Daisy had all her shot and was over four months, meaning, according to the sign at the dog park at Willow Creek Park, she was allowed in.
Should we let our sweet Daisy puppy in that place with all those older dogs, including some mean looking Dobermans and Huskies? It's a bit like the first day of school in the playground with the big kids. Would the other kids play with you? Would the big kids tease or, even worse, beat you up?
Being conscientious, we consulted Zak George's Dog Training Revolution Guidebook on whether this was a good idea. According to Zak, dog parks are "a big wild card" with many pros and cons (not especially helpful Zak). We also watched his dog park training video on YouTube.
Daisy watched it too! [Daisy responds to certain things on the TV, especially dogs and especially mean sounding guard dogs (typical Nazi war movie) - she goes berserk.]
The video recommends that the owner let the dog "observe" from outside the fence the other dogs for a while and not let the dog in the park if the dogs appears nervous, afraid or anxious. If you let your dog in, the owner is simply to let the dog sniff around and get comfortable in the setting and greet other dogs only when and if the dog wants to. It is recommended the owner let the dog take its time and avoid forcing any introductions or play, but also while being observant for any threatening or potentially dangerous dogs or situations.
We took our puppy Daisy to the park at Willow Creek. She sat down outside the chain link fence, "observed" for less than a second and then pushed through the gate, charged into a pack of dogs and never looked back. She is so not like Grandma Evie and me.
Here are some videos of Daisy mixing it up with the "big kids" at the park. (It's hard to get good videos but you'll get the idea). (Daisy is the white dog with the green harness)
