Northwest Community Dog Park

I really enjoy this dog park. My puppy loves coming here. We try to go at least 3 days a week. I would give it 5 stars except that the water fountain for the dogs only has hot water and the longer you hold the button, the hotter the water gets.

When we moved down from Phoenix we searched and searched for a dog park. This one is the closest one to us but if I had just seen it on the road without dogs in it I would have never known. There is no grass, just dust and dirt. Two large trees provide shade, which is very nice to have at a dog park. My biggest complaint is that it is very small and has no grass in it. My dog likes to run and she certainly can’t do that here.

I’m so pleased we found this dog park. We’ve been to many over the past few months with our new dog. Most are pretty good but they run the gamut from too small like the one closest to our home to too large like at Reid Park. Some have unfriendly people and some have people that use the park in lieu of a single’s bar. (Seriously!) Others hardly ever have dogs other than very large breeds.
Northwest is near enough to our home to be able to be a daily trip for our girl. The people are friendly and the dogs are well behaved. Our dog loves to romp with the usual crowd who show up in the late afternoon just before sunset. By the way, the dog park here is a FABULOUS place to take in gorgeous sunsets over the mountains.
There is a large dog and small dog area and people at this park seem to actually pay attention to those designations unlike the Pit Bull owners at Reid Park. Likewise, the breeds that are present are well behaved and not aggressive. There is the occasional steroid pumped guy with a Pit but it’s not an everyday occurrence and they usually don’t stay but for a minute or two.
Northwest has, by far, the friendliest, most fun, and least pretentious crowd of owners and dogs I’ve seen in Tucson. A great way to spend the close of the day!
Addendum: Ever since we’ve been going to dog parks in Tucson, I’ve wondered why they all have picnic tables and in addition really slick rock tables. I never thought people actually ate meals in a dog park until I saw people at this park with food recently. Obviously, it was an issue as all the dogs wanted to check out the food. But the real problem came a few days later when we took our dog to the park. She smelled the food that had been spilled on the table and jumped right up (something she never does at home). Before we could reach her she’d lost her footing on the slick rock surface and skidded off onto the ground. She tore her Cranial Cruciate Ligament and we’re left with a hurting dog and a $ 2000+ vet bill for surgery. Then I found out that my pharmacist’s dog had an identical injury from this same slick rock picnic table at the dog park.
So, I’ve lowered my rating of the park (and all others) until the parks department takes appropriate action and removes these high slick tables from the parks (particularly the small do areas) and stops people from bringing human food into the dog park for a picnic. If you are going, station yourself near the table so you can grab your dog if they decide to jump up to investigate the food smells!