City park / trail ordinances in your town!

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Hello! Starting today in our city we can no longer bring dogs into parks or on our trails until after September 15th! I hate hate hate this city ordinance and we are the only city in the area that has a rule like this. In our local newspaper there was an article about there being a potential to reexamine that ordinance. I was wondering what the protocol for dogs in parks and on trails are in your cities?! Are their and specific rules you have to follow?
A couple basics would be keeping them leashed at all times.
Cleaning up after them if they go potty.
I plan on going to the board meeting when they have it. I have a couple of ideas on ways to make it possible for humans and dogs to coincide. I'd love to have information on how other cities handle this situation!

[Lindsey Holt]

That is crazy, why until September 15?

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

"Busy time of the season." It is seriously bogus. I'm going to do everything I can to convince them to reevaluate.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

In my area, (I'm in the Chicago suburbs) every town or village has their own rules, and those can even vary from park to park. I'm on the border between two suburbs, and in my town, dogs are allowed in all of the parks as long as they are leashed and you clean up after them. (There is one off-leash dog park). In the town right next to me, dogs are not allowed in most of the parks ever; there are a few where they allowed on-leash. I've never heard of any town or park where dogs are only allowed at certain times of the year, though. 

[Stacy]

Dogs aren't allowed in the parks or on trails??? I don't even know what to think of that! I'm curious where you live. I would guess not one of the super dog friendly cities? 

The only time I've encountered a park where the dogs couldn't go was at Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado Springs. They do allow dogs in the park. They can camp with you even in the hike in sites, but they don't allow dogs in the backwoods on the trails. And it has to do with the ecosystem. But there are a lot of other trails where dogs are permitted to be. So even though I didn't like it, I kind of understood.

Here we have a fair number of off leash dog parks. Otherwise as far as I've ever heard dogs are invited on leash. You're supposed to clean up after them of course, but a fair number of people don't, which makes me so angry. I don't want them to ruin it for everyone! Summertime here we have concert in the park series where they have music and kind of a festival atmosphere. The event rotates weekly through the different parks. There are a few of these events where they ask you to leave dogs home, but most of them are dog friendly too. 

I can't imagine going to the park and leaving the dogs home. I would feel so guilty and it wouldn't be fun at all. I go to the park to be with the dogs. The big park has a marina and rents kayaks and paddleboards, and I really want to try paddleboarding to see if it might be something I would like to try to do with the dogs, but I'm not sure if they rent paddleboards to dogs and I haven't ever found a good day when I wanted to go to the park without them. 

I hope you are able to get this rule changed. It makes me very sad. 

[DonMarie and Picco]

That's crazy!  Get rid of those unsightly dogs!  That's going a bit too far so I hope they overturn it.

Luckily we don't have any restrictions other than leash law in town.  We live near Natl. Parks (no dogs on trails) but plenty of space and trails that we can go off leash

We have festivals & parades all summer long in the downtown park & streets and dogs are allowed.  Most of the time I leave him home because of the crowds and other dogs, but I like having the choice.

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

We live in southern WI. Our cities claim to fame is "the city of parks." We have beautiful parks all over the city that dogs are only allowed in September 16th-May 14th. They don't want people to stop coming to our parks because they dislike or are afraid of dogs. I get that, however, that's why there are leash laws!! We do have 2 dog parks in town. One is fenced in and one is not. I am personally not a huge fan of dog parks. On our second visit Yeti got kennel cough (even though he was vaccinated). That is basically their reasoning for not letting dogs into "people parks" (because there are 2 designated parks for dogs).
We have a park with a lot of grassy areas which make a great spot to throw Yeti a ball with the chuck it. I took him a lot of times last fall (after sept 15) and he loved it. I knew it was a tad risky being off a leash however we are working on recalls and I was able to keep him under control pretty well. We left if people came because I knew he wouldn't be able to handle it. At this point he was only about 8-9 months so still very puppyish.
I have been taking Yeti with me rollerbladding lately and it has been a godsend. We go on our trails here in town. We don't have to worry about traffic and the pavement is in very good condition. We're always very cautious of other rollerbladers, walkers and cyclists. I'm most upset about him not being able to come on the trails with me anymore. On top of the great exercise we both get, I feel safer having him with me. We do go on the sidewalks if need be but they are in horrible condition and having to stop at every corner for traffic sucks.
I'm soooo hoping this gets changed!

[Suzanne & Jack]

This seems so crazy.  I'm in Indianapolis.  We have several dogparks in the area. We also have 20+miles of rail-to-trail linear parks.  I love seeing the dogs when I'm running.  Of course, the dogs are on leash for the most part.  I would think leash laws with designated areas within the parks would be a good alternative.

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

When we go on the trails we always are leashed and always have his head harness on!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Haley, one of our wonderful Lake Co. Illinois forest preserve dog parks is less than an hour and a half from you, if you ever wanted to make the trip or happen to be in Northern IL. 48 acres of woods & fields where you can hike the trails with your dog off leash:

http://www.lcfpd.org/dog-parks/duck-farm/

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Oh thank you so much Karen! Not only is this not too far away, but it is very very close to my aunt and uncle's house! I had no idea. We could take Yeti to play and for a visit!! Thank you very much!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We use a couple of the other Lake Co forest preserve dog parks that are closer for us, and they are wonderful. You do have to pay a small fee ($10) if you don;t live in Lake Co, but if your Aunt & Uncle do, it's $5 per visit.

[Amy and Annabelle]

That is crazy. We go to a metro park in the area. Pets leashed and clean up their mess. There are doggie bag stations and trash cans all along the way. However, I see dog poop on the sidewalks where people don't follow the rules. All it takes is a few irresponsible dog owners to ruin it for everyone.