I see no problems with playing with your dog in the cemetery, unless it pees on the gravestones or digs holes. Or unless the landlord asks you not to.
Same as everyone else in regard to pooping and digging, with the added suggestion that you look out for places the little dog might injure itself running around, such as sunken graves. But if it’s a small graveyard that would be easy to check.
I don’t see it as a problem. And if I was an occupant, I definitely wouldn’t care.
Things I have done in cemeteries:
Make love
Drink wine
Read
Be a tourist (mostly in New Orleans but also the old New England boneyards)
Take photos for photo essays.
Never walked a dog in one though.
When I was living in the dorms in college, there was an old cemetery on university property across the road. We used to go over there quite a bit to throw a baseball or frisbee around, or just catch some sun. As long as you’re being respectful of the property, I don’t see anything wrong with it.
So, shut down immediately after the banjo and accordion players?
I like wandering around cemeteries.
Older headstones can be fragile after years exposed to elements.
If you can keep the dogs from using headstones as an agility course or knocking into them it should be fine. Wouldn’t want a slab of marble to hurt him if it fell over suddenly.
When my kids were little, we would go to a cemetery in our town to watch the fireworks in the neighboring town. It was a thing that many people did, bringing lawn chairs and blankets.
The second time we did this my son had pieced together the evidence and realized we were in a cemetery. He was not amused. That was the last time we went there to watch fireworks.
I’m pretty surprised by the answers so far. To me, and most I know, a cemetery is a place for mourning and quiet reflecting. People come there to meet their loved ones that are gone, deep in thought.
A frolicking dog, let alone a dog speeding after a toy etc., is a distraction, basically the polar opposite of what a cemetery is about.
Then there’s the deal that a sizeable portion of the population have a fear of dogs. Imagine heading for the cemetery to visit your loved ones’ graves, and seeing an animal there, inside a fenced closure with narrow pathways, that you freeze at the sight of. In my opinion, it would be very thoughtless to take a dog to such a place for that reason alone.
There are dog parks for a reason.
Not where I come from. I grew up across the road from a cemetery where many of my family members were buried. I and many other people visited the cemetery often to clean up the graves, wash bird shit off the stones, etc. None of us were “deep in thought”. Many times we saw friends and neighbors there. And often we would talk about family and friends who were buried there, reminisce, etc. It was a friendly place; still is, I hear, tho I don’t live near enough to visit any more. I’m pretty surprised that so many people think dogs should not be in cemeteries. And really surprised that it’s illegal in some places. Huh? And someone said horses could not be in cemeteries where they lived. When the 4th of July parade in my town ended up in the cemetery there were definitely horses there.
In other words where I come from a cemetery is not a church.
ETA also there were no dog parks in my town.
The OP described this as a private family cemetery visited by the family about once a year. The odds of someone going to visit a grave and being frightened by the OP’s dog seem remote.
I don’t presume to speak for others in this- But, for myself I really like the idea of people and dogs frolicking on my grave. When my Uncle Max died, my niece was too young to really understand death. So, at his burial service she sang a long to some of the prayers and dumped some dirt on his coffin when it was her turn. On the walk from the grave to the car, she said “That was fun!”. My sister shushed her and was trying to explain that it was a solemn occasion. I interrupted. “Uncle Max would very much want our last memory of him to be something fun.”
When I was a kid, we regularly played Hide-and-Seek amongst the big, heavy, resurrection-defying gravestones in the village graveyard in the tiny town my father’s family came from. The local kids did too. We all knew our ancestors were buried there and our parents, aunts and uncles would actually tell us to go play in the graveyard. The dead are amongst us on/in this earth and I think they would appreciate giggling children and happy dogs enjoying living because life does go on.
Everybody feels differently about graveyards. I’m an atheist, I will either be cremated and scattered or mulched if that’s available when I kick off. I am not a meat worshipper and obviously have no personal feelings about what happens to mine after I’m no longer in residence. That being said, the very existence of graveyards tells us that there are many, many people who do not think the way I do and who are, in fact, concerned about the dignity and sacredness of the final resting place of dead people. Therefore I am respectful of these spaces, just as I am respectful of people’s houses of worship no matter how silly or tacky or gross I might personally find them. You don’t know who’s watching and noticing you frolic and play with your dog and screw on a headstone and you have no idea whether or not that might affect someone adversely so I think the polite, prosocial thing to do is to err on the side of not allowing animals to crap on people’s graves and to be at least outwardly respectful no matter what your personal feelings might be. For those of us not constantly afflicted with Main Character Syndrome this is a fairly self evident position. Mileage can, and does, obviously, vary.
Just remind your dog he’s supposed to bury bones, not dig them up, and you should be fine!
Headstones are still erected in many memorial parks but they may not always remain secure for a life time.
It’s not a playground or a dog park and it does seem disrespectful to treat it as such.
They can and do topple accidentally or through vandalism.
The guy we spoke with to get permission for the cemetery wedding (overseer?) believed cemeteries should be parks of celebration. We were honest and upfront. I’m a reverend in the Universal Life Church and an atheist. A local photographer would be setting up cameras in an attempt to catch a ghost. The bride and groom would be arriving in a hearse in period dress. We expected (and got) press coverage. Knowing all of that he was still all for it.
Indeed. This is exactly why my local cemeteries have a no dog policy, even on leash. I get it - it’s hard to stop my dog as well.
Not while a funeral’s in progress, of course, nor near someone who’s obviously distressed, but otherwise - well, life goes on. The “Friends of [my local] Cemetery” have an annual Family Fun Day there.
Good point. The cemetery we used for a wedding was an historic cemetery, no new burials.