Found a dog park near me, FINALLY!

If you have these concerns there is absolutely no way you should take him to an off-lead park. Way too big of a risk.

You mention concerns about getting him to come back when you want to leave and say he is a 'run away' dog.  Owners need to be in full control of their dogs at all times, which means in order to use an off-leash dog park you need to get his recall 100% sound.  That means being able to call him back to you first time, every time no matter how far away he is or what other distractions are around (other dogs, people, birds etc).

If you are unsure about his socialisation with other dogs, and off-leash park is absolutely not the way to figure it out. There is a huge risk not only to other dogs, but also your dog should he become involved in a fight.

Rotties already have bad stigma attached to them by some members of the community.  A dog "attack" can include when a dog simply "rushes" at someone.  You run a huge risk of your dog exhibiting any sort of antisocial behaviours and the wrong person taking it the wrong way and before you know it you get a dangerous dog order slapped on him.

I am a dog owner and I think dog parks are a horrible idea.  So many horror stories out there about them.  I take my dog over to my sisters place to run around her large yard every now and again and I suggest you try and find someone with a big yard who might let you use it once a week or so for your rottie to have a run.

It ended up that it wasn't a park that was funny fenced off- it's just 'dog friendly'
I dont really know how im meant to train him to come back in one command, without having him off a lead to begin with.. To train him- we have to be in the position.. He comes when i say to in my house, or in my yard.. But not outside of the house..
I understand your concern about rottweilers and them being put in the spotlight negatively.. And id never deliberatly put my dog in a situation like that.. I just feel like i have to trust him, otherwise he'll never prove himself. I dont think he'd viscously attack a dog, he's not an angry dog- i just don't know how much i trust him.. Which is normal i think, cos i dont think you can 100 percent trust a dog to be perfect all the time.. He just thinks he's small, and doesn't realise his strength, like most rotties.. And he's also bull mastiff, and their playful dogs aswell who dont realise their size.. So it's a bit hard having a big dog who thinks he's a jack russell lol

If you look hard enough you will be able to find some small enclosed parks, that arent necessarily 'dog parks' there are 2 close by to me, that i have recently found which i have used to train cinco with coming when called etc. There has only ever been another dog there a couple of times, usually its just us

Yeah I understand, never doubted you are a fantastic owner and Cargo is one lucky doggie - it comes across in all your posts.  Just wanted to let you know about some of the dangers of dog parks.


You do need to have a level of 'trust' when training recall but there are certainly safer environments to test in than a dog park imo.  It's not just your dog you have to worry about, it's everyone elses.   You can have a dog be fine with the first 100 dogs it meets, and for some unknown reason has a problem with number 101.  Or another dog could start something. Or a small dogs owner could throw a fit for no reason and cause problems for you.

It's not fair the stigma that dogs like rotties, bull breeds, dobes etc carry around but that is the reality. The sad thing is that if there ever was a dog fight, if the dog was smaller or a breed percieved as more "friendly" (ie a lab or something), the bull breed/rottie/larger dog is always going to be the one looked negatively on, even if it wasn't the one at fault.

I have a 'bull breed' dog and I am acutely aware that if she was ever in a disagreement with another dog the blame would be put on her. She carries the stigma everywhere she goes.  Even at dog training, she was sitting in line quietly and a very small dog in the next line was going off it's head barking and lunging at my dog.  Some woman says "careful or you'll be eaten!" directed towards the smaller dog, implying my dog would eat it.  Even though my dog was sitting there not giving a damn.

If I were you, and this has worked for me in the past, I would have him on a retractable lead. Start of by just walking him around the park, do this for a few weeks just to get him used to the park, then slowly allow him to have more and more room on the lead, until he can walk and be a bit of a distance from you. This way you can also introduce him to dogs and have control over him, the more dogs he meets the better he'll be able to deal with them. I never trusted my dog with other dogs, then I decided to start letting her meet other dogs (this wasn't until she was about 10) and now she's great with other dogs. So it's never to early or too late to get a dog used to other dogs.

Getting your dog to come back when you want to; I play a game with my dog, I hide, call him, and if he comes to being called he gets a treat. Play this game inside, then outside in your yard, and if you have another person, you might like to try it in a place unfamiliar or with other dogs, that way you can hide and someone can keep an eye on him, while you're testing and developing his focus. Eventually you'll call him, he'll associate coming to his name with yummy treats, and he'll come whenever you call.

Edit: Another option is going at a time when you know there won't be many people or dogs. Eg, late evening on a week night, or early in the morning.

You could always take him to football grounds. That's a huge enclosed area that's great to run around in and play ball. Just remember to clean up after him...

I totally get it.. He does get a bit ... snappy every now and again, and i think that's my fault.. i didnt socialise  him when he was a pup- i kept him away from other animals cos he was so small, i was scared other dogs would attack him cos he was only a pup.. then when he got big, i was scared he'd hurt another animal.. he doesnt like dogs bigger than him, he gets a big ego when bigger dogs are around- just walking passed them in the streets he tries to get them, i think he tries to make a point that just cos he's smaller- doesnt mean he's weak.. and it's really frustrating
luckily, there's not to many dogs who are bigger than him that ive seen haha..
I had cargo at the shops with me, and i was sitting on a bench and he was sitting on the bench next to me, and a mum grabbed her small daughter and was like "dont look at that dog, they get lock jaw" i was like ... since when do rottweilers get lock jaw you uneducated little mole!!

but then there's the really good ones, a little girl came up and she was with her mum and she was like "can i pat your doggy" i was like yeessss please haha.. and she said to me "i have to let him smell me, so he doesnt get frightened" i said to her mum, she's raised her well to let a dog smell you first and not just go straight into it- she said they had rottweilers at home

The retractable lead actually sounds like a good idea.. I can teach him to come, without him being able to run away thanks

I used to walk cargo weekdays in the middle of the day, no one would ever be around- no dogs anywhere.. cos i wasnt working.. now when i walk him on weekends cos im working, THERES BLIMEY DOGS EVERYWHERE!~

Id love to! But i dont drive unfortunately, so it has to be something that i can walk to ;(