Dog parks in Barrie

 Sunnidale off leash park

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.

This park is fine for those who like trails but I am not very mobile right now and it's too long of a walk for me to get there. Plus I need a park where I can sit and SEE my dogs roam around. Barrie is a large enough city....it needs another park with benches and a large open area where the dogs can run. Please!

It is a good park lots of dogs to play and nature to see. It is not wheel chair accessable but I have yet to see a person in a wheelchair with a dog and it is a nature trail I would not want to see a paved nature trail kind of redundant, I am sorry wheelchair or disabled people this place is just not for you. And i would rather it be where it is then a wheelchair accessable fenced 1 acre cube downtown in the city. As for aggressive dogs I have not seen one there I have seen very playful dogs so unless the dogs are literally trying to kill each other do not assume they are aggressive as dogs play differenly together then they do with people it just looks aggressive. The only thing I notice is the people with old small dogs always say please stay away from him he is old and not to friendly.

I have had my dog here in the past and had an encounter with an aggressive dog, and the owner even said he can be aggressive??? Also, just recently, a friend of mine was talking to a man who did not have a dog, she looked down to answer a text message, and when she looked up, this man had put a leash on her dog and was walking away with him. She caught up to him and got her dog back. For these reason I will never take my dog there again, please be careful if you are going to go to the Sunnidale dog park!

This is a great park for young dogs and owners. As a senior with a little dog, it is almost impossible to walk part of the trail. There are no medical stations around should I fall and get hurt on some of the hills. We need a flat area for the dogs to run around on that they would be in sight of their owners. Although most of us like to walk with our dogs, some like to come and just sit while their dog roams around. That make is uncomfortable for those of us who keep close and in some control of what is happening with our dogs. Perhaps big dogs should stay at the Sunnidale park and the smaller ones (many belong to seniors) be provided a place with easier walking conditions.

I love the idea of the park,but it is very difficult to get to, especially in the winter. I have health issues and couldn't imagine someone elderly trying to use the park climbing the hills(CanadianTire). I am amazed that Barrie will not consider a water dog park, as Toronto has 10 parks 3 are beach area parks. The Canadian Geese, ducks and Seagulls leave their mess from Heritage Park to Tolendale, and no one complains about their mess. Most dog owners scoop, haven't seen a duck do that lately.

I love the dog park and so do my 3 large dogs. We go at least a couple times a week, and love seeing our regulars there. Sure it isn't the hugest park, but it is plenty big enough, even for the largest dogs. The main loop of the trail is well maintained, clear or branches and even woodchipped in some areas. There are even a couple trails that extend of the main one that if you get bored of walking the same scenerey, you can venture out a little bit. I do agree that it would not be accessible for anyone with a lower extremity disability because of the terrain, but other than that I have have great experiences there and very few times have I encountered an aggressive dog, and it is usually the large breed intact males with owners who don't know how to handle them. But over all, I LOVE THIS PARK... and when we say "Wanna go to the Park" our dogs know just what we mean, and they love it too. (I also agree that we need a water park for our pupppies, maybe the city can work on this for the next dog park ??).

I love this dog park. Nice and big, and it has walking trails as opposed to just a bare plot of land that is fenced in. Not very accessible unfortunately. You need to walk down a large hill on either side to get in, which is not wheelchair friendly, but also in the winter is very difficult to get down without sliding. Can be very crowded, especially on weekends and days with nice weather. A couple times I have been and dogs have been aggressive towards my dog, while the owners just stood by and watched. But that is just stupid owners. Don\\\'t take your dog to a dog park if they don\\\'t play well with others, or you don\\\'t want other dogs to play with them. Barrie definitely needs another dog park though.

I beg to differ with the comments that are already posted. This is one of the larger parks that you will find. In fact, because of it's natural setting, with trails, it's better than the conventional dog park that you normally find, a square patch of land. Maybe the previous people commenting don't want to walk their dogs, they just want to take them in, stand there and let their dogs run around. I have never seen a breach in the fencing, and the distance from the fencing is quite far, if your worried about your dog getting out and running into the 400, then your dog isn't trained properly and shouldn't be offleashed anywhere!

At a mere 7 acres this park is very small. Plus, it is quite hilly and some folks cannot (or will not) climb the hills so dogs and owners tend to congregate in the even smaller flat area by the gate.

Those who do climb the hills and use the exceedingly short trails may find, as I did, that the fence alongside Hwy. 400 is not secure. My dog could have easily walked out onto one of this province's busiest highways. It's dangerous.

I will never go back here.

I used to walk my dog at Sunnidale off leash park almost every day when he was a puppy. As my dog got bigger and better trained to walk off leash, I have stopped going to this park for many reasons:

1. Some people believe that ALL dogs have the RIGHT to be off leash in this area. This is not the case. If your dog can not interact properly with other dogs, you (or your dog) do not deserve to be in this park.

2. Too many new (unexperienced) dog owners - these people freak out whenever their dog is approached by another dog. Dogs play with their mouths and their paws - they have no other option. People need to understand this.

3. Let the dogs figure out their pecking order - dogs will do this on their own, it is instinct. It is when the people get involved that problems arrise.

4. Because of the size of the park and the number of dogs that can be in it at any given time, the dogs become territorial, which causes aggression.

I do not find walks at the dog park to be relaxing anymore. Instead, I find them to be stressful and unpleasant - mostly because of rude, inconsiderate, unexperienced dog owners - NOT THE DOGS!

I enjoy being at the Sunnidale off leash park. I can not beleive that we do not have a off leash water park for dogs to swim. This is a water city, why aren\'t we planning something on the lake for dogs? Last year I was on crutches for a few months and my dog who had been going to the off leash park almost every day, I could not get in and out with the hills, and winter, very scary trying to get in and out safely.

I feel the dog park at Sunnidale is just awful for many reasons,1 is for safety reasons,2 is the small size of park ,3 there are many dogs that are brought in that are aggressive and that should not be allowed,4 its a very remote area where it is not safe for someone to be alone with their dog.We desperately need another and better off leash dog park,espically in the south end of Barrie.

This park is only about 7 acres, quite small. It does not have divided areas for big and small dogs. It is very hilly and not good for dogs or owners with walking disabilities. When I was there the fencing beside Hwy. 400 was in need of repair and dogs could easily get through and onto the highway. You have to walk your dog on-leash through the main park in order to reach the dog park, but watch out, many don't, so you may meet off-leash dogs on the way.

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