Tails from the trail and tips on training your human

Day at the Park | As a dog owner, you might know how much your dog loves a day spent at the park. If you love the outdoors, your dog can provide amazing company as they are playful, energetic, and social creatures. Moreover, going to the park gives your dog the chance to meet other dogs.

However, before taking your dog to the park, you must train your dog for the outdoors to ensure that they don’t become a nuisance for other people and the park environment. Training your dog for the park is not all that hard, and some dogs are easier to train than others. However, with a little time, patience, and dedication, you can train your dog for the park so that you never have to worry about your dog disrupting the park environment for others.

This article will serve as a guide for training your dog for public spaces like the park. By the end of the article, you will have a much better understanding of how your dog could be a nuisance to other people in public spaces and how to train them to avoid this happening. So, let’s get into it!

Respecting the Park Environment

While taking your dog to the park can serve as quality time for you and your dog, you do not want to have this quality time at the expense of others. Before taking their dog to the park, dog owners must recognize that the park is a public space and, therefore, must be respected. The last thing you want is for your dog to disrupt the park’s natural environment or disturb other people there.

Training your dog for the outdoors means teaching them how to respect the environment and behave around strangers. Moreover, you must train your dog not to disturb the park’s natural environment. Remember that park caretakers work very hard to maintain the beauty and cleanliness of public parks, and it would be very unfair on them if your dog came and disrupted the environment by digging holes and splashing around in fountains.

The A, B, C’s of Training Your Dog

Experienced dog trainers will tell you that before taking your dog to a public space like a park, you need to give some basic training. These basics are known as the A, B, C’s of training your dog, and they are as follows:

Appropriate Behavior

Train your dog to be aware of their surroundings and behave appropriately around other people.

Basic Signals

Before taking your dog to a public space, make sure you have taught them basic hand and verbal signals. Not only should they understand each signal, but they should also respond to it without much hesitation. By accomplishing this basic training, you will gain confidence about your dog remaining in your control in a public space.

Controlling Impulses

As you may know, dogs are quite possibly some of the most impulsive creatures in the animal kingdom. A public space like an outdoor park is full of distractions for your dog that could cause it to act impulsively and disturb the environment. You must train your pet to ignore these impulses if you want them to go out for a relaxing and environmentally friendly park day.

Basic Commands

Although training your dog requires dedication, patience, and consistency, you must train them to follow a few basic commands. While you don’t need to train your dog to perform tricks or anything, the basic commands outlined below are essential to ensure your dog remains under your control no matter what the situation.

The following commands constitute adequate training for your dog when taking them to the park:

‘Off’

Dogs are highly excitable creatures and love to express their joy by jumping on things, including other people. You may already know how annoying it can be when your dog starts jumping on your guests uncontrollably. For this reason, teaching your dog the command ‘off’ when you want them to stop jumping on someone is essential for good behavior.

Make sure that when training, you are differentiating between the ‘off’ command and the ‘down’ command, which you would use to get your dog to lie down on the floor.

‘Stay’ or ‘Wait’

If you are looking to take your dog to the park, the ‘stay’ or ‘wait’ command is essential to teach your dog. Often, you will want your dog to stay in one place while you go somewhere else. Conversely, you may want to sit back and relax while your dog wants to run off.

For both these circumstances, the commands ‘stay’ or ‘wait’ can be used to get your dog to stay patiently in one place. Make sure you choose only one of these verbal commands to not confuse the dog.

‘Heel’, ‘Sit’, and ‘Come’

Training your dog for many of these basic commands can be harder than teaching some tricks because basic commands usually ask the dog to control its impulses. However, you need to take some time to train your dog if you want to take them to the park.

‘Heel’ and ‘sit’ are also important commands because they train your dog to ignore their impulses and sit patiently until you allow them to move. Similarly, the command ‘come’ is important, because you don’t want your dog to wander off when they get distracted by something.

Potty Training Tips for the Park

In parks that allow dogs, dog owners are legally obliged to pick up their dog’s feces to keep the environment clean. Make sure you pack some extra waste bags for your dog’s poop whenever you take your furry friend to the park.

