Shon
04-15-2004, 06:58 PM
DOGS WILL BE DOGS.
Humans will be humans.
At off-leash parks, the two worlds collide, leaving pet owners struggling to establish guidelines for appropriate interspecies behavior.
The first and foremost rule of dog-park etiquette is widely agreed upon: "Thou shalt pick up the poop."
From there, things get fuzzy, fast.
At off-leash parks in the East Bay and around the nation, a complicated set of unwritten rules has begun to form. Many are still subject to passionate debate, and some even change from one park to the next.
At Paso Nogal Park in Pleasant Hill, for instance, regulars quickly let newcomers know that all dogs should be off-leash (otherwise, they say, tangles and fights ensue).
Other expectations: Dogs may not jump on people. Any thrown ball is fair game. So is any vertical surface.
"When a dog comes up next to you you've always got to be a little aware, or you'll end up with a wet pant leg," says Doug Whiting of Martinez, a regular after-work fixture at Paso Nogal.
"After awhile, you know not to sit at the end of the benches," adds Theresa Hall of Concord.
By tacit agreement, owners also try to stop their dogs from humping other dogs.
"A lot of people don't like the humping," says Whiting, whose 6-year-old shepherd mix, Dakota, has a penchant for the lewd gesture. "I didn't teach my dog that, he just does it."
Asked for other unwritten rules, Whiting and Hall begin ticking them off in fits and spurts: Don't hit, kick or abuse any animal. Keep barking to a minimum, for the neighbors' sake. Fill the water buckets as needed. If you can't find your own dog's poop, pick up somebody else's. No barbecues. Always close the gate. Don't run unless you want every dog in the park to chase you.
Much grayer is the question of regulating dog-on-dog combat, the rough-and-tumble style of recreational wrestling many canines favor.
Some pet owners favor a laissez-faire approach, saying the dogs usually work out their own hierarchy. Others feel responsible to closely monitor the dog's style of play, to keep things from escalating into a dog fight.
To complicate things further, an encounter that looks like good clean fun to one owner may be interpreted by another as threatening aggression.
"People bring their pit bulls, and they just let them loose, and some of them play really rough," said Michael Wagner, visiting Paso Nogal with his yellow lab, Bailey. "There have been a couple of fights out there -- people fights, because people don't control their dogs."
And people fights, pet owners agree, are the worst kind.
"Dog fights get stopped pretty quick," notes Whiting. "The human fights go on and on, all the way to the parking lot."
Adhering to the human code of playground justice, many pet owners try to keep an eye for fairness in dog wrestling match-ups.
"Especially if you have a bigger dog -- some of the smaller dog people can be sensitive," says Kyle Spencer of Pleasant Hill, owner of a 6-month-old Husky named Scout. "You watch to see if those little dog owners are saying, 'Get your big dog off my little dog.' "
But not all small dogs are dainty and delicate, notes Stacy O'Farrell of Pleasant Hill. Her 18-month-old pug Chloe "goes straight for the big dogs" -- and bears on her forehead the perfect imprint of two Rottweiler teeth to prove it.
(FYI, warning signals of building dog aggression include raised hackles along the back, a stiff upright tail that's still or moving in little arches and growling.)
Young children are another bone of contention. Some insist that parks are for everyone, while others worry that even the nicest dog can easily knock down a toddler.
"You have to be a little wary of the children, because most dog bites are to kids," says Brenda Barnette, CEO of the Animal Rescue Foundation in Walnut Creek. "It's not that dogs don't like them, but kids have choppy little motions" that tend to excite dogs.
Before entering the park, "stand and watch who's in there," Barnette recommends. Ask yourself how your dog might fit in the mix.
"Stereotypically there are dogs that are categorized to be ones you should watch," she notes. "It's true we all have our concerns about some of the pit bull and pit bull mixes, because some of them may have been bred for fighting. But you could be just as likely to have a black lab go off on you."
In the end, human influence is often more important than breed, Barnette says.
"If anyone is encouraging rough play with their dogs, I would keep a wide distance from that person and their dog -- or if you see someone correcting their dog harshly or using any kind of rough punishment."
In general, she says, tiny dogs (less than 15 pounds) don't belong at the park, because they're easily injured. Dogs that are sick or in heat should be left home, as should dogs that are bullies or uncontrollably boisterous.
And regulars agree that even the world's best-behaved dog should never be left unsupervised in the park.
"One of the golden rules for the off-leash areas is for people to be aware of their dogs at all times," says Claudia Kawczynska, editor-in-chief of the Bark, a Berkeley-based magazine that chronicles America's emerging dog culture.
"So many parents think their children can do no harm, a lot of dog people also think that way about their dog. Given the right situation, most dogs will do things that you would never think they would."
That's why it's crucial that dogs have been trained reliably to come when called, no matter what the situation, says Kawczynska. And owners should always heed others' warnings about unfriendly dogs.
"One of our dogs, a terrier from a pound, never was socialized, and I have to leash him in dog park areas. Invariably, even if I'm not in the off-leash area, somebody will have a dog off-leash, and the dog will come up, and I will say 'My dog isn't good with other dogs,' . and they'll say, 'But mine is.' "
Whenever strange dogs meet, there's the potential for danger, says Judie Howard, a Moraga dog trainer who teaches competitive obedience.
"I would die rather than take my dog to a dog park," says Howard. "You have no control over who has a dog who has not had shots, doesn't mind, is aggressive, will attack your dog or try to breed with her."
Instead of visiting off-leash parks, Howard says, people can arrange "doggie play dates" -- meetings on neutral territory with other dogs whose owners they know.
