Dog Park at Phillips Park

We do group class here for dog training, really nice area and friendly people.

Everytime I go there’s garbage. This last time my dogs found broken glass – luckily I watch where they stop to sniff. Also, what’s with the big pit of weeds and random chunks of cement? It’s quite unfortunate this place isn’t maintained better, it really is a nice sized area.

Visiting my daughter from Minnesota, took her pup to park. Nice dog park for a city, poop bags provided. I would have to say was disappointed that our leash was stolen by a white guy with a female GSD as he was only other person in the park. We exchanged pleasantries and he said “I am here everyday at 630am”. No shame I placed the leash on gate entrance like I do at every other dogpark I’ve been to without giving it a 2nd thought. Disgusting, luckily I have 3 dogs of my own and had multiple leashes in my vehicle. Anywho, nice little dogpark area.

My boys loved it. It’s big but there’s a portion that curves so you can no longer see your dog until you catch up to them which is quite nerve wracking. Especially since there’s an additional entrance there so you don’t always know who is in the park with what tempered dog. There is no area for small dogs so they get trampled and intimidated by the big dogs. No water fountain, poop stations seem to always be empty but I bring my own bags anyway. My boys do enjoy the wide open space to run in though.

This is a big dog park… actually too big. It’s like two rectangular dog park areas with some playground equipment for dogs, joined by an “L” shaped area.
PROS :
– very big area
– 2 airlock style entrances/exits
– near a kid playground, sand volleyball courts, and pond

CONS :
– low fences (3′ – 4′ high)
– very limited seating (3 benches?)
– benches are a foot from the fences, so dogs can use them to get over the fence.
– many gaps under fences small dogs can get under
– no water source for drinking
– no bowls if you bring water
– 1 port-a-potty nearby
– lack of shade in the 2 main rectangular areas

I feel that the person that designed this is not an actual dog owner. Nobody wants to try and chase down their dog from one end to the other. It might actually be beneficial to make it 3 separate areas with a gate between them all… so you can limit the area your dog is in and be able to better keep an eye on them. How is a dog owner supposed to know when their dog poops when they’re on one end of the park, while their dog is on the other end? How can they correct their dog if they’re on the opposite end of the park? Why aren’t there picnic tables in the middle area under the trees joining the two main areas? At least that way dog owners can watch whichever direction their dog went from there.