Dog Training at Austin’s Dog Parks

Austin is such a great place to live and work; more importantly, it is a great place to play.  Austin offers all types of outdoor activities like swimming, biking, running, hiking, camping, and boating.  The Austin Park system is composed of about 150 parks, and 12 of them are designated off-leash areas for your dog!  In addition to Austin’s dog parks, several surrounding towns like Round Rock and Georgetown have added their own community dog parks.  This means you can bring your dog along for a hike or a jog and let them be dogs and run.

Out of the 14 dog parks in the Austin area, only 3 are completely fenced in.  Does this mean you cant have fun at all of the other off-leash areas?  We think not, but strongly suggest taking the right precautions.

A lot of times we have been asked, “If you could teach your dog only one command, what would it be?”  Our answer is always the same – COME.  Regardless of whether there is a fence or not, it is very important to have control over your dog; constant monitoring of your dog at a dog park and around your neighborhood is crucial.  In addition to saving your dog from being hit by a car or running off and getting lost, lots of unwanted social dog behaviors can be avoided simply by telling your dog to COME.  Behaviors like humping, tackling, constant pestering and rushing the gate can all be avoided this way.

I know what you may be thinking, “My dog doesn’t listen to me at the dog park, there are too many things distracting her.”  A lot of dogs are not trained in these types of environments and don’t know how to behave, and this is typical.  Many dog trainers will try to sell you an in-home training package; their justification is that your dog spends most of their time in your home and this is where they need to behave.  In certain cases, they are correct.  But what if you want to be able to take your dog hiking or go to the dog park knowing that you can use obedience commands to control and prevent common dog park problems; how does in-home dog training help you?  Training a dog in a sterile environment or only at the home doesn’t prepare you or your dog to behave at a dog park or any other public setting.

In addition to offering in-home training, most of the training packages offered by Unleashed Unlimited Dog Training cater to people who are looking for more then the “typical” dog training.  Our training programs are designed to offer the control needed to be able to do these types of things and more with your dog.  Most of the fun things you can do with your dog happen when the leash is off and your dog can run and just be a dog, and of course off-leash control is needed.  Unleashed Unlimited offers exactly what you need.

We train our clients’ dogs in public.  Out at dog parks we have to compete with squirrels, people, other dogs, birds, children and all kinds of smells and sights; these are all real world distractions.  We cannot control the smells, we cant always count on other dog owners to have control over their dogs, and we can’t tell the squirrels to stop what they are doing; the only thing we can control are our dogs.  When your dog can behave and listen at a dog park, going for a walk around the block or welcoming a friend into your house without having your dog jump all over them are easy things to manage.

You may be reading this and thinking that we make it sound so easy, and your dog will never behave out in public.  We just want to say that all of these things are extremely possible for the average dog owner to accomplish; we see it happen every day, this is what we do.  If you are an active dog owner who is looking to enjoy time spent with your dog out in the Austin dog parks, contact Unleashed Unlimited.  We would be happy to show you exactly what you can expect from working with us.

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