Screw The Dog Park

00:00 — Kati Peppe introduces the risks of dog parks, doggy daycare, and interactions with unfamiliar…

Welcome to Off Leash and Unfiltered. Trigger warning. I'm Kati Peppe, delivering the truth in dog training.

Hey everybody, Kati Peppe of Diamond K9 Dog Training. This is Off Leash and Unfiltered. Today, I wanna talk a little bit about dog parks, uh, and not just dog parks, but daycares and meeting strangers and all this wonderful stuff where our dogs come into contact with people and dogs that they don't have a pre-existing relationship with. Um, so one thing I hear a lot, um, a question I get asked a lot is like, my dog got attacked at the dog park and now my dog is, you know, fill in the blank, reactive, aggressive, scared to death, skittish, you know, whatever the case may be.

Or my, you know, my dog had an incident at the dog park. Like, what do I do if something like that happens? And the answer is, you don't go to dog parks <laugh>. Okay? So, um, I get why they sound good, and in theory it does sound good.

Um, you know, we, we feel like it gives our dogs a chance to run and get exercise and, and socialization, which is like all the rage right now, right? If I had a dime for every time someone said the word socialization to me, I would be a very, very wealthy person. Um, but here's the thing, not all socialization is created equal. And so, in my opinion, what most people are calling socialization isn't really socialization. So socialization is teaching dogs how to be social, how to function in a social setting. That doesn't actually mean that they have to interact with the other dogs or the people.

Um, and it doesn't necessarily mean they don't either. But the idea is teaching your dog how to behave in a social setting. That's what socialization means. Okay? So let's think about that for a minute, because if you just turn your dog loose in a dog park with 30 other dogs and they're all just going at it, who's teaching them how to behave?

Nobody, nobody. You're leaving it up to strange dogs that you don't know. You're pawning off, basically, the responsibility—not to sound judgy here, um, because, you know, and I don't because people don't know, most of the time people don't know. They think they're doing something good for their dog, and I get it. Um, but essentially, if you think about it, what you're really doing is, now that you know the definition of socialization, by, by throwing your dog into a dog park, you are pawning off the responsibility of teaching your dog how to behave in a social setting to strange random dogs you've never met before.

03:00 — Kati argues that even fight-free dog park visits can reinforce overstimulation without rules, boundaries,…

Right? And so, how is that gonna go? I mean, nobody knows. Nobody knows. So I think the best case scenario that can possibly come out that is your dog has a positive experience in the sense that they don't get in a fight or they don't get attacked, but they're still learning unbridled overstimulation with no rules, no boundaries, no impulse control.

It's just an exercise in being chaotic and frantic. It's just go follow every impulse you have with every dog you see full force. And don't worry about listening to me. Don't worry about, uh, being polite. Don't worry about learning how to shut off your arousal. Just go for it. And so, even in the best case scenario, you can see how that's actually damaging, right? So that erodes all the things we should be trying to teach our dogs. And let me be really clear here. Like, I'm not saying your dog can't have fun, right? So people start to look at me like I have three heads and I'm some kind of militant drill sergeant.

No, yeah, I'm a dog trainer. So like, you're gonna hear me say obviously that we should be doing all of these things with our dogs, like using structure and teaching rules.

I mean, of course I'm going to say that, right? You don't go to the nutritionist and expect them to say, hey, you should eat chocolate cake all day. Uh, wouldn't make any sense. So, but I'm not militant. Like dogs can have fun, they can have freedom, they can have dog friends. Like, I don't have a problem with any of these things. What I have a problem with is throwing dogs in with other random dogs. And we don't know anything about the dogs. We don't know what their training level is, but most of them don't really have any, you know, maybe our own dog isn't even trained.

They're not being given proper feedback from the humans about how they should be interacting with other dogs. Um, and the fact is, guys, you don't know who's walking in behind you. So you'd like to think when you're in a place like that, that no one's gonna go there with their aggressive dog.

But trust me, they do. They do. Because I get the phone calls <laugh>, okay? I get the phone calls from the people who are like, well, you know, my dog doesn't do well with other dogs. So I thought maybe we'd go to the dog park and start trying to, you know, socialize him. Like, people think this is a good idea, and you don't know who the next person through that gate's going to be, or next dog through that gate's going to be. And the other thing is, their owners don't know. Sometimes most people underestimate what their dog is capable of because they usually are seeing the best side of their dog in the sense that they have a relationship with their dog.

Their dog knows them, um, their dog doesn't exhibit, you know, the insecurities or the aggression with them or with their dogs that live in their house.

