Observation In Dog Park

Sociologically, a dogs contribution to a human lifestyle draws attention to the understanding that dogs play a prodigious role, especially in the 21st century where they are best known for being companions. Dogs have the ability to shape a person in a particular way, whether it be positive or negative. Dog parks are the central hub for dogs to have a good time, but not only do they have a good time but the owners get a chance to interact with other dogs and their owner's. This concept seems to be quite popular in which quite a few articles have been published on the subject. Dogs play a crucial role in society which gradually enhances their owners lifestyle in several ways.

The location chosen for data collection was a local dog park in Orange

County. The dog park was fairly small, with more than ten owners and their dogs in the vicinity, but was more than enough to obtain reliable data. Data was collected from the dog park on the 25th, 28th and the 29th of September, 2015. The data were retrieved during the middle of the day in order to ensure that there is a sufficient amount of people at the dog park. While delving further into each observation, there were some relevant social characteristics that may have had a profound influence on the observations outcome.
The personality traits of each person lead to enhanced quality of the observations and insights.

It was evident that the people were extremely passionate about dogs and it seems as if they could really understand them and their behavior. This aspect aided the process of observation at the dog park because it made it easier to comprehend how these dogs were so eager to interact with everyone and everything around them. Data was recorded while seated a bench quite far from most of the action, but was still able to reduce reactivity as the dog's and owners were in visible distance and unaware of the observation. This actually made the behavior from the dog's and people more reliable because they were completely unaware that they were being observed. There was a majority of Caucasians, a smaller amount of Asians. They’re were quite a few families present in the dog park, which indicated that a dog park was a an ideal venue for a family to spend the

weekend.
From what has been observed from a sociological point of view is that homeless people construct their companion animals such as dogs to change or save their lives. The fact that animals require responsibility boost’s the self confidence of the owner while the dog inevitably provides unconditional love. In a location such as a dog park, dogs interact with other dogs which brings the owners to exchange conversation. This gradually makes it easier for an introvert to socialize. The behavior of a dog in a dog park is completely different than at home, the dog is not used to the environment of several dogs which leads to the dog being excited and overwhelmed. The owner has to monitor the dogs behavior to make sure the situation is under control while being tested on his/her skills to manage and control the dog in a public environment.
The dog park was a medium to large size, however with the amount of people and dogs there, it made the park look quite small. While observing the behavior between all of the space, data showed that people tended to move around instead of staying in the same place. The main reason for that would be because of dogs and their hyper behavior and, after deeper observation, it was made clear that there is a direct relationship between the dog and their owner, the dogs behavior projected the humans behavior in 85% of the cases. If a dog chose to not mingle and just lie down, the owner would not have the ability to move around and interact, thus remaining in the space they were in.
Even though there was a pretty large area of space to roam around, some dogs and owners did not effectively use that space. Although, the dogs that were more excited and hyper led the owners to socialize more, making light conversation with other people from time to time leading them to move around out of their space. It varied from person to person, but most people engaged in socializing with other people instead of focusing on their dog, this showed that there was a similar relationship between the dog and its owner as the dog was busy spending more time exploring the environment while the owner participated in other tasks of mixing with people and their dogs.
Each owner behaved differently, even though they all came to the dog park for the same purpose. Some owners did not allow their dog to mingle with other dogs, for example, one owner tied his dog to the fence instead of letting him/her roam around. On the other hand, quite a few people removed the leash on their dog, allowing it to roam freely within the park. Appearance or socioeconomic status are important social norms because it reveals how the owners take care of themselves and their dogs. If the owner is highly wealthy and can afford to spend on the dog, the dog will appear well groomed and maintained. Vice versa, a dog might not be kept well if the owner cannot afford the cost of maintaining the dog. A well groomed dog might reflect on the owner as the aspect of appearance might play a crucial role in their relationship.
The families at the dog park played a big role during the observation. It was clear that the father or mother controlled the situation of the dog and the children when they were all at the dog park. In terms of the relationship between the dog and the family, it has to be closely analyzed with each family member, not as a whole. The children were much more active and excited, similarly to the dog which revealed that the dog’s behavior reflected on certain children in the family. Depending on the father or mother, one of the adults would take control of the situation to make sure that the children were following the rules and regulations at the dog park. For example, a young boy wandered away from the family with the dog and the dad showed minor aggression by bringing the child and their dog back with the rest of the family.
In some situations, there was also one or two people in charge and their behavior amongst the group is what made it obvious. The people who seemed to be in charge of the dog park made sure that there was no trouble with their dogs. The dogs with leaders or people who who participated more than others seemed to be more disciplined which reflect on the owner. Since the owner is strict and responsible, the dog does not misbehave as much as a dog would with a liberal owner. Social norms that were noticed between the dog and the owner are command and obedience because the owner has authority, the social norm is that dogs always abide by their owner by obeying their commands. Obedience is important in the relationship between pets and their owners.
The role of communication during the observation was vital to the niche.

Although I was situated quite far from the groups being observed, I was able to pick up on some aspects of their conversation. In most cases, the conversation that took place was regarding the dog, statements like “Watch the dog!”, “Make sure he doesn’t bite!”, “Lets make him/her meet other dogs.” The relationship between the dog and its owner is mainly through communication. Communication is not only verbal, there are many forms of communication that was observed in the dog park between the dogs and the people. It is evident that dogs aid the development of relationships between the owner and other people along with the owner’s development in his/her personality. With a several amount of dogs at the dog park, the owners were given a chance to be more active and social through the activities and games that were held at the dog

park.
There was one situation where a man came in alone with a dog and left after an hour with another man and his dog, clearly they became friends in the dog park through the common interest of their dogs. People walking by chatted about how this is the first time bringing their dog to a dog park, but people who are experienced with handling their dog around other dogs helped him out which shows collaboration between strangers. People in the dog park related to one another based on their dogs and gradually talked over that subject lasting up to 15 minutes. Most interactions and conversations lasted about 10 minutes.
The process of collecting data was planned before as I wanted to obtain a large amount of information which I can gradually break down to bring out only the key points. I had to research on the dog parks in the vicinity along with finding my subjects and making my field notes. I did not encounter any problems during my observation, a couple people approached to ask me for the time or just to make conversation. There were a couple ways how I recorded the data. I simply took out my journal for field notes and observed one portion of the crowd for a certain period of time and then when I gathered a good amount of data, I would observe the next portion of the owners and their dogs.
While conducting the observation, I had to be cautious in taking down my field notes as I had to make sure that the subject’s were unaware of being observed so that they would not change their behavior. I was able to figure out the norms and values of the situation based on the behavior of the owners and their dogs. The basic rules and regulations assured that basic norms and values are required in a premises such as a dog park. I enjoyed observing the dog park because it was a unique place to watch how they behave in a large area with several dogs, especially how some dogs got along really well with babies which I thought was admirable. I felt that I acted very casual and nonchalant during the observation in order to ensure that I would not stand out, unfortunately I could not bring a dog to the park but people did not detect any suspicious behavior on my part. During some instances,there were factors that affected my behavior in which I would get distracted by people or cars outside the dog park, however that did not effect the field notes. At times, I felt bias towards the owners who showed more affection to their dogs because I am a dog lover, I would observe them a bit more closely but there were no serious issues during the observation.