What Off-Leash Play Service Do You Provide?

This may seem like a silly question, but ask current service providers for their answer and you will get many different responses. Off-leash play services have existed in the industry for over 20 years and their popularity has led to a wide range of operating practices

Off-leash playgroups were designed as an environment where dogs that have good social skills can interact and play with other dogs.  The key words in this definition are “dogs that have good social skills”.  Off-leash dog play was created as a safe, fun and enjoyable environment for social dogs.

So what is the problem today?

Off-leash playgroups were not designed as an environment for dogs to learn to be social.  They were also not designed for dogs to bully or intimidate other dogs as these behaviors are not enjoyable.

There are centers that provide niche services for dogs that don’t meet this definition and we applaud them.  However, providing this level of niche service requires more knowledge and an even higher standard of care to keep all dogs safe.  It’s time our industry really focuses on safety and the definition of services provided.

Each provider should honestly answer these questions:

1. What off-leash play service do you provide? 
2. Does your dog behavior knowledge and staff training protocols provide the background required to provide these services safely for all dogs that attend playgroup?
3. Does your definition of safety include physical safety and emotional well-being of each dog?
4. Does your initial dog evaluation process consistently identify dogs that have good social skills from the dogs that do not?
5. Do your operating procedures include ongoing evaluation of each dog’s continued fit to off-leash play?

Off-leash play is not a necessity in the life of the average pet dog, so why do we continue to tolerate injuries and deaths as an acceptable consequence of our services?

We think it’s time that the off-leash play industry focuses on raising the bar of safety for dogs. 

There is over 20 years of off-leash play operating experience and best practices do exist that should be replicated as standard operating procedures in more pet care centers.

In our vision of off-leash play services:

• A dog death would be unusual and most likely result from natural causes or an unknown medical condition.
• Dog injuries and accidents would be rare events so the industry would share each scenario openly, learn from the events and change operating policies and procedures to prevent them going forward.
• The common definition of safety includes the physical safety of dogs and their emotional well-being.
• Professional dog care staff easily recognizes dog emotional states and takes action to ensure all dogs enjoy the social environment.