Dog Parks

Why are there no dog parks in the UK? (Or ARE there?)

You see them in America - fenced off areas in parks with plenty of poo-bins, water bowls, benches, tunnels and other agility/play equipment.

They are safe places where those with non-aggressive dogs can let their dogs off-lead to socialise with impunity.

Should we all be getting together and lobbying our councils?

No!
1. It will give councils the excuse to ban dogs from more parks and beaches `because they have a place of their own`. I think dogs should be part of our life - not put in a ghetto. I think the more people get used to dogs being around, the fewer anti-dog people there will be. How will children learn that dogs are fun if they are fenced off?
2. My dogs are big - they love to run, and one loves to scent and track. This would be impossible on a dog park - simply not enough room. And who polices it?
3. And who decides which dog is non-aggressive? Does that include the boisterous youngster who needs to learn dog ettiquette? Or the fearful dog who doesn`t like other dogs getting too close? My dogs would be bored rigid (and so would I) going to the same place every day.

There is an excellent scheme by the Forestry Commission - they have just opened an activity trail for dogs. Now that`s the sort of thing I`d like to see more of.

That sounds interesting, where is it? Do you have a link or anything?

I like the idea of dog parks if we could have then as well as our current access to parks. I would love somewhere I could take my dogs that was fun and secure, may not use it everyday but a great option, and what a brilliant place to work on Pepper's recall!

Don't know if C&D is being overly pessimistic, but I suppose that would be a risk.

J

Most of the parks in our Area have now stopped dogs being allowed in them (unless on lead in most) but I did speak to my local councillor about the need for dog parks as many of the places I used to take my dogs too have either stopped dogs going into them or the land has been developed and houses have been built on it. apparently there are now a couple of "dog parks" areas that are fenced off, I think they are a good idea, for one there is no risk to children catching something from the dog poo that gets left by uncaring owners, and no risk of the dog running away(if its a fenced in area) I would welcome a decent dog park local to me. I know many in the states that LOVE their dog parks, usually they have no issues with aggressive dogs. I also know some people that have grouped together and pay for the local dog parks facilities and upkeep.

Mo

Excellent post I couldn't agree more.

We had a thread on it recently
http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=91857

There were 'dog parks' when I took mine to centre parks on holiday. They were smelly miserable bark covered prison yards. The poo may have been well picked up, butthe bark was so urine covered the smell was eye watering. Selkie is a fussy peeer and couldn't find a spot suitable in the whole area. I would not welcome them in any of my local parkes. I know they would be used by the anti dog lobby to ban my poor dogs from everywhere else.

I understand peoples concerns over dog poo being left in childrens play areas may harm the health of their children, yet I can get no sympathy for the wrappers, bits of dropped chocolates, lolly sticks, bottles and rubbish being left all over the rest of the park by these children being a risk to the health of my dogs

Couldn't agree with the above more! the only time i have EVER raised a hand to Cassie was when she was devouring something left in the local park. She turned a deaf ear and i slapped her on the the bum to get her to stop eating. God knows what it was

The amount of rubbish left by parents near the playground is awful and they have the nerve to give me dirty looks when my dog does a poo, which i then pickup! The kiddie football teams and trainers are worse leaving drinks bottles all over the place . .

Although the idea of having somewhere just for dogs sounds good i do agree that it would isolate dogs from people again.

I think that there should be places where people go if they don't want to be near dogs but that there should be a balance of places. I went to a beach and headland recently and dogs were allowed in all the places apart from one fenced off area where people could go if they wanted to eat their picnis in a dog free zone. It was nice to see that it wasn't the dogs who had been penned in!

I agree 100% with C&D and Magpye