"We have to remember these are animals, these are not little kids, and we can't just say 'Don't you dare hit Johnny.' "
Humans will be humans.
At off-leash parks, the two worlds collide, leaving pet owners struggling to establish guidelines for appropriate interspecies behavior.
The first and foremost rule of dog-park etiquette is widely agreed upon: "Thou shalt pick up the poop."
From there, things get fuzzy, fast.
At off-leash parks in the East Bay and around the nation, a complicated set of unwritten rules has begun to form. Many are still subject to passionate debate, and some even change from one park to the next.
At Paso Nogal Park in Pleasant Hill, for instance, regulars quickly let newcomers know that all dogs should be off-leash (otherwise, they say, tangles and fights ensue).
Other expectations: Dogs may not jump on people. Any thrown ball is fair game. So is any vertical surface.
"When a dog comes up next to you you've always got to be a little aware, or you'll end up with a wet pant leg," says Doug Whiting of Martinez, a regular after-work fixture at Paso Nogal.
"After awhile, you know not to sit at the end of the benches," adds Theresa Hall of Concord.
By tacit agreement, owners also try to stop their dogs from humping other dogs.
"A lot of people don't like the humping," says Whiting, whose 6-year-old shepherd mix, Dakota, has a penchant for the lewd gesture. "I didn't teach my dog that, he just does it."
Asked for other unwritten rules, Whiting and Hall begin ticking them off in fits and spurts: Don't hit, kick or abuse any animal. Keep barking to a minimum, for the neighbors' sake. Fill the water buckets as needed. If you can't find your own dog's poop, pick up somebody else's. No barbecues. Always close the gate. Don't run unless you want every dog in the park to chase you.
Much grayer is the question of regulating dog-on-dog combat, the rough-and-tumble style of recreational wrestling many canines favor.
Some pet owners favor a laissez-faire approach, saying the dogs usually work out their own hierarchy. Others feel responsible to closely monitor the dog's style of play, to keep things from escalating into a dog fight.
To complicate things further, an encounter that looks like good clean fun to one owner may be interpreted by another as threatening aggression.
"People bring their pit bulls, and they just let them loose, and some of them play really rough," said Michael Wagner, visiting Paso Nogal with his yellow lab, Bailey. "There have been a couple of fights out there -- people fights, because people don't control their dogs."
And people fights, pet owners agree, are the worst kind.
"Dog fights get stopped pretty quick," notes Whiting. "The human fights go on and on, all the way to the parking lot."
Adhering to the human code of playground justice, many pet owners try to keep an eye for fairness in dog wrestling match-ups.
"Especially if you have a bigger dog -- some of the smaller dog people can be sensitive," says Kyle Spencer of Pleasant Hill, owner of a 6-month-old Husky named Scout. "You watch to see if those little dog owners are saying, 'Get your big dog off my little dog.' "
But not all small dogs are dainty and delicate, notes Stacy O'Farrell of Pleasant Hill. Her 18-month-old pug Chloe "goes straight for the big dogs" -- and bears on her forehead the perfect imprint of two Rottweiler teeth to prove it.
(FYI, warning signals of building dog aggression include raised hackles along the back, a stiff upright tail that's still or moving in little arches and growling.)
Young children are another bone of contention. Some insist that parks are for everyone, while others worry that even the nicest dog can easily knock down a toddler.
"You have to be a little wary of the children, because most dog bites are to kids," says Brenda Barnette, CEO of the Animal Rescue Foundation in Walnut Creek. "It's not that dogs don't like them, but kids have choppy little motions" that tend to excite dogs.
Before entering the park, "stand and watch who's in there," Barnette recommends. Ask yourself how your dog might fit in the mix.
"Stereotypically there are dogs that are categorized to be ones you should watch," she notes. "It's true we all have our concerns about some of the pit bull and pit bull mixes, because some of them may have been bred for fighting. But you could be just as likely to have a black lab go off on you."
In the end, human influence is often more important than breed, Barnette says.
"If anyone is encouraging rough play with their dogs, I would keep a wide distance from that person and their dog -- or if you see someone correcting their dog harshly or using any kind of rough punishment."
In general, she says, tiny dogs (less than 15 pounds) don't belong at the park, because they're easily injured. Dogs that are sick or in heat should be left home, as should dogs that are bullies or uncontrollably boisterous.
And regulars agree that even the world's best-behaved dog should never be left unsupervised in the park.
"One of the golden rules for the off-leash areas is for people to be aware of their dogs at all times," says Claudia Kawczynska, editor-in-chief of the Bark, a Berkeley-based magazine that chronicles America's emerging dog culture.
"So many parents think their children can do no harm, a lot of dog people also think that way about their dog. Given the right situation, most dogs will do things that you would never think they would."
That's why it's crucial that dogs have been trained reliably to come when called, no matter what the situation, says Kawczynska. And owners should always heed others' warnings about unfriendly dogs.
"One of our dogs, a terrier from a pound, never was socialized, and I have to leash him in dog park areas. Invariably, even if I'm not in the off-leash area, somebody will have a dog off-leash, and the dog will come up, and I will say 'My dog isn't good with other dogs,' . and they'll say, 'But mine is.' "
Whenever strange dogs meet, there's the potential for danger, says Judie Howard, a Moraga dog trainer who teaches competitive obedience.
"I would die rather than take my dog to a dog park," says Howard. "You have no control over who has a dog who has not had shots, doesn't mind, is aggressive, will attack your dog or try to breed with her."
Instead of visiting off-leash parks, Howard says, people can arrange "doggie play dates" -- meetings on neutral territory with other dogs whose owners they know.
"We have to remember these are animals, these are not little kids, and we can't just say 'Don't you dare hit Johnny.' "