Dog Parks

[Guest Taras]

Well Alex has routine. She 1st goes and meet all the humans and gets pats . Then se well run as fast as she can in a big loop so everyone cheers and claps. Then she comes back to all the humans got get more pats. She works the crowd well . she is such a ham .

[Guest Drafters]

Draft has only been to a dog park twice. That was probably the most miserable experience for both of us. He didn't want to leave my side. When he finally started wandering around a little bit, some non-neutered sheepdog of some kind kept running up and trying to jump on Draft and peed on him. It was awful. We stick to our backyard or walks now.

[Guest Javagirl]

I take Ladd to a dog park about 3 times every week, it's about 1/4 mile long. He has a fantastic time completely in his own world. He will spend an hour marking every tree and blade of grass and keep trying even after he has long run out of any pee. He has no interest in other dogs, can't be bothered to play, and won't even when engaged. There are a number of pharoah hounds, salukis and greys who come to the park but after a quick hello, he sticks to his own agenda. He doesn't really run.

 

Of course i would prefer an enclosed field with no risk of him getting bitten, that would be the best sceario but we just can't find any who will allow dogs. it's not our fault that people don't pick up after their dogs, but it's not others' fault either, so the counties just don't allow it. All sporting fields have strict 'no dogs' policies and are padlocked. We sometimes go to a field in Georgetown, DC for an hour on Sunday mornings but the police have shown up a number of times and I can't risk getting ticketed.

 

 

[Guest NewGreyOwner]

Our guy goes to the dog park just about every day. Depending on his mood and who else is there, he'll usually trot around the perimeter peeing and pooing, then break into a run and do a few laps. He sometimes interacts with the other dogs, but not always. A lot of them like to jump up on him and bark right in his face, but he just ignores them. He's pretty content to just trot around for a while even if he's there by himself. Lately, he's shown a little bit too much interest in smaller dogs, so if small dogs are present, we just walk in the forest preserve that's beside the park. Lots of times we're the only ones there, and he's cool with that. He particularly enjoys running around if there's snow on the ground.

 

 

[Guest Javagirl]

I am so afraid to let my dogs run in the dog park by my house. My Charlie broke one of his toes so badly that it needed to be removed from running a neighbor's perfectly flat, seemingly ideal yard. I watched the whole thing happen and I still don't know what he did exactly, it was only three months after I adopted him. I am so terrified that he or his 'sister' will break something if I let them go. Our adoption group has a 'fun run' once a month in a fenced in drainage area and I too afraid that they'll stick a leg in a rabbit hole and break it. I'm a worried freak, I know it, but I have such a difficult time letting Charlie (broken toe) run and I let Suri run (she's a sniffer-then-runner) but I am also afraid for her. I don't let her run much per visit b/c I am petrified that I'll break her too.

I'm still looking for a place where I feel comfortable letting them run. I don't mind letting them socialize with other dogs, but I would feel better if it was only my two at a time.

How do I get over this fear?

 

Pet insurance? It's completely your call but the dogs are born to run and usually love to, on their own terms. Of course there is always the chance that they can get hurt but I dont' think it's as high as you are thinking and if you had insurance, you might feel better about knowing they will have the proper care should it come to that. Just a thought.

[Guest LindsaySF]

We only go to the dog park when it's the "greys only" hour. They are all muzzled, and can run around together

This is what we do.

 

 

As I would have my pups muzzled anyway so as not to injure anything smaller, it puts them at a bit of a disadvantage, so we only go to play with other greys.

An important point. Don't muzzle your dog(s) if there are unmuzzled dogs in with them. The Greys will be defenseless.

 

 

[Guest Capslock]

My two greys go to dog parks every day almost. I work during the week and have a dog walker that takes them out with a pack to various parks. On weekends I take them, but sometimes just do a long walk around the neighborhood. They like variety!

