Columbus Square Dog Park

My poor dog has massive cuts on her paws from the gravel at the park. I feel so bad for her, she is in so much pain. The park is okay but the gravel is not good for dogs. All 4 of her paws are severely cut up.

I live around the corner and love bringing my dog here after work and on the weekends.
The park is not very big, but big enough for dogs to get their energy out in a constructive way.
Many of the same people go at the same times everyday so you get to know other dog owners in the area and your dog can play with the same dogs.
The only real downside of the park is that it is a gravel park, so when it rains there are mud patches, and when it is extremely dry, it becomes some what of a dustbowl.
Unfortunately, the pictures are no longer accurate. There are no logs for the dogs to play with. There are three park benches, and two picnic tables.
All in all great park with friendly dogs and humans.

I’ve tried to write this post several different ways, I’ve read the reviews that other owners wrote. I suggest if you aren’t comfortable with your dog playing aggressively at times with other dogs than don’t take yours there. I have an 8 month old husky, she’s never been in any fights there or had any problems with other dogs. She loves to run up to everyone and give kisses and kind of do her own thing. Every now and than she will play with other dogs that she’s seen regularly. There are a lot of great dogs there and a lot of different breeds there as well. I’ve seen smaller dogs running around in there all the time thinking they were the bigger dog, I’ve seen dogs in there running around chasing each other. I like this park and the people that run it, lately they have been throwing events on the weekend for owners and the dogs. I love this dog park and my pup does too, hopefully we will see you there sometime!

Unfortunately I’ve had one to many bad experiences here. or should I say my dog has. Once there was a dog there who was «teething» and bled all over my poor dog. I’m not sure why you would want your dog bleeding all over the place in the dog park but ok… no biggie. I just had to put my poor bloody dog in the shower as soon as I got home. Second incident, a pit bull (I love pits, just sayin) attacked my dog and I was told by the owner «we just got him, and we wanted to see how he gets along with other dogs»…Seriously? Case studies are not for real live dog parks! And today I decided to give it another go and one dog (brown pit bull) got seriously aggressive with mine and I just left. the guy didn’t even apologize and only made a half assed attempt to pull his dog off mine. Some people are nuts I’m tellin ya… I won’t go on. Oh and sometimes there are random kids here without parental supervision throwing rocks… Weird. I’ve been advised this dog park is not a bright idea by some of the locals and I think I’m going to listen.

IF YOU LOVE YOUR DOG, STAY AWAY FROM THIS PARK.
I have 2 dogs, a German Shepherd and a mutt, I live couple blocks away from this park.
I visited this park couple times and I always have a bad experience with this park most of the time.
Couple months ago I visited this park with my 1 year old German Shepherd. At that same time there is another male German Shepherd who is trying to jump over the fence and trying to nip and chase over kids on the other side of the fence.
Suddenly that German Shepherd have a fight with my dog, when I try to break the fight the male German Shepherd bit my hand (it was really good bit and blood running out of my hand).
Once the dog owner get control over his dog, I asked to see his dog’s rabies tag. When he try to show me the tag, his dog trying to bite my face and I kicked the dog by reflect. And… there are ladies who see this accident and they yelled at me for kicking the dog in the chest for trying to bite my face.
Couple months later I came back to this park with my friend and her dog (red nose pit bull) at night, hoping there are not too many people and or dogs to let my dogs and he dog running around.
I see there is a Grey Hound dog standing by his/​her owner. That dog snarling, showing teeth to another dog who are trying to go near that dog.
I told my friend, that dog would cause a trouble… and I was correct… not even 1 minute after that my friend’s dog have a fight with that Grey hound dog. And as we all expect. Pit bull is the only one to blame.
** I believe there are no bad people or bad dogs in this park, Just uneducated dog owners who can’t afford to hire a dog trainer ** THIS IS DANGEROUS for both human and the other dogs **
They should put up a new rule, ONLY well trained dog and well educated dog handlers are permitted to this park.

