I saw a post in the AOL Canine Behavior Boards about an off-leash dog beach
at Downs Park,
http://www.dogfriendly.com/server/tr...226230do.shtml

and when I searched I found an off-leash dog park in Canton.
http://www.dogfriendly.com/server/tr...967900ca.shtml

There were no other off-leash parks listed for MD.

I think it would be fun to take Muttley to a place like this where he might
be encouraged to run and play and get some exercise. I think it would be OK
as long as the area is enclosed with some sort of fence so there is no
danger of him chasing a critter into a busy road.

I've been socializing him a lot more lately, and he seems very stable,
non-aggressive, and non-reactive with other dogs and people. Today I took
him to outdoor volleyball at a Harford County park, and I tethered him to
the bleachers while I played. He got pretty well tangled up when he
alternately crawled under them and climbed up on them, but he settled down
after a while. Lots of kids petted him and he didn't seem to mind, but I
think he'd just as soon not have much attention. Next week I'll probably
bring his tie-out stake that screws into the ground, so he won't get
tangled.

I just don't know what to expect at a dog park or beach. I remember that he
and Lucky played fairly rough, and I was afraid it might escalate, but that
may have been an issue of dominance in the den, rather than on neutral
turf. He has acted gently and at a low level of interest with other dogs,
and he seems gentle enough with small ones. I'm sure his recall is not very
good when he is distracted, but he seems happy enough to come to me when I
call him after letting him loose in his fenced area, after he has had time
to do his business.

He does not seem much interested in playing games. I've tried a ball, and
he will just let it bounce off his head. He does not seem interested in
fetching a stick. Mostly he seems to just sit and watch, like a guard dog.
These aloof qualities are part of why I considered Anatolian as part of his
ancestry. I showed a picture to a friend who had raised Bull Mastiffs and
Great Danes, and he said his big head showed possibly some Mastiff.

I might look at some cars around Glen Burnie and Millersville. Maybe I'll
take the Mutt with me (like I did at the camper place in Frederick), and
while I'm in the area maybe I'll check out the dog beach.

Also, next Saturday is supposed to be the adoption event at the Petco in
Frederick for the dogs that urgently need foster homes due to the closing
of the Friends For Life shelter. Maybe I'll take Muttley again.

Paul and Muttley

"Paul E. Schoen" said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

I just don't know what to expect at a dog park or beach. I
remember that he and Lucky played fairly rough, and I was
afraid it might escalate, but that may have been an issue
of dominance in the den, rather than on neutral turf. He
has acted gently and at a low level of interest with other
dogs, and he seems gentle enough with small ones. I'm sure
his recall is not very good when he is distracted, but he
seems happy enough to come to me when I call him after
letting him loose in his fenced area, after he has had time
to do his business.

A good proofed recall is mandatory in an off-leash environment,
IMO. While Rocky and Friday were good right off the bat, Maybe
is taking a little more work - she sees something shiny
everywhere she looks.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

In article ,
"Paul E. Schoen" wrote:


There were no other off-leash parks listed for MD.

There is another dog beach at Quiet Waters Park. I'm pretty sure that
it, like Downs Park is NOT FENCED. That means you need to have a well
behaved dog in order to go there. There is also a $5 entry fee for each
park.

The Canton dog park is a very small patch of dirt (actually 2, it is
divided into small dogs and large dogs). Not only do I highly doubt
that Muttley would do well in such an environment, I think you are
putting yourself at risk by doing so. If he is "stressed" by many other
dogs all around him, are you really ready to deal with the potential
results? One of the things I hate most about fenced dog parks - they
tend to be frequented by people who have no recall or other obedience on
their dogs, who bring them there because they can't run away. They also
need to be mannerly around other dogs and have an owner who recognizes
such and is ready to jump in as needed.

