I went to the Millie Bush Dog Park yesterday (does EVERYTHING in Houston have to be named after a Bush?) in West houston near West Oaks Mall. It's about time we got one in this town. It was really nice. 15 acres. secure entrance/exit. 2 swimming ponds. free poop pick-up bags (though i saw tons of poop on the ground), benches, walking track, shower, water fountain. seperate 1.5 acres for dogs under 20lbs. My dog was a little scared since there were so many bigger dogs but i think he liked being unleashed. only saw one dogfight which the owner broke up. too many little kids there though might be a problem in the future (noticed several rottweilers running around). could use a shaded area come summertime but good job Harris County on addressing a need. Hopefully the City of Houston follows suit with one in Memorial or Herman Park. http://www.houstondogpark.org
Thanks for posting that! I'll have to check the place out. Unfortunately we may have to leave our dog at home, she's not particularly friendly to other dogs.
supposedly it's different when they are on neutral territory and have space/ability to run away. maybe bring her there when it's not too crowded. there were probably 40-50 dogs there yesterday afternoon.
I have visited the dog park at White Rock Lake in Dallas several times and loved the experience. It is really fun to see all the dogs running free and having a good time. All the dogs got along and there weren't that many kids everytime I went. I wish the DP in Houston was closer as I live in the Clear Lake area it would probably take me up to an hour and a half to get to Millie Bush Park. I will have to try and stop by there some time. Hopefully more dog parks will be built in around the Houston area over time.
Great post. It's the best (free) one in Texas. There has been a grassroots effort here in Houston for the past 4 years to get a DP, and it has finally paid off. There is a designated area for smaller dogs (under 20 pounds).
4 or 5. i cant remember with the time change cuz i'm too lazy to change my clocks. my dog is about 24llbs so he might be too big for the small dog area.
They say if you leave your dogs on leash they tend to be more aggressive. I have two large breed dogs (German shepherd/red wolf and a mutt probably Shiba Inu/Shepherd cross) that are 80 lbs apiece. They are generally friendly but my Shiba Inu cross tends to be the park bouncer. If a rowdy dog comes to the gate barking and carrying on, she'll let loose on the dog and put it on the ground and growl at it to tell it that it has been rude for making such a racket coming in the park. Other than that, I have never seen a fight at the park I take my girls to. My advice is to keep your dog quiet until it can run around the grounds freely. Now that it's warming up, I bring my own water so I can let my girls drink too. At the parks you go to, are there alot of tennis balls and toys just hanging around?
Bellair has a movement to create a dog park...but I think they have some hurdles to cross first. Some home owners are asking why should they spend their tax money on this park if they don't own a dog. Of course the dog owners ask, why should I spend my tax money on a school if I don't have any kids.
Typical cat owner discrimination going on here. I hope all you dog owners have all your little fun now before I have this place shut down after I sue someone's ass.
With the taxes their school district assesses, I don't know why you'd want to live in Bellaire if you weren't planning on using their schools. Even so, with schools, at least you can keep nonresidents out. If they were to build a dogpark, they'd be servicing all of Houston because they're so central. We used to go to an informal dog park that is near Gessner and Westheimer. It is an open field between two office buildings. Nice place with some nice dog owners, but it isn't fenced, so people had to be vigilant to keep the dogs from running into the street. And, there was one woman there who would tell people to please keep their dogs away from her dog who wasn't friendly. Why would she bring an ornery dog to a dogpark?
