Durango Dog Park

KeleI try to keep a neutral view of our dog park. There’s a lot of rumors about the amount of harmful minerals in the soil (why else is it a dog park and not a high end condo complex?) and of course we have the wonderful rattlesnake issue every summer, but we also have a huge area for our dogs to run in, bordered on one side by a river and on the other by a mountain – we have the option of walking our dogs through a ½ mile long path which follows the river, or parking close to the double-gated entry…compared to many other parks, it’s got a lot going for it.

Recently, I’ve been meeting a number of clients at the dog park and have had the opportunity to watch situations occurring there that are not consistent with good dog behavior or behavior we want to reinforce – but which is getting reinforced nevertheless.

For example, recently a woman walked in with a dog who was obviously nervous and a bit shy. She was walking with her dog, close to her legs, past the seating area and toward the hill that brings you up to the higher level. A very young, happy and high-energy black Lab bounded down the hill, gathering a great amount of speed and ran right at the scared dog – who at this point had positioned herself between her mom’s legs. As we watched (uphill and too far away to help) the Lab overwhelmed the other dog (and woman) while the Labs owner watched, then slowly began walking toward his dog to try to get her to listen to him. A few minutes later, finally able to free herself from the overly happy puppy, the woman and her – now even more scared dog – left the park.

This situation was heartbreaking for me. We just made a shy dog even shier by allowing her to get accosted by a dog who came on like a battering ram. It’s one of the big drawbacks of our large dog park – dog owners do not have voice control over their dogs – especially when there are high value items like other dogs running around.

The large area also provides other challenges – the dogs are able to spot other dogs from far away then either launch themselves at them or stalk them – in either case often far away from their owners. The anticipation of dogs meeting other dogs is always compounded by visuals so the more we can limit their ability to see the dogs from far away, the better….perhaps it’s time to talk about putting up some artwork or tree’s/shrubs throughout the middle of the dog park and give all dogs the opportunity to walk and enjoy the area.

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