 

At the dog park, they like to greet and sniff mostly. My younger dog, Satchel, usually only runs if there's another greyhound, or another vigorous, big running dog. He likes to growl and snarl as he plays, which scares some people, but dogs seem to understand he means no harm. He loves small dogs, but just to sniff and hang out, not to play. My older dog, Otis, who's 12, just loves pit bulls. When he sees one, he runs up, the tail starts going like mad, and he bows down inviting them to play. He's an old fragile dog, so it always scares the bejezus out of me, but he's got an awesome judge of character, and the pits are always receptive. Usually they just jump around for a second then it's back to sniffing and socializing. Otis also has a superpower - the ability to ignore any dog. No matter how crazy the puppy, no matter how much they jump in his face, he just turns his head and ignores. He doesn't run or cower, he just turns his head and ignores. His powers are incredible. He's 12 now, and has never been in a dog fight of any kind in literally thousands of dog-park days with all kinds and shapes of dogs. Otis is a great dog park dog, and is blessed with perfect recall - I can call him any time and he comes running to my side. Neither Otis nor Satchel are huge runners and never have been. Neither one chases squirrels or birds or anything so they have almost zero prey drive. Dog park visits are therefore low-stress affairs and they love it! From they day I got them, I worked on socializing with other dogs, though. Lots of my friends have dogs and small children so that was important.

 

Max

 

PS: I don't even own a muzzle, but if they ran with other greyhounds a lot, I'd get one. That's the only time they get really amped up.

Edited January 24, 2009 by Capslock

[Guest pedalmasher]

I take Kitty to the dog park daily. She immediately poops, sniffs about, socializes with the people and most lays around or follows me like the velcro dog that she is. Unfortunately, she can be there for 2 hours without running once. On ocassion, a dog gets her interest and she will run it down and when she seemingly discovers that it is no challenge she goes back to hanging out. If a dog arrives at the park and tears into the gate without letting itself be sniffed, she will chase it down, keeping her mouth at its neck, make a growling sound as if to say, "This is Queen Kitty's park and you had better ask permission to be running around in here." After her statement, it's back to lying on the grass. She doesn't seem to like when a big pack of dogs get sort of wild. She will stand aside and bark at them as to tell them to cool it, and when things settle down, its back to lying in the grass.

 

Twice, after every dog and person had left the park, she suddenly started looping the park at incredible rates of speed (she was in the money in 43 of her 83 races). There are a couple of other Greyhounds that often show up, and typically they are the only dogs not running. It is a bit frustrating in that I love to watch her (them) run!

[Guest HutchKC]

We've pretty much stopped taking our girl. The high prey drive is the main reason. Little dog owners ignore the rules and then it becomes our fault. Now it's gotten to the point that even if there aren't any small dogs in the park, the smallest dog there has her full attention. And when the occasional mounting begins to occur, she goes after the instigator pretty aggressively. Nothing has happened yet, but I don't think I want to risk it. I don't blame her, but it's impossible to always be close enough to stop the other dog. Is mounting a behavior from poor socialization?

 

As it warms up I'm going to see about organizing a greyhound only couple hours at one of the parks.

[duncan41]

We used to go to the local dog park every Saturday & Sunday until Suze developed a limp and was put on total rest. Fuzz & Suze are litter sisters and they had to be muzzled because Fuzz was always messin' with Suze while they were running and when Suze completed the usual 2 laps around the perimeter - look out! We always took them at sunrise and had the same two Labs as company - that's it - which was fine because our girls just weren't "into" other dogs. The muzzles didn't stop injuries, either. One of the Labs ran between the girls just as they stopped running and evidently one of his canines caught Fuzz in the flank and she ended up with 8 stitches. Now that Anna has joined the group, I would love to take them somewhere to run, but not in the company of other dogs. Even when they run in our small yard, Anna runs with pure joy!

[Guest the36thchamber]

t never fails, Lego walks in, poohs and then runs like mad but he always pooh's first before he runs. I think he's trying to get lighter so he can go faster.

[Guest the36thchamber]

t never fails, Lego walks in, poohs and then runs like mad but he always pooh's first before he runs. I think he's trying to get lighter so he can go faster.

 

Oh yeah an I should add that I just recently found out that the condos where we've lived for five years actually has it's own dog park. I only found out recently because I didn't have a dog before and I never went to that end of the complex. So yes it's awesome but did I feel like a knucklhead when I found out. I mean, how did I not know and here I was driving 20 minutes to the dog park every weekend when there's one just a minute away.

