dog walks / parks / Louth / Dundalk

jsabina

Hi everybody,
my sister just moved to Dundalk with her dog.
She is walking her in the park on leash, but she would like to let her run off leash in a safe area.
Any suggestion?

I am going there as well next weekend with my two dogs, so we can socialize them and bring them somewhere nice (I am driving, but she is not).
Any nice walk where dogs are allowed?
Beaches? Other ideas?

Thanks!

tk123

There's a couple of mad ones on here from that neck of the woods who'll be able to advise you

ShaShaBear

Blackrock beach is very nice. There are two small parks - Ice House Hill Park and St. Helena's (which would be bigger). Neither allow dogs off the lead though and St. Helena's has a children's playground in it - I've found a lot of unruly dog-ignorant children make it a difficult walk, especially on a nice day.

As far as I know there's nowhere in the town at least that even allows dogs off-lead, but none of them are what I would consider safe regardless as they are both beside busy road junctions with a lot of traffic. There might be some forest areas around Ravensdale (short drive from Dundalk), but I wouldn't know them

jsabina

Here again.
I went to discover a bit the area, and the problem is that the dog is not good at recall.
My sister is looking for training, but it looks like they are all busy at the moment!
We would really need to find an enclosed area or something.

Any advice on that? Or training in louth area?

She is already using the 15m lead.. but the dog needs a bit of off-lead exercise as well and proper training

ZiabR

If you search problem paws on facebook you will find a veterinary nurse that does dog training in Louth. Where in Dundalk is your sister living? I have a few areas I take mine to run off the lead.

Esterhase

I'll also recommend Problem Paws if you haven't tried there already! I brought my pup to one of her training courses (3 x 1 hour classes total) and it was great - we covered recall. She will also do one on one training.

If you look at her facebook page she recommends forests, parks etc that you can drive to from Dundalk for a nice long walk. I can't think of anywhere in Dundalk itself that allows off-lead walking but I like Blackrock beach - nice and quiet early in the mornings for a good run-around. Carlingford has some nice walking trails as well if you want to make an afternoon out of it. But not all of the trails around the Carlingford / Ravensdale area allow dogs where the path goes through farmland, so you'd want to carefully check where you're going before you set out.

jsabina

thanks a lot for your answers.
She tried problems paw but the lady looks very busy so she has not been able to get an appointment yet.

I will look at the facebook page thanks.
The problem is that my sister's dog is very bad at recall.
We went to carlingford beach and the dog disappeared for more than one hour.
She got stuck in a bushy area next to a field with animals.
So we don't really trust to let her off-leash until she get some proper training.

I went to blackrock beach saturday with my dog and her dog on a 15m leash and it has been nice.
But the dog is now a bit stressed so creating problems to my sister during walks on leash as well.
Not aggressive at all but not following any commands, just laying down if she doesn't want to go back home and so on.

I wish there was a dog park as in st anne's park or marlay park in dublin!

thanks again

ZiabR

What kind of dog is it and what age?

Esterhase

How is the dog's recall when he/she is inside at home, in the back garden etc? It may be the case that your sister needs to do some more recall training inside or in an enclosed space before trying it in larger more distracting places.

I'm working on this myself with my 8 month old - she's a treat-seeking missile when I call her in the house, garden or green on the estate but I need to make more effort to make her return when we are in the big outdoors with lots of exciting new things to sniff at. I found it helps a lot to practise in the house before moving outdoors to bigger places.

jsabina

the dog is a 2 years old mix between a very big spanish breed (don't remember the name) and a husky.

here a pic

https://www.flickr.com/photos/91956742@N06/14189700070/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/91956742@N06/14189701540/in/photostream/

ZiabR

jsabina wrote: »

the dog is a 2 years old mix between a very big spanish breed (don't remember the name) and a husky.

here a pic

https://www.flickr.com/photos/91956742@N06/14189700070/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/91956742@N06/14189701540/in/photostream/

Lovely looking dog! Is she good with other dogs on the walk or does she dart off after other dogs and people whilst walking?

Treat training will help. Start in the house and work your way outside. Then onto the very long lead. If she knows that when she comes back she gets alot of praise and a nice tasty treat she wont be long learning that is the behaviour you expect.

jsabina

she is good with other dogs, not aggressive, but when walking on lead if she sees a dog she barks or get a bit excited because she would like to go there and play.
As you see in the photo she is very playful with my two dogs, but that is the back garden, very small.
My sister is trying to train her with treats, or bringing them at walkies, but not a lot of success.
I did a bit of recall in a dog area here in Dub and few times she came back.
Anyway on Friday I'll be there and talk to her, hopefully she'll be able to start some training class soon!

CarrickMcJoe

Gyles Quay and Shelling hill are two good beaches to let them off for a run.

Try Bow Wow for dog behavior. Its halfway between Knockbridge and Louth village.

Esterhase

Great dog jsabina, love that smiley face!

I think the dog training at Bow Wow is all done by the Problem Paws vet nurse. PP uses the BW grounds for training classes, while the woman running BW itself is a groomer. It's definitely worth giving them a ring to ask though.