Dogs look scary at Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park but they are having a blast
It was an unusually cool spring Friday, April 11, at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino. The just over six-acre park has three separate fenced-in areas: one large area for dogs of all sizes, one for smaller and timid dogs, and one for small dogs.
The 30 or so dogs at the off-leash park ranged in size from a tiny teacup poodle to a large Great Pyrenees. They raced around, chasing balls, chasing each other, checking their “pee mail” — and playing hard.
Dogs play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Shepherd mix Amigo and Husky Jake play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
A wagon full of puppies at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Shepherd mix Amigo and Husky Jake play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs Chanel, top, and son Rayo play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Shepherd mix Amigo waits for a ball to be thrown at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Shepherd mix Amigo and Husky Jake play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs Chanel and son Rayo get a drink of water at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Shepherd mix Amigo and Husky Jake play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs Chanel, left, and son Rayo play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs Chanel, top, and son Rayo play at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park in Encino, CA., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Dogs can play rough, and if you aren’t familiar with how they play, you might think they are fighting. Play-fighting is an integral part of how dogs communicate and socialize. According to yappy.com, “Unlike us humans, play fighting in dogs is a totally normal way to communicate and socialize. It’s also a brilliant way of expending some energy that they may have pent up.” Sometimes when a “dog parent” is watching their dog play-fighting with another dog, “the noises and movements they make seem aggressive, but it’s all in good fun.”
Dogs will growl, wrestle, slap with their paws, and of course bite at each other as they enjoy some rough-housing. It may seem intense sometimes, but the controlled chaos is not a fight, it’s more of a game that dogs play.
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When dogs play-fight, they engage with each other briefly then disengage, chase, slam into each other, bow, jump, and make goofy movements — before getting back to the wrestling and biting. When two dogs fight for real, they swap the soft biting for hard biting and won’t stop until they are separated or one has had enough and tries to escape. Play-fighting rarely results in injury. Real fighting will almost always leave one or both dogs with wounds.
If you take your dog to an off-leash dog park and Fido makes some friends, try not to be too concerned if they start playing like two MMA fighters in a championship bout. If you are worried that your dog is in trouble, look for the “tell-tail” signs that the four-legged furries are just having fun, not trying to hurt each other.