Moreover, you can train your dog to control their bowel movements and not go potty whenever and wherever they feel like it. You have to train them to relieve themselves on command rather than whenever they get the impulse to do so.

Conclusion

Taking your dog to the park can serve as great quality time for you and your dog. It can also help your dog maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. However, taking your dog to the park can be a total disaster if you do not train them to follow basic commands.

Get your dog to control their impulses and listen to your basic instruction to ensure they behave around other people in the park and respect the park environment. By doing so, everyone else at the park will welcome your furry friend in the public space and love having them around.

by Maria A Davidson

We are in business to provide great products for the outdoorsy hikers, campers and their dogs; and to help clean our parks, rivers and oceans for a better planet earth for hikers and their dogs.

Parks Clean

Parks are high-traffic areas in most cities. This means that trash is bound to show up in and around your park and playground.

When discussing ways your family can help clean your local park, don’t overlook a literal cleanup! Picking up trash will make a huge difference in the appearance and vibe of your park. A clean area will encourage others to keep the park pristine. When picking up trash and debris, make sure to wear gloves to protect yourself, and put trash in appropriate receptacles or lawn bags. You can also contact your local trash company to schedule a pickup when you are finished.

Rivers Clean

The storm drain on your street collects the water from your roof, driveway, and sidewalk and funnels it directly in your local lake or river. Nutrients from grass and leaves, pet waste, and fertilizers “enrich” our lakes and streams — feeding algae blooms and harming fish. Chemicals from washing your car in the drive and household chemical spills add up, taking a nasty toll on our favorite swimming areas and fishing spots. Soil can also be picked up by runoff, reducing the clarity of water and hurting fish.

So as you prepare your lawn and garden, here are a few helpful tips to keep our lakes and rivers beautiful and safe for all of us.

Use mulch and vegetation to keep soil from washing away.
Sweep or rake grass and leaves away from street curbs.
Mulch and compost grass clippings and leaves.
Keep paved surfaces to a minimum.
Capture water runoff with a rain garden and rain barrels.
Wash your car on the grass, where the water will get filtered.
Keep chemicals away from storm drains.
Collect your pet’s waste.
Aim your rain-gutter downspouts onto grass.

Beaches Clean (do it for the ocean)

In 2007, the United States Senate and House of Representatives passed the National Clean Beaches Week Resolution to recognize the value of beaches to the American way of life and the important contributions of beaches to the economy, recreation, and natural environment of the United States.

Clean Beaches Week, celebrated annually July 1-7, offers the perfect opportunity to encourage stewardship and volunteerism along our coastlines. But where do you even begin? Follow these tips to get started.

Identify a clean-up site. Choose a place that needs some TLC, making sure that volunteers can safely access the site. Get permission, if needed, for your clean-up event, perhaps from the local parks agency.
Choose a site coordinator. (That might be you!) A beach clean-up takes a lot of work and needs an organized person to keep everything on track before, during, and after the event.
Visit the site in advance. The coordinator will need to know where to set up a volunteer check-in station, where to leave trash and recyclables, and what area(s) volunteers will clean.
Gather supplies. Depending on your location, you’ll need supplies such as trash bags, a first aid kit, hand sanitizer, wipes, and large coolers of water. You should also provide (or ask volunteers to bring) items such as reusable work/garden gloves, reusable water bottles, sunscreen, and bug spray.
Plan how to handle the recyclables. Reach out to recyclers in your area (and perhaps your community’s solid waste departments) to make arrangements for accepting any glass, plastic, and aluminum that you collect.
Line up event partners. Contact local businesses for donations of drinks, food, and supplies. Ask a local solid waste hauler to donate their services for trash removal.
Plan for handling hazardous waste. Determine how you’ll dispose of any medical and sewage waste you might find. One solution: A wide-mouth container with a tight-fitting lid, such as an empty laundry detergent bottle. Clearly label that it contains hazardous waste.
Get volunteers to help. Recruit friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors. Create an event on Facebook and ask volunteers to sign up online. This will give you an idea of how many people to expect and will help communicate event details.
Stay safe. Be prepared for a variety of health emergencies, from minor cuts and scrapes to heat stroke.
Take photos! Post pics online to share the success of your event and recognize volunteers for their hard work.