Um, or maybe even with certain dog friends and dogs in the neighborhood, so that they just automatically categorize their dog as safe and friendly and a good dog who can be social. And that is just simply not the case. So a lot of times, you know, they're not seeing this stuff, but that doesn't mean it's not there, okay? And they're also seeing the best version of their dog. But on top of that, they often miss things because people aren't dog experts, right? And we can't expect them to be. People aren't dog experts, but that's why I say leave other people's dogs alone, <laugh>, because you're not a dog expert.

07:00 — Owners may overlook tension, pushiness, or bullying when they assume play means their dog…

So, so why go mess with other people's dogs? They miss the subtle signs. They miss the body language, they miss the exchanged glances, they miss the tension. And so they think when their dog doesn't have an all-out fight, you know, and they see their dog even play with another dog, they just assume that means their dog's good, right?

Dog's having fun, dog's having good time. Dog is social, dog is safe. But they could very easily be missing these signs that their dog's actually uncomfortable, their dog's actually trying to assert themselves, their dog's actually being pushy, or their dog is actually feeling bullied and they don't see it because they're not dog professionals, right? So that stuff's easy to miss. And then what happens is one day it escalates, right? Either because they've been rehearsing it, and so the behavior just gets stronger until it finally turns into something. Or because they meet the right dog who presents them with the right trigger, and that's just enough to push them over the edge.

And now you have a dog fight, and then you get, oh, I love this phrase, "I've never seen him do that before," <laugh>, because that's like the most popular phrase I hear when people call me.

You know, "I've never seen him do that before," or "His tail was wagging." So if you could see me, I'm giving you the, the air quotes right now, because the tail wagging just simply doesn't mean anything. And there are actually different types of wags, and most people can't really distinguish them, um, because again, they don't know. Um, but not all dogs exhibit proper body language either. So you can't even necessarily go by that. But tail wagging is meaningless. It, the only thing you can really extract from that is that there's some kind of arousal, right?

So the dog is internally like, excited, um, and so they miss the signs. And then you get a dog bite, a snap, a dog fight. And so it's not worth it. Like why am I gonna throw my dog in with a bunch of other strange dogs that we don't know and just let them all figure it out?

I mean, that's just a stupid, stupid idea. And again, I don't mean that in a judgy way. 'Cause I think most people that are there are there to have a good time with their dog and let their dog get some exercise and, and they see all these benefits to it in their head. Um, but the truth is it's just, it's not a great place for your dog. So I highly discourage everybody, um, about going to dog parks. Uh, and you know, I always tell people when they sign up for my training programs, if you're gonna sign up for my training program, like, you gotta stop going to the dog park.

10:00 — Kati says chaotic group environments undermine training focused on calmness, impulse control, neutrality, and…

Don't go to the dog park, don't go to doggy daycare. We're gonna talk about that one next. And it's like, is there a law? No, it is their dog. Of course, they can do that stuff if they wanna do it, but it's gonna erode all the stuff we're teaching.

And if there's one thing I hate, it's taking people's money and just letting them waste their money. They're not gonna get the benefits from it. The training isn't really gonna stick. They're not gonna get the full value. These things that we do are all gonna be eroded in those environments. So, you know, we teach calmness, impulse control, neutrality, listening to your handler around distractions and being able to shut off arousal and all this stuff. And so dog can still have fun, but they can have fun when you say with people and dogs that you select because they're safe, right?

And your dog can still listen to you. So that's important. So that's what I teach. And if you're just throwing your dog into these wild and crazy environments with all that risk and all that chaos, then what good is really any of it? I mean, you might as well not bother.

So, so let's talk about doggy daycare. Doggy daycare has become super popular, um, you know, with people working long days and all, again, all the rage about socialization, but again, you, you really with doggy daycare in most cases, and I don't wanna paint them all with the same broad paintbrush. There's probably some great ones out there. I don't know of any around here, <laugh>, but, um, there, there are probably some good doggy daycares, um, that use a little more structure, um, and have a better idea of what they're doing. But my experience, largely from what I've seen, has been that doggy daycares are just indoor dog parks.

So you bring your dog to daycare, you drop them off, and they spend their day being thrown in with random dogs having whatever experiences they're gonna have. Um, again, following every impulse and practicing overexcitement and overarousal and overstimulation with no rules, no boundaries, no listening, no feedback.

Um, and the first time there's any kind of a problem, your dog just gets locked up in their kennel. Um, and then usually what happens at that point is it happens more and more frequently. And then the next thing you know, your dog's always in a kennel anyway, so you might as well leave them at home <laugh>. So, and a lot of times in these places, guys, it's like one person for 50 dogs. And in fact, I've even talked to a person recently that said she was responsible for over a hundred dogs one day by herself.

