Walk In The Park: Giving Your Dogs What They Really Need - a podcast by Ty Brown

In today’s post, I want to talk about a potential problem that people run into because they misunderstand their dog’s needs.

If you poll dog trainers, you generally won’t get the same answer from any of us. We tend to disagree about everything. Sometimes I think that’s just for sport. You could ask “What’s the best color shoe to train dogs in?” and some trainers would argue that red or gray or black shoes are better than others. The reality is this: we don’t agree on many things.

But there’s one thing that most trainers actually agree on: don’t take your dogs to a dog park. Dog parks tend to create inappropriate relationships, which in turn lead to aggression and fear. The majority of the aggression and anxiety problems we see at my company stem from time at dog parks.

Every time I say this, I get an email from someone whose dog does wonderfully at parks. Well, some people can smoke cigarettes for ninety years without getting cancer, but that doesn’t mean that is good behavior! The same is true of dog parks. I’m sure that there are dogs out there who have no problem going to the park, but the percentage isn’t very high.

When I talk to people about dog parks, I try to get to the root of the issue. Owners often say that their dog loves the park, I don’t want to be that jerk who immediately replies: “Oh, that’s bad!” I want to get to the bottom of things and understand what people want their dogs to get out of the park. Many owners will say “My dog needs to play with other dogs,” or “We got two puppies at the same time so they wouldn’t get bored.”

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