I’ve just written an article about my opinion on dog parks, and its not cheery. To put it in a nutshell, there is no upside to dog parks. They’re a breeding ground for disease and an accident waiting to happen. Not too long ago I received an email from a girl who took her shepherd to a local dog park and when she recovered her dog, he was missing both of his ears. One never to be found again, the other costing thousands of dollars to repair. The financial implications of this is nothing compared to the emotional impact this incident will have on her dog.
If you’re even thinking about taking your dog to a dog park, I’d ask you to stop, read my article and then if you need more convincing, research them a bit more on the internet. If you think dog parks are a good idea, you haven’t seen or heard what I have.
Dog parks are not a way to “socialize” you dog, or get them exercise. Dogs fight for structure at dog parks, there are rank struggles and dogs become dominant toward other dogs at dog parks. If you love your dog, do the research. It only takes one dog to set off a pack fight, and once initiated, you will not be able to break it up, I promise you.