Dog park blues

Yesterday, I read this article by Eric Goebelbecker, owner of Dog Spelled Forward. Eric is a certified dog trainer in Bergen County, New Jersey area.

His thoughts on dog parks made perfect sense to me, and is why I do not participate in the whole dog park thing in my business. I find that some dog owners can't even control their dogs on a walk - especially in the city. Some mean well, I think, hover they lack the ability to be able to read their dogs' body language, and sometimes have not mastered basic training and commands with their dog.

I worry about the whole movement toward not getting dogs vaccinated, too. I understand some folks' reasons for not doing so - (health reasons, prior reaction, age) - but generally those dogs are not in a more 'public' setting and there is much less of a chance of spreading disease.

What are your thoughts on dog parks? What is your experience?



Lorrie Shaw is a pet blogger, a regular contributor to AnnArbor.com and owner of Professional Pet Sitting. She has extensive experience with animals including dogs, amphibians, exotic birds and cats, and is always interested in learning new concepts in animal behavior and health.