I try to take Cooper to the dog park at least once a day for 30-60 minutes every weekend. And once it stays late past 6pm I'll be able to resume taking him every day after work, as well. Coop enjoys running and playing with the other dogs in the main area; but what he really wants to do is run off leash along the trails and through the woods.

I've noticed that most dogs trot on the trails alongside their owners. Not Cooper. He is always at least a few steps ahead of me- usually sprinting through the woods to the left of the trail for 30-60 seconds, then he'll pop back on the trail to make sure that I'm still following before bolting back through the woods to the rigth of the trail for 30-60 seconds. He looks like a mad man running through the woods- dodging branches and kicking up snow in his tracks!

But I wonder: how does your dog "do" the dog park? Does (s)he prefer to play with the other dogs or play catch with you, does (s)he stay by your side on the trails, or does (s)he run wild through the trails/woods?

Running across the trail to get to the other wooded area, making a brief appearance to make sure mom is still following:

Always moving at full speed!

See ya later mom!

Erika- Cooper loves strutting around the dog park with a tennis ball in his mouth to entice other doggies to chase him, too. And like Koda, he also won't chase down a ball if another dog is going to beat him to it.

Carrie- Cooper also assumes the role of "Greeting Committee" at the dog park- for humans and four-legged friends.

I think it's interesting that GSPs all seem to be good at checking back in with mom/dad. Must have to do with that great velcro quality!

Cooper is always very good at coming back when called. I can't get him to return to my side, but he always appears within eyeshot so I know where he is. The one time when he seems to be wearing ear plugs is when he spots birds in the trees. We don't hunt Cooper, so it's interesting to see how he reacts to birds at the park. He makes this odd, high-pitched bark. It's totally distinct. Does anyone else's GSP do this?

I used to take the dogs to the fenced in dog park.  I don't know if it was Cooper going through adolesences or what, but he started getting agressive when other dogs would approach and sniff.  I love Boxers as well, but I think he learned his boxing from them as well.  Him and Penny fight on two legs ad growl at each other when they are playing outside and I don't think that would be good etiquette at the dog parks.  If I take them to off lead parks with trails, they both run head in the woods.  When I call them, they come back. When I get together with my exhusband and his two shorthairs, it's alot of fun watching all of them.  Lots of high grass and 8' paths cut through it.

Opie and I used to go daily for a couple of years from when she was a pup until about 2y...especially when I was working a lot of hours.

We had to stop going because she began jumping ON other dogs in the pond.... sometimes to take whatever "prize" they had, and other times she did it just because she could over-power them.    Needless to say, we stopped going for quite some time as it became more and more frequent.

We have just recently gone back a couple of times.  No evidence of the drowning phenomenon but I try to distract her from the pond and we try to go during the hours that its not crowded.

In general she walks in, does her business and then sticks very close to me for the first pass of the entire park.  During that first pass she is very shy of other dogs and moreso of people.  Once we complete a walk to the other end of the park she begins to warm up with the other dogs, as long as they are smaller/comparable to her.  She still has a fear of really large dogs, especially furry ones.

Once she warms up a bit she likes to chase the "floppy" (a soft frisbee) and will play chase with other willing dogs.  But she usually insists on being the chasee, not the chaser.