Your website for dog parks and dog-friendly areas in Fairfield County, CT
Dog Safety Tips
Make sure you’ve socialized your dog before taking it to a dog park. A dog park can be an overwhelming experience to a novice dog and can trigger aggressive behavior and fear if they are not properly exposed to other dogs and peaceful/playful behavior beforehand.
Before letting your dog enter a dog park, look at the other dogs in the park and gauge their behavior before letting your dog go off leash. If there are a few overly-aggressive dogs, keep your dog on leash until the aggressive dog calms down or leaves.
If you aren’t sure how your dog will behave, keep your dog on leash until you are certain it is comfortable with its surroundings.
Be careful entering a dog park gate. Other dogs tend to crowd around to greet arriving dogs. This jostling and crowding can be quite intimidating to many dogs and may result in a skirmish, or worse.
Supervise your dog at all times while in the park and do not take your eyes off of it while socializing with other pet owners there.
If you bring a toy, treat, or water to the park, just know that this will attract other dogs, so be prepared to share!
Always pick up after your dog. Not every park supplies poop bags so make sure you have a supply in your pocket or glove box of your car. It’s best to pick up immediately after your dog is finished to keep other dogs and people from stepping in it.
If another dog is aggressive with your dog, alert the dog’s owner in a calm and polite way and call your dog to you to re-leash it.
If your dog is being aggressive with another dog, call it to you, re-leash it and remove it from the park until it calms down. More than likely, it is having a problem with a particular dog, so it might be best for you to leave or re-enter the park when the other dog has left.
Most dog parks require a dog to be tagged, vaccinated and fixed (spayed or neutered) before entering. If your dog is not up to speed with this, be prepared to be asked to leave.
On hot days, bring water for your dog. Dogs with thick coats can overheat easily in warm weather and not every park supplies water so it is best to come prepared.
Bring a towel or two to have in your car. Some parks are muddy even if they are well-kept and some have ponds or lakes nearby. It also might start raining. This will create a muddy situation for your dog so it’s best to have one towel to dry off your dog and the other to lay on your seats to keep them from getting soiled.
Make sure you’ve socialized your dog before taking it to a dog park. A dog park can be an overwhelming experience to a novice dog and can trigger aggressive behavior and fear if they are not properly exposed to other dogs and peaceful/playful behavior beforehand.