Dog Park 101
On October 15th 2023, several dog park visitors and their people gathered at the Mad River Valley Dog Park to attend a primer on dog park safety. Led by Janine Manninen of Green Mountain Dog Camp, this session was the first of a three-part free series held at the park. With the topic of “How to Introduce Dogs at the Park”, attendees learned many useful strategies, key among them…
Motion is magic! If things are getting tense, take your dog for a walk within the park.
Keep your leash with you so you can easily separate your dog, or let the leash drag for the easiest access.
Where people gather, so do their dogs. If tensions rise with dogs crowding each other, move away from each other. Start walking with your dog to defuse the situation.
When introducing dogs, nose to nose contact for three seconds should be the limit.
The more often you come to the park, even for short times, the more opportunity your dog will have to get used to the dog park environment and the calmer you both will be!
Spend some time training or walking your dog prior to your arrival at the park to encourage your dog to be as calm as possible when they arrive. You can walk your dog outside of the park along the path to help them relax. Janine’s rule of thumb is, “if you can’t eat you can’t meet” – if your dog is too excited to take food from you, they’re probably too excited to meet other dogs quite yet.
Use treats for distraction and to reinforce positive behavior. Bring lots with you (kibble is a great option). The dogs will refocus attention on the treats rather than each other. Treat all dogs (ask the other owners first, as some dogs have food allergies).
Try to discourage the “welcome wagon” at the gate. When a new dog enters the park, try to call other dogs away to give the newcomer a chance to get acclimated without being overwhelmed. Call out “Treats! Treats! Treats!” to get greeting dogs to leave the gate area.
Use the “Small Dog” area as you need! This area is not just for small dogs. Use this zone to separate dogs out from each other to help manage the doggie chaos, or to let your dog of any size get acclimated to the energy of the park.
Don’t hesitate to use a muzzle if you have any doubts. You can take it off after your dog settles in. Muzzles of all sizes will be available at the park’s welcome center for use while at the park.
Take responsibility for your dog and make sure to always supervise them.