New Policies Seem to Have Solved Dog Park Problems

Back in late July, St. Louis Park Parks and Recreation Superintendent Rick Birno said the surrounding the off-leash dog park had generated more complaints than any other topic he'd seen in all his years as head of the city’s park system.

However, that problem seems to have gone away, thanks to a proactive approach taken in the last several months by the parks and rec department. 

The problem stemmed from the original segregated areas in the park—one set aside for large dogs, the other for small dogs.

Many small dog owners complained that too often large dogs would come into the small dog area. They claimed that resulted in their dogs being intimidated, even frightened.

A meeting was held in July to air differences. While that was an event filled with , the decision was made to take two major steps to solve the problem.

First, a surveillance camera was installed at the park to record activities and see if the second step was working—the locking of a maintenance gate between the two areas at the spot where dogs could wander from one area into the next.

“I have not received one comment either way on the matter since all this was put in place” Birno reported.

“We took action within two weeks of the late July meeting,” he added. “We kept the camera up for two months, then went through footage to monitor use of the park and to see if the locked gate policy was working and it was.”

Prior to the new policy, the area's on-site signage basically designated a large dog area and a small dog area.

“Now, the language says the original small dog area is for ‘small, timid and frail dogs,’” Birno pointed out. “So, someone who owns a larger dog but one that is older and frail, can use the area where smaller dogs are allowed. It is at the discretion of the owner of that dog.”

Two people who seem pleased with the park and its new arrangement are Sam Trushenski and Dani Davis. While visiting the park on a recent Sunday afternoon with their French bulldog, Diogi, they expressed pleasure with the park and the ideas behind the newly implemented plan.

“Our dog isn’t intimidated by larger dogs but I can see where many small dogs could be,” Davis said.

The two were first-time users of the Dakota Park facility.

“We live right on the border of St. Louis Park in Hopkins and at least once a week, if the weather is decent, we take Diogi to a local dog park,” Trushenski said. “I have to say this is a very nice facility.”

“French bulldogs are a breed that don’t require a lot of exercise, but we take him for walks every day,” Davis added. “But we still like to get him to dog park on a regular basis and I’m sure we will being using this one often.”

City officials hope other dog owners feel the same, especially since the new policy, rules and procedures have been put in place and things seem to be running smoothly.