Dog Training in the Park: Logan Square Edition
Dog Training: Why Take a Park Trip?
Training our dog at home is a great way to establish new behaviors for our dog. But an important part of the training journey is to make sure that our dog can generalize these skills into different areas, and in different situations. Not only can training at the park strengthen your bond with your dog, it can open up both your and your dog’s world to new experiences.
Especially for owners working on behavior modification training goals like leash aggression or leash reactivity, it is important to know the lay of the land in new training locations. Our homes and neighborhoods may prove more predictability, but providing opportunities for your dog to generalize in new locations can help with their resilience and long term success.
Is the Park Easier or Harder for Training?
This depends on the dog! Here are a few stereotypes I see:
The Busy Bee: This dog is very excited to be at the park full of new sights and smells and is very energized – perhaps chaotic. For The Busy Bee, training may be harder! (It’s still important to work on this if your goal is for your dog to be well-trained in almost all circumstances, but you might have to have a little more grace in the beginning.)
The Nervous Nelly: Sometimes new places can be intimidating for a nervous dog! For The Nervous Nelly, park trips should be filled with confidence boosting exercises.
The Territorial Diva: For certain kinds of leash reactive dogs in particular, sometimes home turf is the most difficult training scenario. For The Territorial Diva, training in the park is often easier.
The Helpfully Overwhelmed: Sometimes being overwhelmed by all kinds of distractions stops a dog from fixating on a specific distraction, which can be helpful. For The Helpfully Overwhelmed, training in the park is often easier.
Don’t Forget Your Park Manners!
If your dog is not fully trained with bombproof obedience, but you really want to let them stretch their legs, resist the urge to unclip that leash in an unfenced area. Not only is it illegal and rude to have your dog off-leash and out of control in the park, it is also dangerous. Use a long-line to mimic the freedom of off-leash while you’re training your dog. Additionally, being prepared with dog treats, toys, and water will help you expand your time at the park and give everyone the best opportunity to enjoy this field trip.
Below is a list of parks that can help you decide where to go next to expand your dog’s world.
Logan Square Parks: Which is Best for Dog Training?
The Rating System
☆☆☆☆☆ Super Easy!
★★★★★ Super Challenging!
Kosciuszko (Thadeuz) Park
Difficulty Level: ★★★★☆
Review: Though there is enough grass for personal space, you can basically find any distraction you need here in the evening! This park is the only one on the list with an enclosed (fenced) dog park. During evenings and weekends, you will frequently find a handful of dogs playing fetch in the baseball field – even, sometimes, with a baseball game happening. There can be lots of kids, especially by the pool and playground, and the main path circling the park is often filled with people biking, rollerblading, and scootering. There is also an area for soccer and tennis.
Humboldt Park North Side (North Avenue to Division St)
Difficulty Level: ★★☆☆☆
Review: Great to go with a dog that may need more distance from distractions like people or dogs! It is spacious, and while the area by the baseball fields can get busy, there are trees, tall grass, and some elevation that can help as barriers if you need some distance from distractions. Be aware of off leash dogs by the baseball fields, but there are a lot of options to level up and practice behavior modification here.
Humboldt Park South Side (Division St. to Grand)
Difficulty Level: ★★★★☆
Review: Weekends and evenings can be incredibly busy with people, dogs, and sports happening, but this area can be great for leveling up your training with your dog (while maybe catching a soccer game, too). Hang on the east side of Humboldt Park if you’d like a little more space. I added an extra star to the difficulty because it is pretty common to find off leash dogs on the west side of the park here.
Humboldt Boulevard Grass Areas
Difficulty Level: ★★☆☆☆
Review: Connecting Humboldt Park and Palmer Square are the Humboldt Blvd grass areas. These can be a great training spot to let your dog stretch their legs and have some personal space. If you are looking to encounter dog traffic on purpose as a distraction, hang out at the Palmer end.
Palmer Square Park
Difficulty Level: ★★★★☆
Review: While it can be busy on the evenings and weekends, this is a wonderful area to both picnic with and walk around with your dog. Even with plenty of dogs, there is generally a lot of space to create distance or observe. There are sometimes off leash dogs, and there are a lot of families and small children that come through, so make sure you’re ready for challenges as you proof your dog’s skills and behaviors.
Logan Boulevard Grass Areas
Difficulty Level: ★★★★☆
Review: While still really close to the square, this is a great area to experiment with bigger challenges. There are more dogs and people, but also plenty of mobility with the grass areas and car barriers. Not to mention, there are fewer instances of off leash dogs, because you are right next to a busy road. The biggest challenge here is the steady traffic.
Logan Square Park
Difficulty Level: ★★★★★
Review: Shops! Farmers Market! Tons of patios! Skaters! Bikes! Scooters! It’s a great place to go, but be prepared for Sunday craziness with the Logan Square Farmers Market. There’s also a lot of traffic, but more walking space than there used to be. Going on the busiest day will be an added difficulty, but if you feel confident with your dog around crowds, dogs, and people, this is an awesome place to walk.
Now What?
Choose your next trip wisely so that you and your dog can enjoy your next park trip to the fullest! Whether you are going with the goal of relaxing, playing, exercising, or training, being prepared will set you up for success in living that good good life with your dog. Hopefully this guide helps you pick out which park you will do your next Logan Square dog training session in.
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Venus and Mars K9 provides in-home private dog training and group class for basic obedience, puppy socialization, trick training, dog sport foundations, leash reactivity training, and other canine behavior problems. We travel most frequently to neighborhoods such as Humboldt Park, Hermosa, Logan Square, Avondale, West Town, South Loop, Downtown Chicago, Ukrainian Village, Bucktown, Wicker Park, East Garfield Park, Fulton Market, North Center, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Roscoe Village, Irving Park, Portage Park, Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park, Pilsen, and Bridgeport.
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