River Bend Dog Park and Why Mr. N Hates Dog Parks for Small Dogs

We took Mr. N to the River Bend Dog Park in Bend on our last day there to let him run around before the car ride home. He was not impressed.

The park had a separate area for small dogs but there was no one else there. To go in there, the dogs have to be under 25 pounds and under 15 inches. They had a model dog to demonstrate. It's hard to tell from the angle but Mr. N is almost as tall as the model. Would be weird banning him though.

There were a few dogs in the bigger area but I was nervous about letting him go in there especially as Mr. N was attacked by a Border Collie the day before.

The big dog area with access to the river

So he stayed in the small dog area and roamed around aimlessly for a few minutes then headed towards the gate to insist that he was bored and wanted to leave immediately. The park was quite nice for an urban dog park but there was nothing for him to do.

He has disliked every small dog-specific dog park we've gone to. I can't really blame him. They're usually much, much smaller. Like a half-acre for the small dogs vs ten acres for the bigger ones. Often all the amenities are in the big dog area (benches, water, equipment etc).

When it comes to off-leash areas, a designated space for small dogs to have a play and activity level that's in their proportion rather than with big dogs can be a great option for small dog owners.

I appreciate that they build small dog areas because it can be unsafe for them to mingle with the bigger dogs. But just because they are small does not mean that their play and activity level are correspondingly small. Mr. N can hike for five hours and is still not tired after that. He has beaten Labs in a race for the ball (well the Labs wanted the ball, he just wanted to run). He has run with a field of Collies. 

A half-acre is nothing to him. No purchase necessary. Giveaway is open to US residents, 18 and over. Void where prohibited. Giveaway will run from Monday, April 6th, 2015 through Sunday, April 12th, 2015 at 11:59pm PT. One (1) winner will be randomly selected by PromoSimple.com and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize; failure to do so will result in forfeiture of the prize. Participants must read and agree to Tenacious Little Terrier's and PromoSimple's Privacy Policy before entering and participating in this promotion. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, KONG, Outward Hound, Zuke's, i-Click, Dogwise Publishing and Howln Moon Press do not sponsor, administer, or endorse this promotion. Prize pack will be shipped separately by participating bloggers who donated prize items.