"Dog Parks" Why They Are A Bad Idea !!! "It's Your Job to Protect Your Dog" By About once every couple of days I get an email from someone asking about problems with their dogs being attacked when they are on walks or running loose at one of the local parks that many cities setup for people to take their dogs to. People question me on how to deal with overly aggressive dogs that belong to other people and they question me about their own dogs not trying to defend themselves. Some people want to know if they should just let the dogs work out the problems themselves. I want obedience training for dogs dog obedience commands to go on record as saying that the concept of "Dog Parks" was well intended but a bad idea, especially if the dogs are allowed to run off-leash. I do not recommend people take their dogs to these places. The average person does not understand how strong the pack instinct is in their pet. These drives click into high gear when a dog is taken into a park with other dogs. Dogs that are encountered when going to these parks look at the new visitors as intruders in "their personal territory." This leads to territorial aggression. When there is a group of dogs that are allowed to run together, dog obedience commands dog obedience commands they instinctively try to establish a rank order (or packing order). If there are several dogs that want to assume the role of pack leader there are going to be problems. If the dogs are left to their own devices, each dog will assume its rank within the pack. There is a good possibility that fights will develop to determine what order various dogs fall in. With inexperienced dogs, or dogs that do not have strong temperaments there will be posturing going on before a fight begins. Many times owners can verbally control their dogs and warn them to back off. But all too often dogs who have barking collars dog obedience commands fought before will launch into a full-fledged attack. These dogs have learned that a fast attack is often a successful attack. In other words, they have learned to be good fighters. You cannot assume that every dog in the park is a well-mannered, well-trained pet. Just because you see it playing with other dogs does not mean that it will play with your dog. It has already settled the rank order with these other dogs and the game may be going according to their rules. Your dog will not know the rules and can easily get into trouble. I often get emails from people who are disappointed in puppy crate training dog obedience commands their puppy
