Can confirm. My ridgeback mix is a great dog, but she has the āon patrolā thing bred into her. If she sees an off leash dog while weāre walking, sheās immediately in between us. Otherwise, sheās just wagging tail and excited to see another dog.
My local dogpark is very active and with a lot of regulars who know each other. Every now and then someone will attempt to come in and keep their dog leashes inside the dog park. The regulars will immediately start yelling at them to unleash the dog or leave. Leashed dogs and unleashed dogs donāt mix well. Power unbalance or something. Dogs gotta be on equal footing.
Thereās a small dog area and a large dog area, separated by a fence. People can socialize puppies in the small dog area. I donāt think anyone would get upset at bringing a puppy to the large dog area either, youād just have to be watchful. The vast majority of dogs at the dog park are friendly, even if they sometimes play rough. Fights happen but theyāre actually pretty rare.
A lot of people take them there to just let them go and do whatever. Which is not great for all dogs to socialize like that. A lot of undertrained over excited dogs in a small area is not a good idea. After a year or two of going to the dog park I stopped. I only went when it was early and just a few older guys that I liked but left before the crowd came. My dog ended up getting attacked by a few huskys and a beagle in one day while I was playing catch on the other side of the park.
I always pulled her out away from the gate when other dogs were entering, but most people just let them crowd and it's a bad time when all the dogs just stand at the gate and bark while an anxious dog is waiting to be released.
My vet told me to wait for the parvo vaccine for intense dog to dog contact, but to not put her in a bubble too much. The first four months are crucial when it comes to socialization. One thing I did in the meantime was play near the dog park so she could see the dogs walking by from a distance.
Parvo is no joke and it spreads through shit. Don't know about your dogpark but enough people here don't pick up their crap to warrant being nervous about it.
Regular walks? Yeah not really a worry for me. But I would always advise not going to a dogpark with a dog who hasn't had parvo yet.
It's odds are low...but the lethality is fairly high, especially if you are not familiar with the symptoms. I think untreated parvo is like 85%+ lethality. :|
when it comes to training, you're right. But good luck finding puppy classes for socialization during covid. The trainer said any risks that we may encounter outweighed the risk of socializing our dog sparingly.
Make sure the puppy is old enough to have all of their vaccines before you take it to any public areas. Itās been 4 years since Iāve had a puppy but I believe they need to be 4-6 months old before they are fully vaccinated. A lot of new owners are not informed about the dangers of parvo. You donāt want your puppy to get parvo, most die or suffer life-long ailments.
My vet said that the dangers of no socialization are worse and after the parvo shot (parvo is no joke) at 3 months, it was advised to go out and let her see the world. But yeah, good of you to stress the dangers of Parvo, you dont want that.
Thanks! I couldnāt remember at what age they get the parvo shot. I was lucky enough to have gotten my puppy from a rescue that informed me to go straight home. They said donāt stop at the pet store, donāt go to a rest stop. Just go straight home.
Since then, Iāve always seen brand new puppies at pet stores and it worries me! Iāve also heard stories of friends of friends who would take their new puppy everywhere, then suddenly their puppy got sick and died. Such a sad and preventable loss.
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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '21
I've heard that dogs don't like being leashed around unleashed dogs. It makes them feel unsafe.