Dog Open Play

Dogs love to play – so let them play all day!

On most days (See schedule below) we host our “K9U Chicago Dog Park – Open play.” This is an open play area for you and your dog to have lots of fun in both the “climate-controlled 3,500sf padded indoor space and weather permitting, the 10,500sf outdoor space. This is sanitized daily and offers both large and small dog play areas. ‘Open play’ is an excellent way for your dog to improve his socializing skills and get to make some great friends in a safe clean environment.

As always, our staff will be there to ensure safe play. You as an owner though, apart from your own play with your dog, can also come and learn about interaction between dogs and what they get up to. Learn about what normal play is and why they do it. Just as children have their favorite games like ‘hide and seek’ and ‘tag’, dogs too have their favorites and here are a few:

Chasing

This is a great favorite as dogs essentially love to run and chase each other. It’s also one of the reasons though that there are separate areas for large and smaller dogs as a large dog chasing a small one may instinctively start believing he is ‘hunting’ the smaller animal. A tense jaw, wide eyes, and tucked in tail can tell you that the dog being chased may not be enjoying himself, so look out for these signs, but remember our experts are always monitoring the play.

Face biting

Again there is absolutely no cause for alarm if you see this, as it is quite a natural game amongst the Canine set. Even if they are growling and showing teeth this is normal play amongst socialized dogs. The more dogs get to know each other usually, the rougher the play. As long as front legs are bent, ears are floppy and relaxed and heads turned sideways to one another the dogs are just having fun.

Tug of war

Tugging and pulling another dog has nothing to do with dominance but is purely about the enjoyment that dogs associate with tugging. Owners will know this from just letting a dog bite onto something and see how he loves to pull it away from you. The play is always safe if the dogs avoid direct eye contact and have heads turned a bit away from each other.

The most important thing to remember is that even if there are occasional ‘incidents’ just as there are with children in the playground, your dog should not lose out on having this vital play time because of them. Bring them along, invite some friends and enjoy your ‘Open play’ time together. The dog just needs and wants to be social!

**Dog park was closed and reopens starting April 6th 2024