St. Anthony Off-Leash Recreation Area

Great size park, plenty of both sun and shaded areas, pesky cockleburs in the grass in places

This place fits all of my dog park needs. It is close to home, there is plenty of free parking if we don’t walk there, and the dogs and people are nice.
It is not the most amazing dog park but it is good for what it is: an open area for my dog to run around and play with other dogs!

I used to go here a almost daily. If you’re looking for a place to go for less than an hour, this is the park for you (You can go for longer if you really want). The Minnehaha park is beautiful and massive in comparison but it’s a place I feel like you’re going to spend a good amount of time at. The NE park is big enough for the dogs to run and play, but compact enough to know where your dog is at all times. Also there aren’t any trees or brush to hide your pup.
Most dog owners are responsible and keep track of their dogs. However I’ve seen a few shitty owners too, and with them came dog fights. I usually leave when I sense a dog is looking for trouble. Just keep an eye out. It’s rare, but I was going on a daily basis for almost a year. so I saw a few things.
Overall solid park though!

It’s not the worst dog park that I’ve been to, but it’s nothing special.
It’s a large rectangle and covered in wood chips which make it annoying to walk in and hard for the dogs to run in. My normally extremely active dogs who love to chase and play fetch hardly run here because they can’t get traction.
There is no on-​site water so you have to bring you own and there isn’t a small dog area so the people with their 4lb toys get freaked out when 75lb+ dogs are wrestling.
Oh and you have to pay the Mpls dog park fee which is complete BS (not specific to this park). I haven’t seen and playgrounds with annual fees and jungle gyms costs a heck of a lot more than a fenced in pile of wood chips!
We’ll continue to go, just because it’s 2 minutes from our house. On weekends we’ll go to Battle Creek or one of the huge St. Paul parks (that are free)!

This park is a long rectangle completely covered in wood chips sandwiched between a noisy train yard and a pretty golf course. I like that my furry baby and I can walk the two miles around the golf course on a nice trail and stop at the dog park for bonus sniffs or a slurp of water from a bowl.
We would not go out of our way to come here as there tends to be a lot of big dogs that like to romp and play. My little one only likes to sniff the ground… We love the Shoreview dog park that actually feels like a park with grass and a path that everyone walks. This park feels like a giant play pen where big dogs jump on each other while the owners sit on a bench checking their phones.

There are burrs all over the park. I pulled a number of them off my dog, but he ended up with an infection from a few tiny pieces getting stuck in his skin. After spending the money to get a permit, I was really disappointed that I can’t bring my dog back to our closest dog park. My best experiences have been at the free St. Paul dog parks.

I think this park is nice enough, however, this is the only dog park I’ve been to yet because we didn’t get our dog until October. He’s so little (8lbs) and doesn’t have a lot of hair, so we can usually only stay for about 15 – 20 minutes until he gets cold. I am glad that I can put his shirt on and none of the other dogs really seem to care about that. I look forward to warmer weather because I feel like he will love to run around due to the long, narrowness of the park, it is perfect for running back and forth. The others are right though, the wood chips and huge heaping piles of them are problematic. His paws are about 1.5 inches across… so these big wood chips hinder him from really running around.
My dog is a little human anti-​social, so I feel really bad when he decides he doesn’t like someone and just starts barking at them. I even got the «eyes» from someone once because he was doing this. I’m not one of those owners that just lets that go; I try to remove him from the situation and divert his attention. I don’t know if it’s all dog park people or just this park, but I feel judged alot of the time. However, I have met a few really nice, cool people and dogs, and so for that I keep going. He — my dog — also doesn’t «play» very much; he likes to go up and sniff and greet other dogs and kind of be in the mix, but isn’t much of a roll and tumbler. Maybe we just haven’t found the right playmate yet. so I’m hopeful!
There have been a couple of instances where I was afraid for my little dude because of the other dogs temperament. Once was a huge german shepherd who would not leave him alone and the owner wasn’t even doing anything about it! My heart was racing I was honestly afraid that my dog was about to get seriously hurt. Another one was today, and it was a pitbull, but luckily the owner was on top of it. Don’t get me wrong, I love all types of dogs, but if your dog is over the top or you are an ass and can’t recognize when your dog is being a shit — please leave! I’m not going to be so afraid next time to tell you that you and your dog are being ridiculous.

The park is nice, and I’ve had some good experiences here, but probably just as many bad due to other people’s dog’s behavior problems. Last time I was there one larger dog ran up and bit at my pants, tearing the fabric, but luckily not my skin. The owner sat and laughed.
Another time I’ve seen a larger dog grab a smaller dog by the ruff and shake him around like a ragdoll. (There is not a fenced-​off area for small dogs.) It seems like there are some really great dog owners here, but also, there are some real losers who don’t care.
I have also seen a notice posted about a german shepherd that bit a woman badly enough to require a hospital visit. The owner of that dog, when confronted by her, denied that it was his dog.
So, I go there on occasion, but with a lot of caution, and check out who is in the park first, watch the dogs for a while before letting mine loose.
Also, I would NOT bring small children here.
Too bad a few bad apples have to spoil a really nice park.
I’m not sure I want to purchase another license next year.

This Off-​Leash Dog Park is fabulous! You do need a permit for your dog besides its city license to utilize this park!
There is a great little community of regulars that go here so to fit in you need to do the following:
1. Obtain a permit for your dog to play here.
2. Watch your dog and pick up after it!
3. Bring a jug of water to share with all the doggies.
4. Bring bags for yourself. Also, if you have extra plastic bags around your house please donate to the bin by each entrance.
5. If your dog is aggressive, don’t bring it to this park. I have seen the police come and then you just get yourself into trouble.
6. Do NOT leash your dog inside the park! There are two gates for a reason, for you to leash & unleash them in that area. When you leash your dog inside a dog park it creates a very dangerous hierarchy among the dogs. You’re asking for trouble by doing this.
The people here are great so just be mindful of others and you’ll have a ball!

This dog park is ok. I go there a lot because it is the closest one to my house. My dog doesn’t get as playful here as she has at other parks and I think it’s because it is mostly covered in woodchips, which hurt her paws. The location is great (near a golf course, not too much traffic, easy to find). Parking is free and easy (there is a dedicated lot). The people and dogs I have encountered here are easygoing and friendly. There is no water spigot, but there are bowls. Usually people bring water to share. There are bags provided as well as a garbage can. The park is long and narrow and there is not much grass. I am glad to have this park near my house, but on weekends I am going to drive further to a nicer park.