Dog Park Ettiquette Part 2: St Peters vet advice for Tempe, Marrickville, Newtown, Enmore dog owners.

So we all know about the benefits to ourselves and our four legged friends a park outing brings – stimulating scents, maintaing social skills and physical exercise.

Dogs who do not have a current and up to date C5 vaccination pose a potential risk to others in the park as they may shed viruses and bacteria that other dogs or puppies could contact. Dogs who are not desexed obviously can cause issues if an in-season female is in the vicinity.

In the inner city, there are so many dog parks to choose from. Each have their own amenities (or lack of) and each attract a different crowd and density of pets. It’ recommended that before deciding on your ‘go-to’ park, you visit it without Fido and assess it for yourself. Is it fenced? Are there plentiful bins? (no one likes carrying a bag of doggy doo for an entire walk) Is there a variety of terrains for your dog to explore?

Shelley fromPaws and Think – a local dog trainer suggests that you train your dog to behave appropriately in the dog park

before you let them loose on other park goers!  Over exuberant dogs can be too much for many, and shy nervous dogs may not enjoy the park at all – Make sure your dog isn’t being bullied or being the bully – no matter how friendly they are.

While dog parks offer a great location for humans to interact, we must always be mindful that we need to be good leaders for our pets and it’s vital that no matter how interesting our friends’ weekend stories were, we always pay attention to our pets to avoid negative interactions that could lead to a fight or fleeing onto the road.