performing a perimeter sweep of the dog park
I was incredibly nervous the first time we took Finley to the dog park. I wasn’t sure how she was going to react to other dogs or if I’d be able to get her to come to me when it was time to leave. I know that if she didn’t come I was going to have to resort to bribing her because running after her wouldn’t accomplish anything other than making me tired. She’s just way to fast to catch. She had come across other dogs at the pet store and on walks and seemed to be interested in them, so I figured it would go alright at the dog park.
When we got to the park, we went in and let her off the leash while my dad and I walked around the perimeter to check it. She sniffed around the benches near the door and then seemed to follow us closely. Fin wasn’t too happy about the other dogs though, she didn’t go near any of them and when they came near her she acted afraid. Her tail would curl up under her and she looked at us like “Help there’s a dog near me”. This wasn’t too encouraging. Although when the other dogs left her alone, she seemed very happy to sniff around and even get to run around like crazy.
One guy showed up with his two beagles that are about the same size as Finley and they wanted to play her. She wasn’t having any of it; she had no interest in playing with any of those dogs. I’m not sure she was ever taught how to play with other dogs or socialized with them. I let it play out for a little bit though because I didn’t want to coddle her even though she was afraid because it would only make the situation worse. Basically, what ended up happening was she got chased by the beagles around the park. She’s fast so they had trouble keeping up to her but she was afraid and would come to hide behind my dad or I. I didn’t appreciate that the beagles’ daddy was encouraging his dogs to chase after Finley either, especially since it was clear she didn’t like it.
We didn’t stay long after that because I didn’t want this to be negative experience for her. I think it’s important for dogs to be able to run off leash and since Finley has some running away issues the only place she can do that is in a fenced-in area. While her first experience wasn’t the best, I was reluctant to take her back to a dog park but I did, to a different park and during the day when I suspected it wouldn’t be as busy. More to come on those experiences in future posts.
When we got to the park, we went in and let her off the leash while my dad and I walked around the perimeter to check it. She sniffed around the benches near the door and then seemed to follow us closely. Fin wasn’t too happy about the other dogs though, she didn’t go near any of them and when they came near her she acted afraid. Her tail would curl up under her and she looked at us like “Help there’s a dog near me”. This wasn’t too encouraging. Although when the other dogs left her alone, she seemed very happy to sniff around and even get to run around like crazy.
One guy showed up with his two beagles that are about the same size as Finley and they wanted to play her. She wasn’t having any of it; she had no interest in playing with any of those dogs. I’m not sure she was ever taught how to play with other dogs or socialized with them. I let it play out for a little bit though because I didn’t want to coddle her even though she was afraid because it would only make the situation worse. Basically, what ended up happening was she got chased by the beagles around the park. She’s fast so they had trouble keeping up to her but she was afraid and would come to hide behind my dad or I. I didn’t appreciate that the beagles’ daddy was encouraging his dogs to chase after Finley either, especially since it was clear she didn’t like it.
We didn’t stay long after that because I didn’t want this to be negative experience for her. I think it’s important for dogs to be able to run off leash and since Finley has some running away issues the only place she can do that is in a fenced-in area. While her first experience wasn’t the best, I was reluctant to take her back to a dog park but I did, to a different park and during the day when I suspected it wouldn’t be as busy. More to come on those experiences in future posts.
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