I shih-tzu you not, it can be a dog eat dog world down at the dog park if you don’t know the basics in dog park etiquette.
Leads on, leads off, who’s happy and whose snappy, do you bag your poo or do you pull the old look away and pretend not to notice that little Scruffy has just backed the big brown motor home out of the garage!
Whether your dog has Big Dog Energy or Small Dog Energy, the dog park can have more drama than an episode of Bondi Vet.
One things for sure, sh$t does happen.
🐾To leash or not to leash…that is the question?
Leashing your pooch at the park can be a controversial topic.
Some of us are all about unleashing their little badass’s and why not, its a dog park, surely your pooch is entitled to have a little fun?
Others on the other hand, may have had a bad experience with another dog in the past so are all about keeping their freaks on a leash.
Ulti-mutt-ly most parks run with the rule; if you’ve got a slice of the park to yourself then go mutts.
But if there are other pooches around, then make the formal introductions aka the bum sniffs, on a leash and if they dig each other then unclilp and let the paw-ty begin.
🐾Bum Sniffing
Bum sniffing is an integral part of a dogs world.
Think of the bum sniff like having a quick squiz over someone’s Facebook page. It lets them find out a little bit about their fellow K9 before deciding if they want to play ball or not.
This is a big part of making friends down at the dog park so here’s a big bottoms up to bum sniffing!
🐾Sh$t Happens
And usually when you don’t have a poo bag handy.
First rule of the Dog Park, pick up your doggy doo doo!!!!
I’m not proud to admit it but I’ve definitely done the old look away trick once or twice…as soon as you see your pooches back-end get into poo position, walk the other way and play dumb.
Yes this has paid off a few times when Ive been caught without a bag BUT karma has a way of catching up with you, and usually on the bottom of your shoe!
So hoomans, if your pup lays a log, pick it up. Period.
🐾Big Dog Energy V Small Dog Energy
Big Dog Energy or BDE as I like to call it, is the lottery of dog personalities. Friendly, confident and a furry ball of great energy. If all dogs had BDE, then the dog park would be a better place.
Unfortunately some dogs (like my two) have Small Dog Energy or SDE. SDE can be summed up as an angry mother pupper with a big old chip on their shoulder. Think Dachshund like (again like my two).
My mini Dachshund Frank hated all dogs but in particular he despised golden retrievers. If Frank so much as spotted a Retriever across the park, it was on like donkey kong. You’ve never seen an angry snag move so fast across a park seeing red. It was highly embarrassing and lets just say no one appreciated it.
So the rule of thumb is, if you have a SDE pooch, do what I do. Find yourself a quiet piece of the dog park pie and set up base camp there. If anyone comes within 200 metres, leash that angry hound up until the coast is clear. Its a win win for all paw-ties involved.
Now that we have unpacked all the ruff stuff, go fetch, roll and bum sniff until your little furry hearts are content.
Until next time…Stay badass☠️