I mean, that's insane. That's insane. So just to give you an idea, I don't generally take more than five dogs at a time, um, for me to supervise and manage and make sure they're all properly, you know, exercised and everything. But, uh, that's a lot of dogs. That's a lot of dogs.

And, you know, throwing them all together at once. And you have one dog that had a bad day and that can turn into a, a pack fight, right? So you get that pack mentality, you get a group of dogs, a couple dogs start fighting, other dogs jump in. I mean, it's ludicrous, it's ludicrous. And, uh, this person that I talked to recently too told me that a dog actually died not that long ago. Um, probably because of something along those lines. So don't recommend. So what do you do? What do you do if you work all day?

And like, you don't wanna leave your dog home alone all day, every day. Like, I get it, you know? But the fact is life is life. So you feel guilty leaving your dog at home in a crate and you feel really good about like dropping your dog off at doggy daycare and like being a responsible pet parent.

And your dog's gonna get socialized and get exercised. He's gonna have a good time, he's gonna have fun. But after everything we just discussed, do you really think it's beneficial for him or does it just make you feel good? So I think we need to really pay attention and admit to ourselves like when we're doing things for us versus for the dog. So I agree, if you do work all day and, and you're gone 7, 8, 9 hours, that's a long day. It's a long day for your dog to be in the kennel, but they'll be okay.

14:00 — Kati recommends a trusted midday caregiver for potty breaks or walks instead of chaotic…

And you can still come home and get them their exercise and give them attention. They can still get those things. They don't need to have it constantly, right? So having your dog at home, that's not deprivation. You're not gone all day for 24 hours. You will be back and you can tend to the dog and they'll be fine.

However, I think ideally, if you can find somebody that you trust, um, and there's a lot of people doing this as a profession nowadays, hire somebody personally to come in and let your dog out to potty or take your dog for a walk and that sort of thing in the middle of the day. Even if you can't do it every other day, maybe you do it. I mean, even if you can't do it every day, maybe you do it every other day or even just a couple times a week, it's better than nothing. Have someone come in and pay some attention to your dog.

And, you know, maybe if you're lucky, you know, if you're going through like a training program or something with your dog, um, if you've been using certain tools or techniques on your walk, like maybe you're lucky enough to find somebody who will continue to work with you to implement those things and, and walk your dog properly the way that you'd like them walked.

But at any rate, that's so much better than the chaotic environment of doggy daycare. So unless you can find one that actually does utilize like proper supervision and actually understands, you know, dog behavior and how they interact and their body language, and preferably a place that doesn't even require your dog to socialize with other dogs, right? They can be in the presence of other dogs, but they don't need to be thrown into a yard playing with strange dogs. And I just don't know of too many doggy daycares that operate that way. Um, most of them it's, it's a big yard and the dog goes in the yard with all the other dogs and it's just not cool.

So, and it brings me to my next point, which is meeting strangers. So everybody wants their dogs to meet strangers. What is the fascination with your dog meeting?

Strangers. Your dog does not have to greet strangers. It's kind, it feels kind of weird to me. It's like, it's like our dogs are some kind of strange trophy that we want people to like, I don't know, like ooh and ah over and, and pick it up and hold it and admire it. <laugh> It's like, no, like your dog is just your dog. They're not there for anybody else's enjoyment. No one else is entitled to like talk to go touch your dog, so your dog doesn't have to meet strangers. Now that being said, like if you have a happy-go-lucky social butterfly dog who enjoys meeting people, saying hi, getting affection, maybe it's fine.

If you want your dog to do that, fine. It's not for me. I don't do it. Um, the reason I don't do it, um, well, there are many reasons. So, I mean, what is my dog gonna get out of that?

What is the benefit to my dog? 'Cause again, I think this is largely one of those situations where it's not actually for the dog, it's for the human. It makes us feel good, it makes us feel warm and fuzzy, but it's actually not doing a whole lot for the dog. Okay? So the dog doesn't need affection from other people. It gets affection from you, okay? Are you, are you depriving your dog of affection? I doubt it. So your dog doesn't need to get affection from other people or attention from other people. They have you and probably your family if you live with your, your family.

If you have anyone else in the home, I'm sure you have friends and family that also interact with the dog. So they're not being deprived of anything if you don't let them meet strangers. Okay? Um, what else is my dog possibly gonna get outta that?

