Dog Park Safety

What could be more fun for your dog than a wide open space where they can run around off-leash and play with their fellow canines until dark?  A dog park sounds like the perfect place for a dog, especially if you live in an apartment or condo without a yard.  As responsible dog-owners, we need to take a moment and consider the precautions we can take in order to have a safe visit.  

This is a great article outlining the Hidden Dangers at the Dog Park from Health.com.  It includes tips on what to bring with you when visiting the dog park as well as important vaccinations to prevent your dog from getting communicable diseases.

Above all else, keep an eye on your dog.  Owners are a dog's best advocate.  You know your dog better than anyone.  Watch out for other dogs' behaviors around your dog.  Make sure to be in-tune with how your dog is acting too.  Dog parks can be fun but they can also be intimidating.  They are not for all dogs.  

And, if your dog is not socialized, the dog park is not the place to do it.  .  Do not take them to the dog park! Only socialized dogs should be brought to a dog park.

Used dogs?

Walks and Wags wants dogs to find homes and reduce the need to euthanize.  We recently found an excellent book chock full of ideas and ways to empty the shelters by connecting the right dog with the right home.  Selling Used Dogs by Robert Cabral takes the emotional element out of the equation.  The book aims at getting shelters to turn "emotion into strategy."

The title may throw you off...we found it intriguing.  It begs the question, "why did the author choose this title?  Why would it call shelter dogs "used"?  Look at it this way.  You are looking for a used car.  Car lots do not call them "used."  They call them "previously owned".  Why? Because it sounds better!  Our society is all about what sounds good.

Cabral outlines how shelters can decrease the numbers they have to euthanize by getting more dogs adopted.   These simple steps can be taken by any shelter and rescue groups can find ways to improve their adoption rates too.

One of Cabral's suggestions is as simple as the naming the dogs.  Let's face it.  Word association happens all the time without a thought!  This is why the names given to Shelter or Rescue dogs is so important. Sure, once the dog is adopted the owner can change it's name, but we have to allow dogs the opportunity to get there.  Naming a dog Beast instead of Bella may hurt that dog's chances of being adopted.

Another important point is connecting the right dog with the right home.  By using the techniques in this book, shelters can make good matches.  A good match between dog and owner cuts down on the return-to-shelter rate.

Take the time to read this short -- 155 page -- book.  There is something for everyone, even volunteers. 



Get a copy!