We just took our Stella to a dog park for the first time. She's almost 10 months...and a little shy around other dogs. We went to 2 parks and had 2 very different experiences.
First park...HUGE fenced in park with walking trails. All the dogs seemed to congregate in one spot at the top of the hill. It was almost TOO big? Nice people....not too many dogs, but I told my husband I would not want her in THAT big of an area unleashed. Also noticed that alot of folks were not PICKING UP THE POOP! Gross! The park had bags...and trash cans and yet they were not picking up poop...or picked it up and just left the bag on the ground.
Second park. Smaller park. Mostly flat with a small walking trail that goes up a hill. All fenced in. Stella is a runner...so we want a fenced in park until we get her better with her commands. (we've had her a month). Again, very nice people, not too many dogs...still folks who don't pick up the poop (arrrrggghghhh), but a very different vibe.
Stella was less intimidated here? We've taken her back a couple of times and she seems more comfortable with the environment...and running around with the other dogs. I would agree with the other posters:
Stay close to your dog!
Don't go when it's too crowded.
Watch the other dogs as some of the owners sit on the bench and talk on their cell phones....or let their dogs jump all over people.
Be wary of the sizes of the other dogs.
A woman yesterday brought her dog who was a chihuahua who couldn't have weighed more than 2 lbs. The tiniest dog I've ever seen. She seemed shocked when the other dogs (St. Bernard, German Shepherd, Pit Bull) all ran over to investigate. It looked like a toy to them. Not surprising her dog spent it's entire visit shivering in her lap.
We'll keep taking Stella to the smaller park. She seemed to really enjoy it and was able to burn off some of her puppy energy.
Check out all the parks in your area and find the one that "feels" right.
We used this link to find the ones in our area:
http://www.dogparkusa.com/
some we didnt' even know about!