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| - I've been going to Southland Dog Park on and off for years. We'd walk my sister's dog there, and then I started bringing mine once I got her in 2008. I don't live especially close, so it's not a usual spot I'll go to, but occasionally I feel like something different from where I usually take my dog (River Park).
I like Southland - it's a huge dog park with a lot of options. You can head two different ways from the parking lot, and there are a myriad of paths to branch off on, depending on what you want to do that day. During the summer, there's a good spot for doggie swimming in a little inlet south of the parking area. My dog is small (17 lbs) so I'm afraid to let her paddle around in the river proper, but the gentle currents in this area are fine.
It's also really pretty, moreso in the summer. Fun to explore.
The minuses? The parking, especially on nice days during prime hours. And parking enforcement does come around for those who've decided to chance the side of the road.
And the fencing. It's a positive/negative thing for me. It's great that there's a safe(r) area for people to let their dogs run around, but a lot of owners also believe this means that they don't have to fully train their dogs. "Hey, it's fenced in - why should my dog come to me when called?" I see a lot more poorly trained dogs when I come to this park: jumping up on people, running willy nilly at other dogs and listening to owners try to recall their dogs over and over with nary an ear twitch. So, all in all I think fences on dog parks make some owners lazy. Hence why I prefer to walk my dog at unfenced parks where a modicum of training is needed.
I liked Southland better when there was a little fenced in corral and the rest was both fenced and unfenced. But I'll keep visiting because the pluses outweigh the minuses.
(Yelp Kicks Butt Challenge 1/10)
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