In defense of dog parks.

With so much information at our fingertips, it's easy to be blinded by anecdote. There's no fault in it; it's totally understandable, prudent even, to keep traumatic and tragic stories in your pocket. "Keep your head on a swivel" they say, and that's good advice for every day of the week, but if you think about all of the tragedies you've heard throughout an average lifetime, and if you choose to abstain from every activity tied to anecdotal trauma, life would become one enormous game of "Never would I Ever," and the list of "evers" would be endless. 

And a side effect of throwing out phrases like, "I would never [do this thing that other folks do day in and day out, most often to positive effect]," is the judgment hammered down on people for whom that thing is the best option.

So here goes a wildly unpopular opinion that will likely raise the eyebrows of a lot of people I hold in very high esteem and affection: Dog parks are the best thing since the invention of leash laws. 

You don't even have to go to the extreme of big cities where most pet owners live in apartments to see the importance of a dog park. Nor do you have to live in an area where each pocket park and greenspace has a "No Dogs" sign at every entrance. The most dog-friendly city I've lived in is (contrary to what you'd believe from Nextdoor) strict enough about leash laws that the vast majority of pets live entire lives on a tether when outside of their yards. 

And what if that yard is a fenced patio with a touch of greenery? 

I can't imagine any of my dogs being destined to never stretch their gait to the full extent throughout all of their 12-15 years. Never getting to move faster than I can. Never chasing a ball thrown to the horizon. 

We tell everyone how much we love our dogs. We joke about how much better the world would be if everyone had a dog. And I support that sentiment. Dog parks make it possible for people who live in small spaces to have whatever flavor dog they want - and that's a good thing. 

I totally get there's risk - but there's risk in everything you do, every hour of every day. You mitigate risks and weigh the pros and cons. 

Worried about spread of disease? Make sure your dog is fully vaccinated and healthy before walking through the gate. 

Maybe I'm spoiled by really nice dog parks, but I've never been to one that felt like a cesspool of dog waste and other garbage. In fact, I'd say the parks I've experienced are vastly cleaner than the east end of the last street I lived on. Running along the east end of Ridge Road smelled like a really poorly maintained city shelter we visited when we were looking for a dog to suit the name "Otto." 

And of course I've heard stories of aggressive dogs, but in 20 years of dog park visits, I've never once seen something evolve so quickly that it didn't get managed before something terrible happened. I'm absolutely NOT discounting that tragedies have occurred. I know they have. But "head on a swivel" means taking in the other people in the park, too, not just the dogs. Sometimes mitigating risk means you leave and come back later. 

Towns and municipalities that plan and maintain great and varied dog parks are my superheroes, especially if they're treated to the occasional visit by an animal control officer spot checking licenses and rabies tags.

In truth, when looking to buy a home, I chose this yard and was fortunate that a nice house came with it. The yard is huge and the back half was already fenced. I can fire a chuck-it from one side and the ball stays within the fence on the other, so finding a place where my dogs can gain a full head of steam and stay there as long as they have gas is not a priority for me. 

But thinking back and taking into consideration the common complaints about dog parks, I took quite a risk by letting my guys off leash in the mountains of Colorado. They probably stomped through pathogens, rolled in Yak poop, and were very, very likely stalked by mountain lions. But at the end of every adventure we made it home and spent hours in a play coma.

Because life has risks. You weigh them and decide what's best for you under your conditions. Then you do what you can to mitigate them. 

But what you don't do, is gatekeep others from sharing the companionship of a 4-legged beastie because their best free range exercise option is a dog park.