Sixth Avenue Dog Park

Te regulars are clique and can be aggressive and rude (the people and the dogs). Waste is not always picked up. A warning for small dog owners there is a large hawk that is one of the aggressive regulars beware.

Another first-​to-​review? Ok!
It took Maggie and I a while to find this park, because it’s ACROSS 6^th from Mansfield Park, on the west side of the road, not IN the park as other dog-​related sites kind of imply. As such, we parked quite far from the entrance, and the dog park itself has its own parking lot. It was 95 by the time we walked the distance back to the car. And we hadn’t stayed too long.
Maggie is super submissive and as soon as we arrived at the park and got through the big double gates, she was bum rushed by like 6 bully breeds. She rolled on her back and … hoped. The dogs were sweet to her though, and there was no growling — just a lot of «put the new dog in her place-​ing.» I went to the shady covered area and joined the other owners, while Maggie did her usual, «I’m going to crawl under the picnic tables and hide among your feet before I gain confidence and emerge to play.»
An older gentleman asked if she «had to do that» — a first for Maggie and I at any doggie park — and I said, «actually, yeah, she does!» She was scared, and it takes her a while to get used to pits, boxers (I don’t think they’re bullies), Rotts, and the like, and even Pomeranians, really. Every dog there was sweet and mellow, as far as I could tell, but Maggie just takes a while and takes comfort in human feetsies. The man complained that Maggie was going to shed on him, so I took Maggie all the way across the park and sat on the only other bench in the shade. Maggie played alone near me the rest of the time. It sucked. One thing about dog parks and shade is, there are flies.
About the park itself: it’s pretty nice, actually. Not too big but lots of grass, the usual kiddie pool, a hose, some drinking water buckets. I threw a ball for her a few times, but she pretty much lost interest and plopped down in the grass.
On our way out, after less than ½ hour, the humans — who obviously went to that park often and whose dogs were a pack — made genuinely nice conversation with us. They felt badly. I told them we’d see them again, which we will, now that we know where to park. The facility is near Maggie and my new home, and somewhat nicer than the other park we’ve been going to, just because there are actually dogs there. It’s not fancy, but it has space and grass and the usual amenities. We’ll just hope Mr. Grumble Pants isn’t there, and that some of the doggies will let Maggie play with them next time.