When you talk about children it is sometimes said "It takes a village to raise a child". Well I am going to change that to "It takes a dog park to raise your canine". Now, before you start sending me nasty grams saying that you have a well adjusted dog that responds to you, does not move furniture while you are away or can grab the remote (or beer) on command... hear me out. By the way, if your dog does do all that, let me know how much you will charge me to have you teach mine all of that.

As far as how I see the proverb...it means that if you have a group of people watching out for the best interest of your child, you will have a child that is well developed and cared for. Well, believe it or not, it is the same way for your pooch.

In the time that I have been going to the dog park, I have seen many a dog come in with its tail between its legs and sticking its body either against the fence, in the legs of the owner or under the bench. Over time, the dog starts to see the same people and the same dogs. It starts to realize that it will not be eaten by these other dogs and that it can actually have fun being a dog. It is great to watch how, as the dog becomes more accepted by the other dogs, it starts to show its true personality. Your dog, without you or him knowing it, has become part of a village and you have become an elder.

The village is not something that is concrete. There are many villages. Many people, and dogs, travel from one to the other. The villages are guided by rules that are unspoken, done without thinking and are widely accepted by the elders. You, as an elder, have certain responsibilities to the village. You have to make sure that the new members learn how things are done. This means that you have to acquaint them with the protocols of the dog park, the hierarchy of the village and which ball belongs to Steve. With this responsibility, comes the authority to help stop a behavior when someone (read dog) is being bad. Whether it is digging holes to China (Hey the Olympics are there!), playing with the water dishes (Can we please tell Duncan his ball is clean?) or simply becoming a little too acquainted with another canine (Gus really needs to buy Steve dinner or something). You understand that other elders will tell your dog to stop and you will do the same with their dog(s). It becomes a comfort knowing that you have someone else who cares about you and your dog and that you do not have to have stress.

If we can just work on creating better canines, everyone will benefit. No matter what village helped to raise it.