Study: Dog Park Politics
Published November 4, 2011
Flickr User Jim's Photos1
A new study focuses on the human social interactions that happen at dog parks.
According to a report in the Montreal Gazette, the human social interactions and the politics (so to speak) that take place at dog parks are now the subject of a new study in Montreal. And the early findings of the study might surprise you.
Early research has indicated that, while most dog park interactions are positive and beneficial for humans, there have been more negative interactions than one might think. These negative reports revolve around the idea of a sort of hierarchy being developed among the human pack in the dog park, where a select few "dog park regulars" assert their will over the rest of the dog park attendees.
In addition to some of the surprising reports of negative human interactions at dog parks, some feel that humans hyper-socialize at dog parks. Essentially, these people are of the belief that some folks spend too much time talking with their human friends, and in turn don't pay enough attention to their dogs. Of course, not paying attention to your pup can result in a whole host of issues that are in violation of appropriate dog park etiquette.
To be sure, the study isn't disputing the overall benefit of dog parks; in an age where face-to-face social interaction is fading in favor of online connections, dog parks provide a real-life area where people can still meet face-to-face and talk about their common interests. In fact, the aim of the study is to garner some universal findings that might be able to improve dog parks on a large scale.
What are your thoughts about this interesting study? Have you witnessed the "human pack" behavior at your own dog park? Are you looking to change certain things about the particular dog park that you go to? Let us know in a comment!
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Comments (2)
I have totally seen this behavior (human) at several dog parks. It is perfectly great when dog owners socialize at a dog park. It is not okay when the owners are to busy socializing to notice their dog is bullying other dogs and being aggressive to other owners as well. One example that sticks out in my mind was a slow time at my local off leash park where there was a small group of owners huddled together in one corner of the park, so I went to the far side of the park to play frisbee in peace with my dog. This bully dog came over and grabbed my frisbee and ran away back to the other side of the park. I went over and retrieved it, and mentioned to the owner to try to keep his dog in eyesight so I could play with mine. I again went back to throw the frisbee and the bully dog came again and again to steal it. The owner could clearly see I was frustrated every time I had to come back over and grab the frisbee from his dogs mouth, yet he just stood there. It quickly ended with his dog actually biting at my dog, and then biting me and taking the frisbee directly from my hand. I was no badly hurt, but I was shocked that the owner would allow that to happen. I understand a dog being interested in a frisbee, but we were not in eyesight of the owners or other dogs-- so I thought (or at least hoped) if a dog did come our way the owner would either watch it or call it back over. This is just one of the several reasons I no longer go to off-leash parks! That, and we finally have a big back yard for our fella :)
I hope I'm not the only other person reading and commenting at this site. If more people would, maybe it would stop stuff like the above annoying post which doesn't belong here. If this person needs a venue to express her religious thoughts s/he should begin a blog, not clutter up a site.