Howard County also has an official dog park, which is much larger. It
has a fee.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"Janet Boss" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Paul E. Schoen" wrote:


There is another dog beach at Quiet Waters Park. I'm pretty sure that
it, like Downs Park is NOT FENCED.

The dog beaches at Quiet Waters is not fenced; I've been there several
times, although not recently. Quiet Waters *also* has a "dog park", which is
a fenced pen about the size of my back yard.
My one experience of it was not at all positive. Nessa & I tried to go in
just to rinse off our dogs at the hose after being at the beach; most of the
dogs in the pen charged the gate and blocked us from entering, and when we
politely requested that they be called back long enough for us to get in the
gate (several did not seem friendly, and we were *not* comfortable with
trying to push through a crowd of unsupervised dogs with our leashed dog),
the owners refused.


There is also a $5 entry fee for each
park.

Yep.

One of the things I hate most about fenced dog parks - they
tend to be frequented by people who have no recall or other obedience on
their dogs, who bring them there because they can't run away.

Exactly! And the dogs tend to be obnoxious in general, since so many have
owners who haven't bothered to train the most basic of skills.


Howard County also has an official dog park, which is much larger. It
has a fee.

I happened to be on that site a couple of weekends ago; Pawzazz held a NADAC
trial there.
The Howard Co. park is the first I've ever seen that I *might* consider
taking my dog(s) to, if it happened that I lived in the area and needed what
an "official" dog park has to offer. That's because it's the first I've ever
seen that was a resonable size. They have two areas which they apparently
rotate; the lower was being used as the "dog park", the upper is where we
had the competition.

I wasn't too suprised, sinceHoward has a decent A.C. budget, an excellent
shelter, and the head of A.C. really knows her stuff IMO. (Then again I'm
prejudiced, since she and I have been friends via agility for about 9
years - her older BC & Morag were in the same beginning class at Kinderpup
.. G)

On Jun 12, 12:19 am, "Paul E. Schoen" wrote:

I think it would be fun to take Muttley to a place like this where he might
be encouraged to run and play and get some exercise. I think it would be OK
as long as the area is enclosed with some sort of fence so there is no
danger of him chasing a critter into a busy road.

Orson and I were routine visitors to the beaches at both Downs and
Quiet Waters and can speak to the physical layout and culture of both.
Neither one is fenced; your dog must be reliable enough to stay in the
swimming area. Not only is it considered very bad form for your dog to
run back out the entrance without you, but both beaches abut private
residential property. Neither park is at all tolerant of your dog
being offleash until you reach the official offleash point.

The private property next to the Downs beach is separated by only a
chain link fence jutting 20 or so feet out into the water. If your dog
goes on the other side of the fence, you'll have to scramble over the
fence or into the water and around to the private property to follow
him. Downs always has much fewer visitors than does Quiet Waters.
You're most likely to have one or two other dogs and owners with you
on the beach at any given time. Most owners bring their dogs here to
fetch in the water, not to play with other dogs. You're likely to have
a personal space there of about 15-20 feet on either side of you, and
there's about 20 feet of sand from the water to the brush. Plenty of
room for a dog who just wants to be there fetching or digging in the
sand.

The beach at Quiet Waters has no fence separating it from the private
property next door. Disobedient dogs and owners disregarding the
private property sign there are sometimes ignored and sometimes
harangued by the property owners or by other dog owners on the beach.
The beach surface at Quiet Waters has eroded over the past few years,
and it has also become a more popular place to go for dog owners. The
combination of the smaller space and its extreme popularity has
created an air of near chaos on Saturdays and Sundays. Even at 8am on
a Sunday, you'll usually find 15 other dogs there. Mid-day on a
Saturday or Sunday, you're likely to find 25 to 30 dogs there, on a
long, narrow strip of beach. Not only do you need to have a good
recall on your dog; you need to have excellent hearing over all the
yelling ("OVER HERE, BITSY! BRING ME THE FRISBEEEEEEE!"), and you need
to be extremely patient of other owners who aren't watching their
dogs, which sometimes nets you a fetch-obsessed dog ramming his toy or
ball into your leg hoping you'll throw it. To give an idea of how
crowded it gets, you'll almost always be standing within a couple feet
of another person. That's when you're not watching, eagle-eyed, for
the occasional blur of 3-5 dogs zooming up and down the beach at
breakneck speed--on a strip of about 3 feet of sand between the water
and the brush.

