Dog parks
OK, guys. Lay it on me: pros and cons?
There are several dog parks in my area. My pup needs exercise, and she needs to be socialized/desensitized to people and dogs. I've been given the good word on which local park is less likely to have inattentive handlers and aggressive dogs. So...should I take my girl?
More info: I drove by yesterday, mid-morning mid-week and there were probably 6-8 people with around a dozen dogs. Most of them were staying near the end with the gate, so I think if I were to walk toward the other end we'd be fairly unmolested.
I adopted my dog at six months from a foster organization where I think she had regular interaction with other dogs as well as a weekly adoption day in PetCo where she behaved herself quite well. (Of course, she was a sick puppy at the time and no one knew.) In the first months I had her, while walking through the neighborhood on three or four different occasions, off leash dogs greeted her WAY too enthusiastically, scaring the crap out of her, and in only one case was I able to mediate the situation and effect a better, off-leash introduction (at which point she and the other dog did great.) Currently she puts hackles up every time she sees another dog, and a few weeks ago while jogging in the park she bowled right through me trying to get at a German shepherd.
So, I don't really have any idea how she'll do. :\ She's got a pretty good recall, and I've called her off bunny rabbits and birds, but dogs are a whole different ballgame I think. I'm super nervous that she'll be aggressive off the bat and I won't be able to get her under control.
As another option for testing the waters, I was reading the clickersolutions Raising a Clicker Puppy blog wherein the author had her pup in doggy daycare every week for supervised socialization. Is that a way that many people use doggy daycare? Might that be something I should inquire about locally?
Thanks as always for your suggestions!
There are several dog parks in my area. My pup needs exercise, and she needs to be socialized/desensitized to people and dogs. I've been given the good word on which local park is less likely to have inattentive handlers and aggressive dogs. So...should I take my girl?
More info: I drove by yesterday, mid-morning mid-week and there were probably 6-8 people with around a dozen dogs. Most of them were staying near the end with the gate, so I think if I were to walk toward the other end we'd be fairly unmolested.
I adopted my dog at six months from a foster organization where I think she had regular interaction with other dogs as well as a weekly adoption day in PetCo where she behaved herself quite well. (Of course, she was a sick puppy at the time and no one knew.) In the first months I had her, while walking through the neighborhood on three or four different occasions, off leash dogs greeted her WAY too enthusiastically, scaring the crap out of her, and in only one case was I able to mediate the situation and effect a better, off-leash introduction (at which point she and the other dog did great.) Currently she puts hackles up every time she sees another dog, and a few weeks ago while jogging in the park she bowled right through me trying to get at a German shepherd.
So, I don't really have any idea how she'll do. :\ She's got a pretty good recall, and I've called her off bunny rabbits and birds, but dogs are a whole different ballgame I think. I'm super nervous that she'll be aggressive off the bat and I won't be able to get her under control.
As another option for testing the waters, I was reading the clickersolutions Raising a Clicker Puppy blog wherein the author had her pup in doggy daycare every week for supervised socialization. Is that a way that many people use doggy daycare? Might that be something I should inquire about locally?
Thanks as always for your suggestions!