Frustrated by the lack of off-leash opportunities in DC
I see so many people complaining online about running into off-leash dogs in DCÂ
But DC has no off-leash hiking trails or public parks, besides a handful of relatively small dog parks scattered around the city
I have been to every dog park within a 1-hour walking radius of where I live and they are all:
Crowded! Even for the surprising amount of people who are on top of things preventing a conflict over play styles, resource guarding anything from sticks to holes, or dogs of different sizes/ages when there are 5-20 dogs in a space can be nearly impossible. Â
Dusty or muddy. For some reason, gravel is the ground cover of choice which either creates a grey sludge pit when it rains or a dust bowl when it is dry. It also erodes in the rain and most of the gravel gets washed away. I doubt it’s good for anyone’s joints and it gives the entire park an artificial feel.Â
I am sure there must be some kind of ground cover that can keep the soil together and suck up excess water even if it's just a bunch of weeds! But the parks are way too small for any ground cover to have a chance to get established.
No separation between small and large dog areas - as someone with a 35lb dog and a 9lb dog, and ends me having to break up conflicts every few minutes or leave the park every time a smaller or larger dog comes in.
No natural features like boulders to climb on, fountains or streams, logs, dog-friendly shrubs - some of these can be a natural way to break up a game of chase.
Agility equipment or dog puzzles.Â
Another common retort is that dog owners shouldn’t have moved here, shouldn’t have dogs, or should move to the suburbs if they are struggling to find off-leash space in the city. Aside from the fact that many of the suburbs around DC also have restrictive leash laws, I can’t be the only one who grew up here, has a job here, and my whole family lives in the city. I wish there were more of a conversation around how DC needs more leash-optional areas or hours to be integrated into existing parks and infrastructure instead of trying to shove every dog in each neighborhood into a 10 x 20 foot park. Could giving dogs a time and place to be off leash reduce conflict in other parts of the city?