Dog Park Styles – Laissez-Faire aka “I’m this way”

The most common thing you will hear me say at the dog park is “this way”. Well, that’s not quite true. The thing I say most is probably “hello gorgeous” as I greet other dogs. But the most common command, and I use that term loosely, I use is “this way” followed closely by “come on.”

Let me be very clear. Neither of these is a recall command. My goal when saying them is not to get my dogs to come to me, but to make sure that we are moving in roughly the same direction and that they are not too far behind or ahead of me. And for me, too far depends on a combination of line of sight and honestly, a football field or so of distance. If I cannot see them, I do want them closer than 100 yards away, but if I can, and I know that area (which at the dog park, I do), I have no problems with them ranging far ahead of me. (Behind is a different story. My comfort level there is probably closer to 100 feet, at which point I will start calling Junebug to “come on”, because it is always Junebug lagging behind, never Larry.)

I use “this way” when I cannot see them, or when we are taking slightly different paths- either I have made a turn or they have. I say the command and clap my hands, but I keep moving. They know where I am, and which way I am going, and I trust them to catch back up to me- Larry because he wants to make me happy and Junebug because she knows I have treats.

I do not micromanage them. I almost never go back to get Junebug (though if she is obviously eating poop, I will). Instead, I keep moving and they keep moving, and we all get our exercise.

This works for us because Larry, Junebug, and I all have very different exercise needs and speeds. Larry needs and wants to run back and forth at top speed. Junebug needs and wants to be able to stop and sniff, and then follow a scent in whatever goofy pattern it takes across the grass. My goal is to keep moving at a nice brisk walk. Truly, this is why we go to the dog park. The three of us trying to walk “on leash” is an exercise in frustration for all of us.

I want Larry to be able to run like crazy and protect the park from the avian invasion. I want Junebug to be able to stop and smell the roses. (Of course, if they were roses, I would not mind as much when she decided to roll in the smell.) And I do not want to be pulled in one direction while being forced to a stop from the other.

I have come to refer to my dog park style as laissez-faire. I am there to let my dogs be themselves. I do not care that we are all at the same point on the path, or even if we’re on the same path at all, as long as we are all moving in roughly the same direction and that we will end at the same point (where I put them back on leash to walk to the car).