To Off-Leash, Or Not Off-Leash: That is the Question
It is important to know the predominant breed, fitness, and common body language of your dog to inform what behaviour to expect at an off-leash park. For example, Sporting breeds enjoy very physical dog-to-dog play. The play is rowdy and can involve neck biting and body slamming. Herding breeds have energy to burn and generally like to run and chase other dogs. Terriers are beyond brave and can bark challenge at the other dogs at the park regardless of their size. None of these play behaviours are inherently bad/rude.
No matter what breed, gender or age, all dogs use the same body language to communicate dog to dog. Knowing the body language of dogs as well as breed play styles helps us humans understand what our dogs are really engaging in at the off-leash park.
(Google dog body language and look at photos of dogs interacting. This is a good example of a dog body language site: https://barkpost.com/answers/dogs-body-language/)
As responsible citizens and dog caregivers, we prepare our dog for visiting the off-leash. We exercise our dog with a short walk to take the edge off our dog’s energy BEFORE we go to the off-leash park. We have trained our dog to recall to us. We take our dog’s favourite treats to reward the obedient recall. We stay close to our dog so we can pick up poops, make sure nothing bad is eaten and carefully observe their play. We interrupt our dog’s over-excited/rude play with recall and providing a time-out.
If our dog is stressed from too much negative attention or is stressing out other dogs with their insistence on rude play, we leave the off-leash park to try again another day. The off-leash park can be a place of positive exercise and social fun for our dogs. But it is up to us humans to respond to the situations and act appropriately, just as we expect our dog to do.
Originally Published in Airdrie Life Magazine
