them just for sticking close, though.
What works best is probably different for each dog. And some might never be safe off leash until they’re too old to run… that’s a reality I’m willing to admit with these breeds.
I’ve mentally mapped all of our sad little concrete dog runs in NYC and none hold a candle to the ones you’ve highlighted here. 23 acres? We’re lucky if we have two!
There’s one you’ve posted pictures of that seems pretty nice… Prospect Park, is it?
Yes! It rivals Central Park in acreage but real perk is that the flat grassy land in Prospect Park is more contiguous whereas CP is broken down into smaller sections.
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