There's lots of risk involved, right? So all dogs bite. You're never gonna convince me that your dog doesn't bite. So no matter how small the chance may be, there is always a chance that your dog is gonna bite this strange person that you don't know, alright? And I've heard of some crazy lawsuits, so it's just not worth it. All it takes is, is the right trigger. So all dogs bite, right? They just have different thresholds. So some dogs, that biting threshold is really low and like they're really likely to bite. And obviously most of those people know they have a dog that they don't really trust.

And so they're probably not gonna put their dog in that situation, but people will. And then some dogs have very high thresholds, so it takes a lot to get them to bite, right? They're more, they're like the happy wiggle butt dogs who like to get affection and they wanna say hi to everybody.

19:00 — Kati weighs stranger greetings against potential bite triggers, including threatening approaches, eye contact, or…

And so those dogs have high thresholds, but that doesn't make it impossible. And then most dogs are probably somewhere in the middle. And it's like, you have to think about all the things that can happen, different people, different appearances, different energies, the way they approach your dog. If your dog feels threatened, eye contact, if they accidentally step on your dog's paw. I mean, it could be anything that just happens to be a trigger in that moment. And your dog goes, "I don't like this." And they just reflexively pull out the bite because it's in their DNA.

So it's something to think about. It's like risk versus reward. If there's not really any reward for my dog, there's no real benefit for 'em, then why am I going to put him in a situation that carries that risk? It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Um, and so I think that's worth thinking about. And the other thing is, every time you do that, you're teaching your dog that strangers mean excitement, which is very similar to like the dog park and daycare scenario, where your dog only learns that other dogs mean excitement and overstimulation. So they forget. They don't even know how to exist in the presence of other dogs without being crazy excited and overstimulated and trying to drag you over to go see them. Humans become the same thing. It's like the dog can't walk by a human without stopping to make out, because that's what we always do, right?

And suddenly every time your dog sees somebody, every time you pass someone, you become totally irrelevant. <laugh>, right? You're just back there at the other end of the leash doing your own thing and your dog is, uh, full speed ahead.

Just trying to pull you over to, to go say hi to these people that you may or may not even know. And to me, that's just not what I want. That's not the relationship I want with my dog. Like, we're out walking. If my dog's on a leash, we're doing something together. I don't want my dog going, "Oh, I gotta go say hi to them. I gotta go say hi to them. What's this person doing? What's that person doing? Oh, I gotta go say hi," right? And I'm just back there hanging on for dear life, maybe yelling like a fool.

No, no, no. Sit, sit, sit. Be good, be good. Sit, sit. Ah, ah, ah, I don't do that. I don't wanna do that. To me, guys, the key to everything is you provide all the things to your dog that they need. You don't have to rely on other people or other dogs to do that. So that's really the takeaway from this. Although it sounds like everything I'm saying is like no fun. It's like, no, it's actually owning up to being a proper owner for your dog and providing them with the things they need instead of expecting other people and other dogs to do it.

Okay? You can exercise your dog. You don't need other dogs to do that, okay? You can even provide dog friends for your dog if they are trustworthy with other dogs. Just choose dogs that you know and trust.

You provide your dog with affection. You can provide your dog with treats. You don't need strangers to do that. So I think there's just kind of this gap in like how we raise our dogs. We, we tend to look to other external sources to do those things, and it actually just opens us up to all kinds of bad stuff, all kinds of risk. So I mean, you go to a dog park, you have obviously the risk of fights and injuries and death, which would be like the worst-case scenario. Um, but diseases are super common, right?

Things like Giardia are pretty nasty. Bullying, the overstimulation we talked about. And I see the bullying every time I go by there, every single time there's a dog on their back getting their face humped. Um, there's dogs running around nipping and barking at all the other dogs.

It's just not, it's not cool, guys. Okay? And so like, why, why bother? And, you know, you can be everything to your dog. Like, you can give them the exercise, you can give them the treats, you can give them the fun. You can take your dog out and play with 'em. So I'm not telling you, you should deprive your dog of those things. I'm just saying, you don't need other people and dogs to do it for you. And most of the time it just isn't worth the risk. So all that being said, I'm gonna wrap this one up.

I hope, uh, that I won't hear from you. You won't be giving me a phone call to tell me your dog was attacked at the dog park <laugh>. So, but whatever you do with your dogs, uh, you know, be vigilant, be paying attention. Um, and just remember, dogs need feedback from you. So learn how to provide your dog with that feedback and use your judgment. Only you know what's really right for you and your dog. Um, but always use your judgment, guys. All right. That's it. I'm gonna wrap this one up and I hope to see you back here real soon.

For the next one.