posted: February 6th, 2008

Not among our Favorites.

The off-leash dog area at Grist Mill Park, right off Mount Vernon Highway, is the closest off-leash dog area to where we live. Right after it opened, we went there a couple of times with Abby, as well as with a friend of ours and her dog. Overall, this park does not rank among our favorites and we have not gone back to it in over a year. One of the problems I have with the park is that it's very small. It is only about the size of a soccer field, but unlike a soccer field, it does not have a nice grass surface. Instead, the surface is covered in gravel-type rocks. When it's dry out, this surface is extremely dusty. When it's wet out, it's a clay-type mud. Because the surface is very rocky and gravelly, my dog has torn her paw pads at this park just running around playing. Another thing that is both disappointing and a safety concern is that the park has no separate areas for large and small dogs. Meaning, some days you can go to the park and find Great Danes and Rottweilers running with Chihuahuas. In a setting like that, small dogs tend up looking (and acting) like prey and can easily set off a larger dog's prey instincts, or get injured by other dogs running and playing. Overall, I've also found that many of the park users were not dog-savvy at all and since there are no park monitors, the rules clearly posted at the front are frequently broken and all manner of unsafe things go on. I've seen dogs play with each other wearing head halters and prong collars, both of which can be very dangerous. I've seen some owners wander off talking on their cell phones rather than keeping an eye on their dogs. Some people bring unaltered male/female pairs of dogs to the park, or let their dogs attack other dogs while going, "Awww, he's just playing!" Probably the biggest concern in terms of unsafe behavior is the fact that the park is literally covered in toys and lots of people bring toys to the park. That's an invitation for possessive dogs to get into fights with other dogs, even dogs that are just minding their own business. We've found that leashed hikes and off-leash running on base is a better and much safer solution for us than going to this park. I would not recommend this park to people with small dogs (too much chance of injury among the bigger breeds) or people who don't know much about dog behavior / body language.

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