Sunnidale off leash park

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Behind Canadian Tire between Sunnidale and Bayfield. View map »
The best place to park is behind the Canadian Tire just off of Bayfield Street or at the Dorian Parker Centre or along Sunnidale Road.

Rocky sent in the following info about Sunnidale Park – thank you!

The park is huge. It has 3 different walking paths and makes you feel as though you are on a hike with your dog off leash. The park also has an open area for running close to the front entrance. The people and dogs are great! The hill into the park is steep and the trail is narrow.

The City of Barrie’s website explains that this is the city’s first off-leash area for dog owners in a double-gated and fenced section of Sunnidale Park, a popular destination with dog walkers.

The Barrie off leash park is located in a natural setting, which makes it not wheelchair accessible.
More details about the Barrie dog park are on the city’s website. The photos are also taken from the city’s website.

Bancroft Dog Park

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See this map for park address

From Belleville ; Highway 62 north to Bancroft. Turn right at 1st stop sign and go straight through the lights and take the first right onto Newkirk Blvd., the dog park is on the left beside the arena.

From Peterborough; Hwy. 28 north to Bancroft, follow 28 past the 62 S turn off and go straight through the lights and take the first right, Newkirk Blvd. The dog park is to the left of the arena. The water tower is on the hill behind the dog park on the south end of town and is visible from all directions.

From Algonquin Park; Hwy 127 south to 62 s. to Bancroft. At the 62S and 28 intersection turn left at the lights then first right onto Newkirk Blvd. to the arena. Dog park is beside the arena to the left.

From Ottawa; Hwy 7 S. to 62 N in Madoc , head north on 62 to Bancroft . At stop sign turn right and go through the lights to first right on Newkirk and follow less than a minute to the arena on the left and the dog park to the left of the arena. Always aim for the water tower on the hill. The dog park is at the bottom of the hill. For information, please call 613-318-9222
What a great place to stop and let Ripper run. Our enclosed park with double gate entry is accessible. We have constructed a special protective ‘corral’ to ensure safety and allow participation. Parking is beside the gate for special visitors
The Bancroft leash-free dog park is new with the official opening planned for Saturday May 28, 2011 at 11 am. .
Our park is approximately an acre with a wood chip padded open field, a few obstacles and low, wide hill. The seating area is always shaded through the summer months and the park’s two and four legged regulars are a friendly bunch. We’re proud of our clean little park.
We are half way to Toronto from the south and Ottawa from the north. For Algonquin Park bound travelers, we’re the perfect spot for a final break.

Aurora Dog Park

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East side of Industrial Parkway just south of St. John’s Sideroad. View map »

It is probably about 2 acres, fully fenced. The grounds are covered in mulch, with a few benches for people to sit and socialize. There are some trees and bushes down at the far end of the park. Double gated so the dogs can’t escape.
Bring your own poop bags, water bowls and water. There is a fair amount of parking, intact dogs allowed, no small dog area.

Greenwood Conservation Area

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Westney Road, north of Taunton Road. View map »
Park entrance is at the north end of Church Street on the east side. Easy way to find it is to look for a zillion cars parked all over the place by the entrance and on the road.

My first impression was: Wow! Am I dreaming? A huge chunk of land just for dogs. Many trails and trees and even some – very swampy and stinky – water. No plastic bags but there is a garbage bin.

The center if the park seems like a meteor crater where nothing grows, full of dust and dirt and since it cannot easily be categorized as a conservation area they made it into a dog park.

But…around the crater the trails are greener (emphasis on “er”) and we had a good time.

I will definitely not drive 90 kms again to come back here but I don’t regret the visit and can’t wait to hear any comments others have about anything I failed to notice or take a picture of.

Ajax dog park

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Westney Road and Clements Road West View map »
north west corner of Westney Rd and Clements Rd.
Off leash, Partially fenced in dog park in Ajax. Any more info and review would be much appreciated.

Prospect Park

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Main Street North and Knox Street View map »
Turn west onto Knox St., the parking lot is straight ahead. Knox St. is a tiny street and can be a bit hard to find: it’s the first street to the west, north of Mill Street by the church.

The park is behind the tennis courts. If you’ve been to the park in Georgetown you will notice that it is maintained by the same group/organization: the fences, the gates and the bulletin board all look the same and they are all in the same good condition as in Georgetown (I believe the Acton park was established first by the way).

There are no extras though to make the place interesting rather than simply being a plain fenced in area. A few shuberries, a flowerbed outside the gates, containers for plastic bags (instead of a big “bag of bags”), a few more benches, water bowls etc, would have made the park more appealing to me. And just because I was a stranger in town and in the park there was no need to ask me if my obviously shy golden retriever is OK around small and growling dogs especially after she was greeted by a suspiciously barking rottweiler and a German Shepherd.

