Taking an Un-altered Male dog to the Dog Park -Opinions-

Sarah

I wanted to see what everyone's opinion was on taking an un-altered male dog to the dog park. Do you think it is acceptable for people to do so or would you advise against it?

BoxLove

IMHO it causes a lot of friction, whether your intact dog is the most mellow, well socialised dog ever. You cannot predict how the other dogs that are there will act.

So personally I would advise against.

I am very interested to hear the views of other members.

Sarah

That is one thing I have been worried about. I take Oliver my Papillon to the dog park and he is not yet neutered. While he is friendly to everyone both human and non-human I do worry about how other dogs will feel about him. I'm already nervous for him because of his size and he gets really nervous when the big dogs chase him. I normally take him over to the small dog area but no one is ever over there to play with. I do let him go play with the big dogs when it's not crowded and he seems to get along with them fine. I also worry about the chance of someone bringing a female in heat in. Although I would hope people would be smarter than to do that, and I'm sure it would be noticeable as even altered males would probably go after a female in heat. Anyways, I would love to hear others opinions as to what they think.

Criosphynx

personally I'd say more than half the "problems" I see are rude unaltered males.

I don't think there should be a rule against it, I just wish people would use better judgement som'times. Even neutered dogs hump...but all the serial humpers I have met, have been unaltered.


if your dog behaves...I say go for it.

pawsforthought

what i'm worried about is other dogs attacking oliver!! monty is unneutered, and is VERY mellow and VERY friendly. he has been attacked SO many times the earliest bad one was when he was 4 months old, and it wasn't his fault (aggressive border collie attacked him - owner just watched as his dog walked up to monty, not telling us that his dog didnt like other dogs on the lead (which monty was) until AFTER we had pulled the dog off poor, yelping monty )

i am pretty sure that were monty neutered, he would not be the target for so many attacks.

also, bear in mind that i live in the UK, and where i walk my dog is a big, open park with LOTS of space, fields, trees, bushes..... i'm just thinking if you take oliver to a dog park, it's a more confined space, therefore more chance of a touchy encounter from another dog.

if i were you, i would take him to the park, watch how the other dogs behave first...if any of them look overly dominant then it might not be wise to let him off. or maybe you could ask the other owners there how their dogs gets on with full males???

i know it's a bit of a job to do that every time you take him to the dog park, but it's one of those things you just have to get used to unless you decide to get him fixed. (we aren't because we're hopefully going to breed him!!! )

sorry for long post there!!!

Sarah

Thanks for the information and yes I am always very cautious with him at the park. Although I think for now I will feel safer just taking him on the small dog side cause there is normally only ever 1 or 2 other dogs over there. As much as I love big dogs it would only take one bite and Oliver could be severely hurt or even killed because of his size. He is 10 months now and I will be scheduling his neuter in a few months. I would like to wait until he is at least a year before I get him snipped.

Definitely I wouldn't take him if he wasn't. He mostly just enjoys the other dogs being around rather than playing with them. He normally just runs around and tries to mark over any area another dog has marked. haha. Occassionaly he will find a buddy that he runs around with, but he hasn't tried humping any of them so far.

tankstar

Blaze is unaltered. I take him about atleast 5 days a week. he is a easy going dog. but he is also targeted by some dogs. Im very good at reading 99% of dog language. and either
A) Remove Blaze from the area. Which is easy to do as our dog park is 20+ acres, plus behind it is 100's of acres of woodland with trails.
or
B) Depending on how rude the dog is, ask the owner to leave with their dog. That is if his dog IS going for other dogs. too. and not just Blaze.

He is very well socialized, and trained. i wouldnt take him, or another dog if they were any other way.

I dont see why he should not go some where he just loves, becuase he has his man bits. Majority of his buddies at the park still have theirs. And none of them have issues with each other.

But I dont hang out int he "pit" which is the large area where every one goes. we hang out in what we call the back woods. where my small group of friends meet with our dogs. So we dont always run in to "strangers and strange dogs"

pawsforthought

there's a small dog side and a big dog side?? this is very interesting to me. what happens if you have a big AND a little dog?? do you put the little dog in with all the big dogs, or put the big dog in with all the little dogs?? are there many dog parks around??? because i may move to the US when i'm heading out into career world, and i want a career in dog behaviour. so i want to be able to have dogs and walk them. if these dog parks are the only places where dogs can go off lead, and there aren't many, i think it will be ver difficult for me, being used to the english countryside and all!!!!

sorry for the change of topic

Sarah

I live in the Prescott Arizona area and there is currently only one dog park. They have a separate area for small dogs (under 30lbs I think) and then another area for large dogs. Although the large dog area is a lot nicer than the small dog area and most people just take their small dogs over with all the other large dogs. It's nice to have at least one dog park. I don't know how it is in the rest of the states but at least in my area there are many trails you can take your dogs but they do have to be on a leash.

pawsforthought

i think it's kind of a shame that all dogs must be on a lead. i love it here where you can let your dog off and watch him run aound with lots of other dogs, and watch him explore lots of different places.

anyway if i do ever move to the States it will only be for a short period i think. maybe just to start off my training etc.