Dog Parks: Where Dogs Love To Play

Most parks have a dedicated area for dogs. It’s where dogs can run and play and interact with other dogs. Having a dog park near where you live is an awesome perk for both you and your dog! When I was a kid, the playground used to be the center of my existence. I know that all little kids love playgrounds, but I absolutely adored them. I would spend hours upon hours there climbing on the monkey bars and running around behind the trees. My parents would literally have to drag me away kicking and screaming from the playground. I guess they were glad to see me get exercise, but it was always such a struggle for them to get me to leave that sometimes they wouldn’t take me in the first place.

Nowadays, instead of running around in the playground myself, I watch my pooch run around in an off leash dog park. I live in one of the most dog friendly cities in the country. I heard somewhere that San Francisco has more dog parks per capita than any other major city. While I don’t know if this is true or not, I know that there are a large number of dog friendly parks here. Some of them are off leash and some of them aren’t, but almost anywhere there is grass you can safely walk your dog as long as you supervise and clean up after it.

There are two great off leash dog parks within a couple miles of where I live. The smaller one is practically right outside my door. Usually, I will take the dog out there if I only have a few minutes. If I got home late and don’t feel like taking a long walk, that is the dog park that she ends up at. The other one, however, is her favorite place. I can always see how disappointed she is when we go to the close one. You see, at the more distant dog park she gets to see all of her friends.

The funny thing about dog parks is that they are communities of a sort. Dogs are social creatures and, although they can get used to hanging out with humans alone, they seem to enjoy themselves more if they also get to play with dogs. They love to chase each other around, wrestle, smell each other, and bark like crazy. Every once in awhile, they get into tussles, but mostly things turn out okay. I’ve only seen one or two serious fights in several years of going to the dog park. Most of the owners are so responsible that, if their dogs cannot be trusted to safely run around, they don’t let them.