If you guys use Sniffspot or get their emails you've probably seen this already but I thought it was interesting and wanted to share in case you didn't!
Sniffspot surveyed more than 1,000 dog owners nationwide about their perceptions of local public dog parks. These dog owners are not Sniffspot users; respondents were sourced using SurveyMonkey Audience.
We asked about their dogs’ sociability, if they’ve ever been attacked by another canine, how often they’re approached outside of public dog parks (like in neighborhoods and other leash-required spaces), and how they feel about public dog park safety and cleanliness overall."
@imagebeastmarkbeast Right? Mostly not surprising but very interesting to see the numbers.
“This part did surprise me though: The Bay Area was a bright spot, however — none of the survey respondents there report feeling unsafe in off-leash parks.”
@joshuawithmartin I wonder how many respondents they had from the Bay Area. I currently live there having moved here from East Coast with a stop in the Midwest along the way, and the dog parks here are the worst I’ve seen anywhere.
@jackydocu Right?? I’m in this region too so that answer surprises me.
I am wondering if maybe when the survey responders answered and were thinking of dog parks they were thinking of places like Fort Funston and Point Isabel - large off leash dog play areas with miles of different trails and paths and open spaces, where you might experience less incidents than a small fenced in city dog parks.
The other thing I was wondering is maybe not as many people go to dog parks depending on area and just go to all the off leash trails and stuff instead. It’s a generally outdoorsy population so maybe people tend to take their dogs camping/hiking/backpacking and go out of town a lot on weekends more? Idk I’d be curious to know where the people who answered lived within the Bay Area.
@joshuawithmartin Definitely - or maybe they're including the private apartment dog parks in their ratings? We spend a lot of time near several dog parks in the East Bay for training with distraction through the fence without going in and there are loads of incidents.