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!

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

I hate seeing dog poop on the sidewalks. It just makes me so sad because I know they have basically ruined it for everyone. When I see it, I always pick it up!

We have various trails running through our city. We haven't been everywhere, but on the areas we have been, there are not many trashcans at all. That is one of my bullet points. If there were more trash cans along the way, perhaps people would be more enticed to throw it away. I don't mind carrying it along with us, but I know how people can be. I also think there could be little stations with doggie bags and perhaps hand sanitizers too.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I've never checked the actual regs in my area, but people here take their dogs to our parks - leashed of course.  Many of our newer, larger green areas have poop bag stations and pet drinking fountains at the base of the people ones.

[Jen, Buddy, & Kevin]

This rule seems a bit extreme. Do you know if it was prompted by something, like dog bites, dog fights, too many irresponsible dog owners?

We're moving to an area that has a lot of dog friendly beaches, but during the summer season dogs are only allowed before 9am and after 6pm.

[Dolly Dykhouse]

Where I live in Northern California dogs are only permitted in Dog Zones which are the three designated dog parks/trail areas and must be 6 months of age and licensed. No dogs are permitted at local parks (of which there are many) regardless of being on leash. I live directly in back of one of the local 5 acre parks with the only gate access from my backyard into the park/tennis courts. I have multiple local neighbors who bring their dogs to the park and allow them to run off leash while training or paying fetch; several people also use the tennis courts as a huge enclosed pen to play with their dogs. While most of these dog owners are very responsible and pick up after their pets, many do not. I have had to clean feces up in our tennis court area before being able to play multiple times and I cannot tell you how many times I have had to sidestep doggy bombs in that 5 acres of grass. It is frustrating for responsible dog owners that always bring waste bags and clean up after their furry ones to constantly have to pull their dogs away from other peoples piles of neglected poop. Yes, as you can tell the park rules are not strictly followed even by me. I bring both Henry and my puggle, Jo over most nights for 30 minutes or so of play in the grass (always on leash) as our backyard is all aggregate and pool so there is little room for them to run around freely. My dogs are trained to only go in our backyard (well trained is a loose word, we make sure they go right after dinner and before we go to the park) and I still bring bags with me and pick up other dogs poop. I know that I can justify to the cows come home why I use the park for the dogs to play when it is clearly stated on our city's website that it is not allowed and the bottom line is I am breaking a city ordinance; if I was ever ticketed I would face a $250 fine. I have spoken to my other neighbors who bring their dogs and the understanding with local law enforcement is as long as there are no complaints from home owners in our neighborhood they don't patrol specifically to catch dog owners using the park. As soon as Henry is old enough and licensed and has gone through obedience training I might try a dog park, but to be honest with everything I have read and the experiences of others I don't think that they would be a good fit for us. Ultimately, if the city law of no dogs in local parks is enforced I would have to start looking into other neighboring cities and their park/dog rules to see if we could find a new place to play.

[Barbara, Zoey and Zeke]

I would seriously hate this.  I live in an area that has multiple trails, lakes and wilderness reserves.  All are dog friendly while on a leash.  I would much rather use a trail than walk around the neighborhood streets.  I can drive 5 miles and reach 8 different trails that I can think of.  Most are fairly new since we live in a newer suburb, and almost all have "dogspot" places for bags and trash. Since Zoey is a important member of my family, I can't see leaving her so I could walk.  I would definitely be going the town council route.