As Janet and Sarah have already said, the fenced runs (one for small,
for for big dogs) at Quiet Waters are full of people who watch their
dogs even less than some down at the beach. And the dogs in the fenced
area tend to be ones that want/need to play with other dogs, because
that's the activity in there--zooming around and wrestling.

Both parks are closed on Tuesdays. It's $5 to get in every time, or
$25 for an annual pass.

Cate

Cate spoke these words of wisdom in
:

On Jun 12, 12:19 am, "Paul E. Schoen" wrote:

I think it would be fun to take Muttley to a place like this where he
might be encouraged to run and play and get some exercise. I think it
would be OK as long as the area is enclosed with some sort of fence so
there is no danger of him chasing a critter into a busy road.

Orson and I were routine visitors to the beaches at both Downs and
Quiet Waters and can speak to the physical layout and culture of both.
Neither one is fenced; your dog must be reliable enough to stay in the
swimming area. Not only is it considered very bad form for your dog to
run back out the entrance without you, but both beaches abut private
residential property. Neither park is at all tolerant of your dog
being offleash until you reach the official offleash point.

The private property next to the Downs beach is separated by only a
chain link fence jutting 20 or so feet out into the water. If your dog
goes on the other side of the fence, you'll have to scramble over the
fence or into the water and around to the private property to follow
him. Downs always has much fewer visitors than does Quiet Waters.
You're most likely to have one or two other dogs and owners with you
on the beach at any given time. Most owners bring their dogs here to
fetch in the water, not to play with other dogs. You're likely to have
a personal space there of about 15-20 feet on either side of you, and
there's about 20 feet of sand from the water to the brush. Plenty of
room for a dog who just wants to be there fetching or digging in the
sand.

The beach at Quiet Waters has no fence separating it from the private
property next door. Disobedient dogs and owners disregarding the
private property sign there are sometimes ignored and sometimes
harangued by the property owners or by other dog owners on the beach.
The beach surface at Quiet Waters has eroded over the past few years,
and it has also become a more popular place to go for dog owners. The
combination of the smaller space and its extreme popularity has
created an air of near chaos on Saturdays and Sundays. Even at 8am on
a Sunday, you'll usually find 15 other dogs there. Mid-day on a
Saturday or Sunday, you're likely to find 25 to 30 dogs there, on a
long, narrow strip of beach. Not only do you need to have a good
recall on your dog; you need to have excellent hearing over all the
yelling ("OVER HERE, BITSY! BRING ME THE FRISBEEEEEEE!"), and you need
to be extremely patient of other owners who aren't watching their
dogs, which sometimes nets you a fetch-obsessed dog ramming his toy or
ball into your leg hoping you'll throw it. To give an idea of how
crowded it gets, you'll almost always be standing within a couple feet
of another person. That's when you're not watching, eagle-eyed, for
the occasional blur of 3-5 dogs zooming up and down the beach at
breakneck speed--on a strip of about 3 feet of sand between the water
and the brush.

As Janet and Sarah have already said, the fenced runs (one for small,
for for big dogs) at Quiet Waters are full of people who watch their
dogs even less than some down at the beach. And the dogs in the fenced
area tend to be ones that want/need to play with other dogs, because
that's the activity in there--zooming around and wrestling.

Both parks are closed on Tuesdays. It's $5 to get in every time, or
$25 for an annual pass.

Cate


Don't forget.. picking up after your dog is MANDATORY for the privilege of
using the dog park/beach. Bring doggy clean up bags.