There is enough parking for everyone but, as the parks’s website asks visitors, please don’t park where it says “no parking”.

Thumbs up for the park maintenance staff for the park itself but I felt more comfortable outside by the lake thanks to the people in the park. Open from 7am to 11pm.

Find off leash dog parks across Ontario – select a city from the left to get started.

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About this website

My name is Zoltan Wagner and I created this website to provide a comprehensive list of dog friendly parks in Ontario. I have spent a lot of time visiting dog parks across the province with my dogs Daisy and Olive.

My goal is to visit each park (!), take pictures and review them to give dog owners accurate and helpful information about the parks. As of yet, many parks aren’t reviewed so please be patient; I will get to them eventually. In the meantime you can submit a new park that’s not listed on this website yet.

Think outside the park

While I think dog parks are an excellent way to exercise and socialize your pup I also think that your dog should not be limited to the backyard/apartment and dog parks. I encourage you to train your dog properly using reward oriented methods and take your obedient pooch with you wherever you go. Hence, this website has listings of designated leash free areas and unofficial dog friendly parks as well.

Daisy is the leader of the four-legged dog park critic sniffsociation and also head of the sticks-to-play-fetch-with quality control committee.

Arguably, dogs don’t belong everywhere but sometimes their presence at non designated dog parks make people very ticked off. I personally don’t think that the world will come to an end if the ball game is interrupted by a goofy little playful dog who just wants to play like the kids but not everyone shares my view on this. (Of couse, I’m talking about friendly, obedient dogs, not agressive ones.)

If a kid with no dog walks into the dog park nobody gets mad…

Canada is one of the best places to take your dog to public places, retail stores, even to work. Home Depot recently banned dogs because a dog bit someone inside one of their stores. (I wonder if they pushed a shopping cart over the dog’s tail or something?) Go to Rona then. Elmpoyees at my local Rona welcome my dog with a big smile every time. Garden centres are also good places to take your dog. And of course pet stores. And your friend’s house. And the list goes on…

Add new parks

I will keep adding new parks on an ongoing basis. If you wish to help and know of a dog-friendly park please send it in using the add a new park form. Many thanks for your help.

Help dogs in need

Olive runs at a constant speed of five hundred million miles/hr so I can easity tell a size of a park by timing how many milliseconds it takes her to run around the perimeter:)

Not all dogs are lucky enough to have caring and loving owners. I will never understand why people abuse their dogs. How the once beloved puppy ends up spending his life on a chain, how people yank hard on the leash, yell at their dogs at the top of their lungs, beat them and not care about their health.

Consider adopting a dog like we did not too long ago. Olive is a black lab / collie mix and she’s been with us since December 2008. She’s from Louisiana and I have no idea how she ended up in the Hamilton shelter. She is the reason why I haven’t been adding new parks to the site lately – we’ve been busy training her and building her confidence. But she’s come around and I have plans to hit the road again to check out new parks this fall (2009).

Please take every opportunity to raise awareness and educate people about proper dog keeping/handling. Adopt pets rather than buying them from large pet stores. Purchasing dogs from pet stores only supports commercial dog breeders who keep dogs in horrid conditions and care only about money. I have another dog-related project called Donate To Dogs. It’s a non-profit website to raise awareness about the cruel conditions at puppy mills and to educate people about how the pet industry works. Find out how you can can help animals in just a few minutes. Remember, donations aren’t the only way to help dogs; there are many things you can do without spending a dime.

Advertising

Ads range from $20-$50/month. If you would like to place an ad on this site please contact me with details of the ad. Your ad can be placed virtually anywhere, you pick a place for it and I get back to you with the costs.

About me and the reviews

I try to be as objective as possible but I have included a few biased thoughts in some reviews. After all, it’s my website, let me say what I think:) I recognize the work and dedication of the upkeepers of the parks (mostly volunteers) and thank you all for caring and providing a place for dogs to safely run around. Please don’t take negative thoughs in reviews an attack against the park but not everything is always nice and dandy and reviews are only meaningful if along with the good stuff the flip side of the coin is discussed as well. If you wish to make a correction, update or comment please follow the link on the bottom of each review. For the record, I have a golden retreiver and a lab/collie mix. The golden is playful, sometimes shy, loves kids and is kind of afraid of cats. The lab mix is a hyperactive troublemaker with a loving heart and an endless appetite for belly rubs. I believe in training based on positive reinforcement and I want my dogs to listen to me because they accept me as their leader and not because they fear me. What bothers me about (dog) parks is not mud or tall grass but people who throw cigarette butts on the ground, leave shit on the ground and don’t treat their dogs right.