Bear Creek Dog Park — Attraction in Colorado Springs

Great dog park. Only problem I can find is the abundance of novice owners. Love all of the sinage, there should maybe be a sign saying "don't bring fearful or dogs that need to be leashed into the park, well trained service and emotional animals welcome at own risk".

PSA, if your dog is fearful, or needs to be leashed, it doesn't belong around other well socialized, confident dogs. Keep them in leashed areas until their training is sufficient for off leash areas. This protects you, your pet, others, and their pets. That being said, if your pet is in training, a working dog, or has special training, that does not mean they are well socialized. That does not mean they automatically get access to any space if it means the possible harm of yourself, others, your pet, or others pets. A specialized pet status does not grant owners imnunity in the case of poor socialization practices.

This comes from my most recent visit where my dog went to greet incoming dogs, and one ran yelping in fear immediately, probably because that pets owners were fearful of my dogs appearance and projected that fear onto their own pet causing my pet to look angry and agressive. The owners demanded an apology and reacted as if my dog pinned theirs down and tried to hurt it, when all he did was chase the dog because he didn't understand why they were running in fear, just like the rabbits and birds he is allowed to chase for fun.

He is very well socialized and spent 1.5 hour interacting very appropriately with other dogs, including small ones, and ignoring leashed dogs as he was trained to (die to irresponsible owners bringing fearful, or fear-agressive dogs into K9 social spaces).

As we were leaving, he went to greet a group of incoming dogs (around 3) with an owner couple. Two of the dogs had training or working vests on, and they all looked to be shepherd mixes. Two of the three dogs didn't react to my dog running to say hi, but he does have a large pitbull (he is a pit/husky/etc. Mut, both parents are pit/husky mixes, and he looks very intimidating.) The owners looked at him scared, and probably told their dog to be fearful with their energy because they were fearful. This tells me this pet was not ready to enter into a space with well socialized, trained, confident dogs. If you can't control your energies to ensure your pet feels confident and secure even in the face of a situation you aren't familiar with, you do not have enough experience as an owner to bring pets into that space.

My dog did no harm, and these people demanded an apology, and then caused their dog after the incident (the worst decision they could have made, because then it reinforces to that pet that they should have been scared, and running and screaming in fear is an appropriate response to stress).

As we were leaving, he went to greet a group of incoming dogs (around 3) with an owner couple. Two of the dogs had training or working vests on, and they all looked to be shepherd mixes. Two of the three dogs didn't react to my dog running to say hi, but he does have a large pitbull (he is a pit/husky/etc. Mut, both parents are pit/husky mixes, and he looks very intimidating.) The owners looked at him scared, and probably told their dog to be fearful with their energy because they were fearful. This tells me this pet was not ready to enter into a space with well socialized, trained, confident dogs. If you can't control your energies to ensure your pet feels confident and secure even in the face of stress.

Mind you, the other two dogs were unfazed, and my other dog walked around greeting their calm dogs.

I have 8 years of animal husbandry, veterinary, and dog training experience. All incidents that could be dangerous or traumatic for owner or animal are 100% owner experience related, are 100% the fault of the inexperienced, reactive, or fearful owner.

Sude note: Pit bulls, or other breeds mixed with them are not agressive. Agressive dogs are any breed and the result of bad breeding, husbandry, or socializing. Stop Pit Bull...

The park itself is great. Tons of room and lots of exploring for the pups. The dog owners on the other hand, are complete jerks. No one follows the rules, there are constantly large dogs off leash in the small dog area. Their owners don't pay any attention to their dogs either. One of the regular big dogs in the small dog area, Petey, has been aggressive and has gone after small dogs before. The owner uses this time for her own social hour though and does literally nothing. You'd think if you're going to break the rules and bring a dog well over 25 lbs into the small area, you'd at least watch your dog closely, as it's a safety risk. And it doesn't matter if the dog is friendly, if it's a big dog and starts running around, it could easily hurt one of the small dogs. People also give out treats to dogs that don't belong to them, without asking if they can, which is horrible for so many reasons. My dog cannot have many foods due to allergies and sensitivities, and could get very sick if he eats the wrong thing. We just had to leave because a completely inconsiderate person just broke up treats into a hundred pieces and then threw them all over the park. I'm guessing she wouldn't be willing to pay the vet bill if my dog ate them and got sick. I'm also guessing she wouldn't go to a playground and give snacks to someone else's kids without asking. Anyone with half a brain would also know that throwing treats all over the ground with a pack of dogs is just asking for a fight to break out. As someone that used to go there almost daily, it's getting to be too unsafe there to go anymore, and it's all because of the bad owners. I've never gone where there isn't a least 1 dog fight in the big dog area. Seems like the majority of people that go there have zero understanding of dog health and behavior. I think this was officially the last straw and we won't be returning...

This is an updated review as it has now been numerous two months since my initial review. I have frequently taking my dog back to this park despite my first experience here being moderately horrifying. In the many times that I have brought my dog to this park I have had more good days than bad which is good but the bad ones have proven that there are just some things you can't prevent. Our first experience at this park had my dog chased bullied and injured. It took awhile for me to take her back but I finally did and she loves it. There was another incident where a woman was letting her 40-something pound dog run amok in the small dog area to the point that somebody else physically removed her dog for her back into the larger area and then as she was negligently just talking to somebody her dog was running around trying to hump everything including my dog. I had to physically get between this dog and mine. She was oblivious and didn't care. Overall I do recommend taking your dog here but I also recommend that you be vigilant of not only how your dog is behaving but how others are behaving around your dog because it's easier to prevent something if you're paying attention then to try to stop something that has already happened. It is also worth mentioning that the dog park smells terrible and that the majority of people who frequent the park to pick up after their animals but unfortunately there is a lot of droppings all over the park. There have also been times where the humans are more aggressive than their dogs which is a bit alarming but again as long as you're aware of what's going on and you're actually paying attention you and your dog can enjoy your experience here. Despite my less than positive review I still plan on taking my dog back to this part because she enjoys it and it is overall a safe place for her to...