I happen to really like this park. A majority of the people and dogs are great. Of course there is a sour grape here and there, but that is absolutely to be expected. What I like about the park: The location. On the corner of 12^th and Reed (walking distance to my home) next to a couple other parks and areas where people can walk their dogs. This is an incredibly dog friendly area, and the park attracts a lot of the same people day in and day out. My dog plays very well with the other dogs, regardless of size. A lot of people with smaller dogs tend to avoid this park because there is no separation for small and large dogs, but honestly, some of the biggest dogs are the sweetest and play the nicest. I also like the trees and logs to jump on, and the benches to sit and watch from. It’s also nice to have the hose to spray your dirty dog down with after playing in the muddy areas. There is a greeting area where your dog will get sniffed before it enters the park (at the gate). If you think there is an aggressive dog in the park, this is where you will find out. If a dog is too aggressive with your pup, you have time to walk away and come back later. People generally hang around for about an hour. But understand that not all dogs get along, just like people. If you have a bad feeling, trust that and come back another time.
What could be worked on: The rocks are kind of a drag. It can get very muddy in the rain, but your dog will love that. I might start bringing plastic bags and leaving them in the area that used to have bags for poop cleanup, because that is empty. I will drop toys my dog doesn’t like in the bin, or just leave them there for others to play with. Seems to go over well.
Tips: wear crappy clothes, you will get dirty too. Girl dogs especially, should be fixed before playing at the park. There are a lot of boy dogs here and they go crazy when a female who hasn’t been spayed yet comes in (even if the boys are fixed, they still go bananas). I actually think its a rule at the park that they have to be fixed to play in it, but i know there are a few dogs who play there that aren’t. Every dog humps, get over it. It’s funny. Every dog barks, its accepted. Keep an eye on your dog at all times.

I have lived in Washington Square for 20 years and it has always been a great place for my dogs. Now that I live in S. Philly I have tried 3 times to take my dog there. Yeah, 1^st time there was a HUGE dog fight and then the owners fought over the other dog should leave. Second time a very large dog was immediately chasing my dog who was clearly not ready and barley got in the gate so we had to leave as she was scared. 3^rd time is a charm… Walked in and a pit jumped on my dog and she Unilocaled and her hip popped. This all happened after I asked to PLEASE not let your dog jump on my dog. «Well, shit happens they told me».
I will be making nice drives to go to real parks where other dog owners are considerate.

South Philly pooches and their people enjoy this dog park. Medium sized, with logs to jump on and over. Most people and companion animals here are friendly and welcoming. However, we have recently noticed more dog fights especially during crowded times, when it can be a bit overstimulating for the dogs and the people.
Nice in the sun, muddy in the rain, and best when not too crowded. I recommend coming here during the midday off hours. Glad to have a dog park in the area, as Philly downtown area has lots of dogs and relatively few exercise & social interaction spots (Schuylkill River Dog Run; Seger Dog Park & this).

Honey and I loved our visit to this south philly dog park. I don’t get to take her much and I’m glad we checked this one out! We will be back. Note that it can be muddy after a rainfall as it is dirt ground not hardtop. Lots of friendly dogs and owners made us feel very welcome.

I don’t have a dog in the city, so take my review lightly. Here’s my take. It doesn’t smell like pee and there are hollow tree trunks for pups to run through. What more could a city dog want?
I just wish I hadn’t seen a guy occasionally whipping his dog with a leash. Karma, my friend.

With the Schuykill River dog park closed until the park overhaul and river crossing are complete, Seger Park has become a literal zoo of furry beasts at pretty much every hour of the day. With all of the overstimulation, the park that is so close to my home has become a non-​option for playtime as fights break out more frequently and quite frankly at times the tension between owners is palpable and not something that I want to entertain after a long day at work. Given that my dogs sister recently relocated to South Philly, he hadn’t seen her in some time… it came as a pleasant surprise when her owner shot me a text and asked if I wanted to visit their local park for a play date.
First thing I noticed, this park as a whole is a seriously fun place to kill some time. There’s a little bit of everything for everyone… and then there’s the dog park. To be honest for a park this size you would think that the dog park might be a little bigger; alas it is not and that’s ok because there didn’t seem to ever be more than 10 dogs at any given time in the hour and a half we spent there despite the warm weather. The fact that there were so few dogs meant that the crowd size was manageable, Harvey could play without getting into too much trouble, and the owners all seemed friendly and attentive to their pooches. Though it is a small park with no separate areas for small and large dogs, everyone seems to mingle well together playing on the stumps and hollowed out logs and sharing the single water bowl in the park.
For being a gravel park, I was a little surprised to see that there was no water fountain… all of that dust can leave a little pup parched as was evident when we got home and Harvey threw back a full bowl of water. It looked like there was a hose and a community tupperware bowl, but it seemed very makeshift like water was an afterthought for the parks construction.
All in all, for being a hike from home this is probably going to be our go-​to until Schuykill reopens and for as long as Harvey behaves himself. With the warmer weather on its way, the long walk mixed with a good run around the park will be the perfect equation for a tired out dog come nighttime.

