Dog park permit, city license -- would you bother?

[chelle]

We have a new dog park close to home and it is really nice. Huge, nice facilities for dog AND human. Volunteers on duty all the time. I've only been there twice and it is brand new, but so far I like it.

Went tonight and Bailey had a GREAT time. He was a little overwhelmed a few times, but all the dogs (and owners!) were great. He made a good friend with a male Lab about his age; they played for a good, long time. Just a good experience for both of us.

Bailey is just over four months and I haven't gotten his city permit yet. It's $35 ($20 extra for not being neutered.) You must have this to get a dog park permit, obviously. They don't pro-rate.

Bottom line: Is it worth it to shell out $35 plus $10 for dog park for only another 6-8 weeks? (maybe longer, but weather gets very cold here very fast)

A dog permit is required for six months of age and older, so I could wait and get his 2012 permit and be within the law.

Real bottom line: Is the dog park *enough* of a good thing to justify these costs? I don't have money to just throw around... he will be in a dog KP/beg obed class soon, but that's just once per week.

[doggiedad]

definitely get your dogs licensed.
if you can't afford the dog park
find another way to socialization.

[KZoppa]

get the license when he's supposed to have it. beyond that, i'd say if you're going to have him in OB classes, i dont think it's a big deal about the dog park. Especially with the weather changes coming up.

[blehmannwa]

A supervised dog park?!! I would pay for that. That's what I pay for in my training classes! I can do a lot of training on my own but socializing and dog manners are thing that I can't teach. Our dog parks are free-for-alls and policed only by owners.