Some dog park thoughts - part 1

Quick trigger warning: This episode does talk a bit about a dog attack. It doesn’t get graphic and the dog who got attacked survives. But a dog attack is discussed, so be ready for it.

Everyone loves dog parks, right? Well, not quite. There's one very important group that doesn't often love dog parks: DOGS.

And it makes sense, right? Dog parks are often kind of the wild west, which can create situations that make dogs scared or nervous. And even if the dogs aren’t scared or nervous, energy runs high at dog parks. When you have that combination – nervous dogs and lots of energy – it’s a recipe for not-so-great things.

On the pod with Bill is Julie Iovine. She’s a lapsed journalist who’s now studying to be a dog trainer and is on the board of the Animals & Society Institute. She recently wrote a piece for the New York Times about why she’s not a fan of dog parks and how her thinking about dog parks evolved over time. She and Bill had a great conversation about dog parks and dog play.

Dog parks are one of Bill's favorite topics, so this is the first in a two-part series on dog parks. So make sure you check out the next episode in a couple weeks, too!

DON'T FORGET: Bill wants to answer YOUR training and behavior questions on the pod. And they want to play your lovely voices asking those questions. You've got two options:

Use your audio recording app of choice to record yourself asking a training or behavior question and email it to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Bill will then play it on the pod and answer it.
You can actually jump on a recording session with Bill and you'll go over your question together. That'll let Bill ask you follow-up questions and really dig deep into the issue. If that's the route you want to go, shoot Bill a quick email at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Big Wags Chicago is online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.bigwagschicago.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also find Big Wags on ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠, ⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ under the handle @bigwagschicago. Have a question you want answered in a future episode or just want to say hi? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.