[Guest LindsaySF]

If a dog arrives at the park and tears into the gate without letting itself be sniffed, she will chase it down, keeping her mouth at its neck, make a growling sound as if to say, "This is Queen Kitty's park and you had better ask permission to be running around in here."

Do you correct her for this aggressive behavior?

 

 

The muzzles didn't stop injuries, either. One of the Labs ran between the girls just as they stopped running and evidently one of his canines caught Fuzz in the flank and she ended up with 8 stitches.

That's because ALL dogs present are supposed to be muzzled, not just the Greyhounds. I hope she was ok after her injury.

 

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

 

[Guest monasmom]

There was no option for this, but Mona stands next to me and rubs her nose against my legs trying to get her muzzle off.

[Guest UESBrindle]

Just yesterday DBF and I took William to the large dog run 2 blocks from our apartment. Because we live in NYC, we have no yard, and have only had William on leash walks since we brought him home Feb. 7th.

When he got it, we unleashed him, and he proceded to pee and poo. He then was sniffing other dogs, and started running with 2 german shepards just fine. Then I guess a "pack" formed, and a 5 month old labradoodle was in the mix. William has been most excellent up to this point in meeting other dogs and people, and being very friendly and inquisitive, but yesterday, he gave us a scare, by going after this puppy. I'm not sure if the puppy was jumping up on him or trying to play tough-guy, but it seemed William was intent on putting him in his place. I checked on the puppy and owner, and they were shook up, but fine-- then DBF and I took William out of the run immediately.

DBF is hesitant to bring William back for a few months, but I have a different feeling about it..

 

It's hard for me to see the other dogs run, and think how much William would enjoy a good stretch of his legs, since he can't really run anywhere else. He was doing SO well until the pup came in the mix. (I personally feel the puppy should have been in the small dog park so he could learn about the "pecking order" around dogs his own size, but didn't want to offend the other dog owner, who was already shook up). At the same time, to prevent any "accidents" I would consider muzzling him, but realize at the same time, it makes him more of a target to other dogs since he can't bite back if anything were to happen to him.

 

Because we are pretty limited to enclosed outdoor spaces, I don't know what my other options would be to let him out and run a bit. We have a car, but it's not kept close to our house, and it's only really used for long car trips.

 

I want to let him run, but don't want to worry about the risk of injury, to William, or other dogs who haven't been properly socialized..

 

Any thoughts or suggestions for a new city grey owner please??

[Guest suzye]

I took Jazz to the dog park several times during a 1-2 year period. She always trotted off to an empty area and sniffed for awhile. Then she started making the rounds, usually looking for someone to pet her in the covered area with benches. She wanted the love. Several times when it was warm she got in the water! I could not believe it. This is the dog who one time jumped like a bunny over a puddle on the sidewalk (BOING!) Here is a video of her taking a soak. I am so glad I took this video.

 

http://suzyeide.com/video/jazz_dog_park_web.wmv

[Guest andrealynch]

I personally, would never bring my dogs to a dog park. As I believe someone from this board said greyhounds and dog parks= accident waiting to happen.

 

I let mine run in a fenced in school yard. It took us 8 months to find one, but we did!

 

I agree--soon after getting my grey, I took him to the park. The first time, he was perfect--played with all the other dogs. The second time, he attacked a small puppy! It was HORRIBLE! I just think that dog parks create that pack mentality for the greys--and when they get running in a group (like mine was doing at the time of the attack), horrible things can happen. My advice: if you go-WATCH YOUR HOUNDS!!

[Guest andrealynch]

Just yesterday DBF and I took William to the large dog run 2 blocks from our apartment. Because we live in NYC, we have no yard, and have only had William on leash walks since we brought him home Feb. 7th.

When he got it, we unleashed him, and he proceded to pee and poo. He then was sniffing other dogs, and started running with 2 german shepards just fine. Then I guess a "pack" formed, and a 5 month old labradoodle was in the mix. William has been most excellent up to this point in meeting other dogs and people, and being very friendly and inquisitive, but yesterday, he gave us a scare, by going after this puppy. I'm not sure if the puppy was jumping up on him or trying to play tough-guy, but it seemed William was intent on putting him in his place. I checked on the puppy and owner, and they were shook up, but fine-- then DBF and I took William out of the run immediately.

