Shannon had such a good time at doggie daycare yesterday I figured I would take her to the local dog park. I had heard about it from 2 of my neighbors, with mixed reviews, so I decided to find out for myself.
Having only seen one other dog park in my life I have to say I was quite impressed with the facility. It is conveniently located about 5 miles from my house. The park itself is very big, with a chain link fence about 6 feet high. The park has 2 areas, one for big dogs and one for smaller dogs 20 pounds or less. The larger area (for the big dogs) has 2 kiddie swimming pools and each of the areas has a tent with a bench under it so the humans can sit out of the sun.
When I arrived at the park, there were 2 very big dogs playing in the larger area. Since I didn’t know how Shannon would react to the big dogs I decided to take her into the small area. This way they could all smell each other from their sides of the fence. I could also determine at this time if I wanted to put Shannon in with the big dogs. By the way, Shannon is 31 pounds.
I’m glad that I did what I did!! Both the dogs were much bigger then Shannon. One was 91 pounds, (The owner told me this) he had just lost 6 pounds. The other dog was probably 60 pounds. They sniffed through the fence and seemed to get along well. That’s when the owner of the 91 pound dog said that he would bring his dog in the little dog area, on a leash, to see how they would do together. I was agreeable to this.
Once off leash, the 91 pound dog (black german shepard) chased Shannon around the yard. Poor Shannon had her tail between her legs and was desperate to get as close to me as possible. Clearly she was very overwelmed and scared. This “play” carried on for about 5 minutes, without Shannon looking any more settled so I politely asked the man to remove his dog. He did so but I think he thought I was being “whimpy.”
A bit later, after Shannon and I played fetch, another dog came to the dog park. This one was a little beagle, only about 20 pounds. Apparently the man who owned this dog brought the beagle into the big dog area all the time – with no problem from the 91 pound dog.
I asked him if he would bring his dog in to play with Shannon and he agreed. They chased each other around for a good long time. Shannon was not fearful in any way and was a very good playing companion.
I left the dog park about an hour later. Shannon was all tuckered out from racing around the park.
I don’t feel like I did anything wrong by not having Shannon play with the “big dogs.” I mean the 91 pound dog is 3 times here weight and size. One false move from the big dog and Shannon would be toast. If nothing else she could get easily hurt – and who do you think would be paying the vet bill. Certianly not the owner of the big dog!
We will go back again – so that Shannon can have some more social time with her canine friends. But I have to say I much prefer “doggie daycare” where the “play” is supervised by professionals and the play friends are the same size as Shannon.
One thing I will mention….the owner of the big 91 pound black shepard also got his dog from Luck Pup Rescue!!
Tags: dog parks, dog stories, doggie da, dogs, foster dogs
