RSS
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
The Dispatch wrote
Smaller, lesser-known park might host dogs
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
BY MARK FERENCHIK
Columbus wants to create a place for pooches just north of Downtown.
The city is proposing a fenced-in dog park for Wheeler Park, north of I-670 and near Harrison West and Victorian Village. It’s also just west of Goodale Park, a place where people often take their dogs to run them, on and off the leash.
Some Goodale Park patrons don’t mind Rover running loose.
Others do, so therefore the Wheeler Park proposal.
City officials will talk about the plan at 7 p.m. next Tuesday at the Goodale Park shelter.
Related Story:
People have a funny interpretation of what it means to be in control of their dog.
Ditto for big(ger) dogs as well. I leash my dog, but she’s blind in one eye and (I hypothesize) insecure around off-leash dogs because she’s on a leash. When an off-leash dog is pestering her because the owners aren’t paying attention I am literally trapped, holding my dog so she doesn’t get aggressive, while this other dog romps around me. This has lasted a couple of minutes with my dog getting increasingly upset until the other dog gets bored. Almost never does the owner notice that I am desperate to get their dog away.
It’s frustrating because I’ve got a “problem” puppy that I’m slowly, responsibly trying to teach socialization, but she ends up having these unnecessary set-backs because of other dog owners.
LOL…Bugsy’s terrified of cats too. He wants to fight Great Danes and Rottweilers…but he’s terrified of kittens.
People have a funny interpretation of what it means to be in control of their dog.
Ditto for big(ger) dogs as well. I leash my dog, but she’s blind in one eye and (I hypothesize) insecure around off-leash dogs because she’s on a leash. When an off-leash dog is pestering her because the owners aren’t paying attention I am literally trapped, holding my dog so she doesn’t get aggressive, while this other dog romps around me. This has lasted a couple of minutes with my dog getting increasingly upset until the other dog gets bored. Almost never does the owner notice that I am desperate to get their dog away.
It’s frustrating because I’ve got a “problem” puppy that I’m slowly, responsibly trying to teach socialization, but she ends up having these unnecessary set-backs because of other dog owners.
A fenced in, off-leash dog park will probably be 100 times worse for you and your pup. Owners pay even less attention to thier dogs and you get less obedient dogs at them. I’m not saying that I’m against them, but for the situation you described, it seems like your dog and the others around it require some close watching.
Actually, we take her to the fenced-in, off-leash dog park in Gahanna about once a week and she does great. Usually, she finds a dog who loves to run as much as she does and she’s 100 times happier than when she’s on leash. The problem is chasing her down at the end because she won’t come when called if there’s fun stuff going on!
That’s why I hypothesize that the “her on-leash/other dogs off-leash” combination makes her feel insecure. I would love to have her off-leash at Goodale because I know she’d be more relaxed, but we’re still working on voice control. Right now I think the solution is to socialize and teach her that she shouldn’t be worried when she’s on leash and other dogs aren’t. That’s hard to do when the off-leash dogs aren’t under control.
Definitely not in you imagination. From the SPCA in San Fran’s website:
Dogs are highly social, to the point of compulsion. When most dogs spot another dog on the street, they are highly motivated to approach and investigate. Being on leash restricts their ability to do so. The resulting frustration translates into increased excitement and agitation, which can be alarming to the owner, who may then deliberately restrict access, tense up before encounters or even punish the dog. This starts an association between the sight of dogs and frustration as well as owner tension and possibly punishment. A vicious cycle is then born that often culminates in thwarting-related or “barrier frustration” aggression. This, combined with owner-proximity induced resource guarding, is why so many dogs are more aggressive on leash than off.
Part of the solution is recognizing the inherently abnormal situation of dogs meeting novel dogs with out freedom of movement. Owners can mitigate this by allowing dogs to approach and investigate friendly dogs or allowing them to do so after performing a “please may I” command such as “sit.” If a dog has a well-advanced case of barrier-related aggression, a combination of changing the association from negative to positive, obedience proofing and remedial socialization will usually produce profound improvement.
There’s a couple people who go to Schiller that take advantage of the circle around the Schiller Statue which, although small, is fenced in. That way they can get a couple dogs in there playing together who normally can’t be off leash.
Yep, I think that’s it, and I am definitely guilty of increasing the problem with my nervousness. I’m actually lucky because my boyfriend’s cousin is a dog trainer, so she’s been helping the two of us. Unfortunately she lives in Florida so she can only tell us what to do over the phone. We’ve even been sending her videos of our walks so she can tell us what we’re doing right and wrong!
I gotcha now.
Our dog hates being on leash in the middle of a pack of dogs too. It seems to bring out the “cornered dog” instinct in him. It’s best to just let him go off-leash. We were nervous at first that he’d run away, but after working with him on a long lead and off-leash around other dogs, he’s done pretty well.
Mary! Is that you? I’m doing a dog park proposal for that class.
What’s the current status of the leash law and dog parks in the downtown Columbus area? I am looking to buy a property in the King-Lincoln District and there doesn’t really seem to be anything nearby.
There is no leash law.
It is a long the lines of you can have a dog off leash if you are in complete control for anywhere in Columbus. There also is not any enforcement of it other than civil suits. They just made Goodale and official off leash park :P
Wow, this is great news! I have been working n voice commands with my blue merle and he is getting there. Now if he will just listen to my girlfriend…
What, if any, are the steps involved to establish a dog park? I mean, if there is green space available, people can start frequenting it and it can eventually become a known doggie spot.
I agree with all that support “self-policing” of the neighborhood parks for leash free dogs: it works. And I say this having a dog that became a bit ball aggressive, so now he walks on a leash. :cry: I also think that the city needs some form of a “leash law” that puts irresponsible dog owners on the hook and makes them think twice about letting an aggressive dog off leash.
The city needs both models: dedicated dog parks and some policy that allows responsible dog owners to self-police the situation, for their safety and their dog’s. I cannot imagine an urban city park that does not allow for this. As soon as we segregate park use, the vibrancy of any park dies (and gets more dangerous).
I have brought this up in city meetings on the leash law, but a really good model to look at is nearby: Upper Arlington. They have a leash law, but they also have reasonable, designated hours that dogs are allowed to be off leash (if the are non-aggrssive and under some control). This scheduling allows people to adjust their own: if they don’t want to be around dogs, they stay away from those hours or that area of the park. It seems like it works.
It’s hard I think for dogowners to know the bounds of their animals. Right now I go to a park where there are aggressive dogs. Almost always either myself or one of the other dog owners comments to the aggressive dog’s owner that they need to leash it or leave. I have noticed that if it happens a few more times they will not come back (but to the ill-fortune of the dog and being able to socialize). Other owners have nice dogs that have tendencies of aggression that always come back and think that it will just go away. My dog will not play with those dogs. Point being, some people just don’t know where to draw the line.
I think the existing system works perfectly well actually. As someone very active in the debate over leash laws, I can tell you the number of “complaints” about off leash dogs isn’t remotely serious and doesn’t even rival other topics of park complaints. Schiller has the right idea, in that it’s self regulating. Dogs that are out of control or problematic, owners are addressed by other dog owners, and the situation handled.
More city regulation is a horrible idea.