DBF is hesitant to bring William back for a few months, but I have a different feeling about it..

 

No real thoughts for you--other than to say I had something very similar happen to me--the dogs were at a park, started running together, and my grey attacked a small white puppy. I know how horrible it is--and I agree--there should have been a separate place for the little dogs to play, but they don't have that at this particular park. It can be quite a shocker--and I was new to grey ownership at the time of the event. I had no clue something like that could happen. I just used the scenario as a learning experience, but haven't been brave enough to take my dog back, especially since he has a rather high prey drive.

[Guest Jolie]

Ozzy LOVES the dog park. He's really good at reading other dogs' body language, so what he does when he gets there is entirely dependent on the other dogs.

 

There are a couple of dogs who play too rough, so Ozzy stays away from them. If they are there, Ozzy will do his own thing, run by himself or walk with DH and I. Sometimes he tugs on our clothes to get us to run with him.

 

There is one small yorkie who annoys Ozzy a lot, but Ozzy ignores him and runs away. There really aren't any small dogs who come other than the yorkie.

 

Ozzy loves to run with other dogs. If some dogs are running, Ozzy joins. And he usually tries to get the other dogs to run with him. If there is another greyhound at the park, Ozzy goes nuts. He LOVES other greyhounds, but does really well with any breed. We keep an eye on him at all times. The only incident we've had was when Ozzy was running with a mix breed dog and the dog stopped suddenly and they had a little tumble. No fuss about it, though, both dogs just went on with their playing.

 

I do get nervous at the dog park, I've heard too many horror stories not to. But we have no other place to take Ozzy as we can get fined a lot of money for letting him run off lead any place else. And he does really well with the other dogs, he's a completely different dog at the dog park than he is at home. He's confident and friendly and very social. He's the only dog I've seen there who properly greets new dogs, who knows when to back off and when to play. Until we can find another (local, as we have no car) place to take him to run around and play, we will take him to the dog park.

[Guest koolaidnconner]

I would never take my boys nor Oranda to a dog park. None of ours here are fenced in, I think I would be pretty irresponsible if I did that. Like other people said an accident waiting to happen.

 

We do go on Sundays to a horse barn for greyhound runs and we put 4-5 in at a time and they all run and have fun.

[Guest widowcali]

Actually, since I have two greys I probably should have voted twice.

 

Cali will take off immediatly, do a few zoomies, then spend some time sniffing and marking all over the place. Then she will come back to momma.

 

Widow will stay with momma. So if I want her to move, I have to run. Mostly, she will just find a comfy patch of grass and lay down for some serious sun bathing.

 

But we haven't gone to a dog park in so long, they might be different.

[Guest rachelee]

I was nervous to bring Bistro to the dog park, but he did GREAT and he LOVED it. He ran around with other dogs chasing balls, and then some other greys came and he was SOOOOO happy!

 

I just love to let him off leash and have him run around. Our yard isn't fenced yet, so bringing him to parks like that has been such a pleasure so far.

 

He'll run if there are no other dogs when the park is big enough.

[Guest GreytfulJack]

We don't have an enclosed dog park close to where I live. I think Casey would love it but I know I would be tense. I would be concerned regarding OTHER people's dogs. I am overly cautious I guess!

[Guest Javagirl]

...and then some other greys came and he was SOOOOO happy!

 

When Ladd sees another greyhound he goes bananas! Other than a few quick sniffs here and there he could pretty much care less about other dogs.

 

I took him down to the big stream along side our dog park 2 days ago. The water was like bath water and Ladd was jumping and romping and playing like a puppy. I nearly had tears in my eyes because he is normally so reserved. He would squat down to get his big chest wet and then spring forward and run through the water and up to the beach. I don't think I had ever seen him quite so happy to be alive.

 

Kristyn

[Guest Stargirl]

We have a dog park about a mile from us and I eagerly took Starry there. Short story, she hates it. Doesn't like other dogs to sniff her or be around her. She is not aggressive, just stands still with her tail tucked. The one time we got into an enclosure by ourselves she just sniffed and walked around. One time a Great Dane chased her all the way to the entrance. I can't even get her to go into the enclosures now, she balks on the leash and won't move. So we walk around the dog park for fun. We have to get our zoomies out in the basement now.