Wednesday, April 8, 2009

A New Adventure at the Southern Village Park

Jenn took me to the new dog park near Southern Village on our way to Barbara Long's Therapy Dog class at Carolina Meadows. First of all the park is big! It has two different sections you can go into, one for little dogs and one for big dogs. There were about six other dogs there and I was little nervous about meeting them all at once as they crowded me a bit at the entry gate. But they sniffed me and I sniffed them and then I could sort out who I wanted to play with. This little spitz was very cute and wanted me to chase her.
The ground is covered in mulch, so there isn't any grass to smoosh my feet into which is too bad. The dust sure gets kicked up when dogs start running. There are plenty of trees and a shaded gazebo too. And a water station that provides drinking water to all the dogs. That is really cool. Here I am chasing my little spitz girlfriend again.
There were a couple people that really weren't paying any attention to their dogs at all. They just sat around as their dogs did whatever they wanted. One dog was being a big bully holding other dogs down by the neck and not letting them up while they screamed for help. One dog was crying so loud and getting so stressed out and her person just stood around talking, paying no attention. I felt so sorry for her.

Jenn is always watching out for me. She says that humans need to monitor their dogs while they are playing in the park so they don't become bullies and so they don't get bullied. Some dogs need help keeping their play at an appropriate, safe level. And dog parks are not the right thing for every dog.

How can you be a good advocate for your puppy in the park?? Here's a great article by Pat Miller called "Dog Park Ettiquette"

2 comments:

Niamh said...

Hi Royal,

Glad you made a nice friend at the SV dog park. I've been there several times and have enjoyed it. But I know what you mean about people not paying attention to their dogs and letting them be bullies or bully other pups. Barbara goes crazy about the people that chat on their cell phones while their dogs cause trouble. Fortunately we have sensible people who are there for our socialization and not theirs!

We have to get together for a play date sometime soon.

Your friend,
Niamh

Ayla said...

Royal,
Thank you so much for writing about dog parks. I sure hope that those people you talked about learn about your blog or wake up and notice what their dogs are trying to tell them. I know Sandi is very careful about my play time at the dog park. (she's trying to keep me out of trouble!)

Your friend, Ayla