Berkeley Leashless Dog Park

Well, it has been almost 3 years of ‘rearing’ my puppy at this dog park, we’d be screwed without it. We have 2 rescue dogs. The youngster is super duper quick, fastest mutt of the west. This park provides us the distance she needs to burn some energy! It might be my imagination, but perhaps all the plastic bags I leave there are starting to pay off, not as much dookie laying around lately. I will continue to pay forward on this park and pick up bombs where I find ‘em. I wish they would put a dog water fountain bowl that refills itself off of a regular bubbler, I’ve seen ‘em out in Seattle dog parks, I know they exists. Kudos to the water people who fill those dishes manually. What would it take to reposition a dumpster on the other side of the fence just north of the entrance. Act of god? It would be great if our voting majority coalition was served yet again to provide some upgrades to this space. Great beginnings, now, finish the thought. Yeah its sorta ghetto, but my dogs love this place so we will keep coming until they open a dog park at Sloans Lake. Am I dreaming? Will they ever do this? Happy holidays to all those that support this dog park. It is worth keeping clean and on the up and up!

This particular dog park is pretty far from us, but what’s worse is that there’s absolutely no shade. That’s probably fine in the winter, but in the summer and fall it’s unbearable.

Where to start. This dog park is fairly large, easy convenient parking and friendly dog park. The area is large and is all gravel. I like this park for the ease of the location but it doesn’t seem to be maintained at all by any city clean up crew. The area is definitely dirty, smelly and filled with dogs. I mean filled with dogs. Some aggressive, some small and some humping. I do not recommend after 3pm, fills up quick and unable to enjoy it, at this point. I do like the owners, ease to strike up a conversation and mostly friendly. I have met tons of people there and like their company. I think if someone would clean and regular maintenance it would a very nice place. I go for the company and location mainly.

I wish that I liked this dog park more.
The park is gravel/​dirt, which is a less than ideal surface and reminds me of dusty kitty litter.
You need to remember to bring water because there’s no running water, although there are at least water bowls.
I’d be able to overlook those things, but I can’t overlook the people who bring aggressive dogs here. Most of the people and dogs are nice, but the owners of aggressive dogs who should know not to bring their aggressive dogs to a dog park prevent me from being a fan or being able to say that the park is A-​OK.
The main area of the park is very large, and there’s also a smaller area for low energy dogs, which is usually where I take my 20-​pounder to escape an aggressive dog. The main area is mostly unshaded; there’s one awning and a couple of benches. It tends to be crowded under that awning. The smaller area has one bench, but doesn’t have any real shade, although there are a few trees that provide a little shade. The trash can is near the smaller area, which makes the smaller area smellier. At least most people pick up after their pups.
The fact that there’s the smaller area for refuge allows me to give this park a 2 and allows me to keep bringing my dog. Otherwise, it’d be a 1, and I wouldn’t bring my dog here.

The past couple of times we have come here there have been some extremely aggressive dogs. I was hoping that the irresponsible dog owners would fade away as they tend to come and go, but yesterday my Bailey got attacked and ended up running away with a very bloody nose and lip. She is ok, but traumatised. The worst part? The pet owners stayed there with their dog and started throwing the ball for them as we, and several other pups and their parents, left. We will be staying far away as long as people and their dogs of this caliber are using this dog park.

While I applaud Denver for building some dog parks (finally!) I have to say that this one basically sucks. First of all, there is no water. Second of all, there is no shade. Third of all, the entire park consists of a coarse sand-​pebble combination that is very hot in the sun and is apparently extremely uncomfortable for dogs to run on. Our dog hated it. All she did is try to drink other dogs’ water. If we had known we had to bring water, we never would have come and we didn’t stay long. The people seemed generally friendly but there is a second, smaller fenced-​in area for smaller/“less active” dogs… And yet, small dog owners still insist on bringing their little yip-​yips into the big area. It’s all well and cute until they get into it with a big dog and then guess who will be blamed? I don’t know why people can’t use common sense. Also, we were astounded by the number of people smoking IN the dog park. They’re flicking their ashes on the ground and could hit one of the dogs. And I don’t really enjoy inhaling second-​hand smoke as I stand in the sweltering heat watching a bunch of dogs trying to crowd into the one area where there is a water bowl (brought by someone else). Finally, you’re close enough to Elitch’s here to watch the roller coaster and hear the screams approximately every 30 seconds. The whole experience is not relaxing or particularly fun for either humans or their canine companions. One star.

We like this place because it’s really close by and is pretty huge. I think it’s a great use of the space. People are pretty responsible, although watch your step if you walk around the perimeter… I think folks ignore some dookies when their dogs let loose in the distance. There is a separate «low energy» play area which I think is nice for older and little guys.
*BRING JUGS OF WATER TO SHARE! :)
How do we get running water installed at this place??? I don’t mind bringing jugs of water to fill the bowls, but the pups tend to knock the bowls over every few minutes and the fountain nearby barely trickles water. It’s been really hot and dry lately so some running water would be really nice.
*BRING DOOKIE BAGS for yourself and to refill the stash.
Oh I almost forgot I wanted to mention – we don’t have kids so it’s not an issue for us but I have seen someone being asked to leave by park staff because they had a very small child so I think there is an age requirement. After being knocked nearly to the ground myself by a playful pack of pups I guess it’s understandable.

The park is large and has plenty of space for your pooch to burn off some energy. The landscape is gravel, which means less mud and grime to clean off your pal after a visit, and there are plenty of benches for the humans. Bring water and plastic bags if you can! They’re installing a pump, but it’s not there yet.