This place can get a little crowded, but the patrons are generally pretty poilte and friendly. Our dog is small, which means on occasion we have to take him away when fierce dogs or larger puppies get a little rough with him. Nine times out of ten, however, our dog has fun and we will stay for a while. Even though the surface is mainly gravel, it is mixed with some dusty sand which tends to soil our pup pretty good. Especially when he decides to rest in the wet area near the water hose. We pretty much have to give him a bath every time we go (I should mention that he is a lab-​corgi mix which makes him more low to the ground), but for those with larger dogs they probably wouldn’t get too dirty unless they roll around a bunch. The park is pretty well designed and pleasant, but be very careful of the wastebaskets — they are ALWAYS stinky as hell — meaning if you open one just a little bit for even half a second, the entire area will REAK for a minute. I would almost recommend disposing of your dog’s doo-​doo somewhere outside of the park.

Have been here a few times now. ;)
My dog was the oddball out, a little aggressive being the newbie. EVERYONE helped work him into the mix and allowed him the time to blend in. Now he is one of the pack and belongs. The Park is extremely well taken care of by the people that go there. It is nice my Spot looks forward to his visits. ;)

We usually bring our 3 small dogs (2 pugs and a mini schnauzer) here because it’s the one of the only dog parks in south philly that’s convienent to our home and the other dog owners are relatively good people. I have NEVER had a problem, but unfortunately a snobby south-​philly middle-aged-I’m-entitled-to-whatever-the-hell-i-want bitch made our last visit the worst possible. Before her arrival, all the dogs (of all sizes) in the park were socializing and playing nicely until her nightmare of a dog came in and started picking fights with all the other dogs present. Immediately, we picked up our smaller dogs to protect them, as one by one each owner fled to keep their dog out of harms way. The dog made it to us and started trying to bite at my dogs like they were little toys and the owner did absolutely NOTHING. She explained that her dog was just playing, as I made myself into an igloo over one of my dogs to protect her from the teeth of this totally out of control animal. A verbal fight ensued between my party and the owner and she told us to «grow up» even though her and her thoughtless, irresponsible attitude was the problem. When we were finally able to leave, she continued to talk shit as if my 3 small dogs were to blame, even though their paws didn’t even touch the ground. It is seriously trash like this that ruin a would-​be good time for everyone and reason enough for us not to ever go back. ***APPARENTLY SHE VISITS THE PARK OFTEN SO IF YOU GO TO THIS DOG PARK WATCH OUT FOR THE MIDDLE AGED BRUNETTE HOUSEWIFE LOOKING HAG WITH GLASSES AND A RED PIT BULL. SHE IS COMPLETELY NUTS AND COULD CARE LESS ABOUT YOU OR YOUR DOG.***

I take my dog here all the time since it is the closest dog park for us to get to several times a week (sometimes on the weekends we splurge for the dog park off south street). I have only had a few run-​ins with a difficult dog or owner, but it is mostly a pleasant friendly crowd.
It would be nice if they cleaned it a little more and brought back the water fountain and dog bags, but other than that I think it is a decent local dog park.

I have often taken my dog here. She is a tiny dachshund and isn’t especially social with other dogs, so I’d take her there so she could walk around off her leash and just kind of hang out. Most people were really nice to talk to and if any dogs got out of line, they were generally quick to step in. My dog prefered grass to the gravel in the park, so she enjoyed the walk around the perimeter of the park more than the park itself.

Went for the first time with my pit puppy «Gracie». One of the better dog runs in the city. People were friendly and respectful. Pup had a blast!
Gravel surface warning: Playful Pup = Dirty Dog