We visited the Downtown Knoxville dog park (corner of Summit Hill and Central) several times in the past couple of weeks. The number of dogs at the park was low, which was probably good since the dog park is a little small. I also prefer a lower number of dogs to assist with socialization and not get Pupster II overwhelmed. Although, on one visit there were no dogs. Pupster II had a great time during two of the visits when she was able to play with other dogs. Yesterday there was a Jack Russell terrier, I believe, at the park. It ran circles around Pupster II. The lady with the JRT was probably on the large dog side because there was a bench under a tree lending to quite a bit of shade. No such option on the small dog side.

continued...

One of the other visitors suggested we not visit the Downtown dog park around 5pm Monday through Friday. Apparently it is very crowded then. She also mentioned they are fine-tuning the grass situation, trying to find the perfect grass that will grow in full sun with lots of dogs running all over it.

We live almost the same distance from the Downtown dog park as we do the PetSafe Village's PetSafe dog park. To some it may seem weird, but I prefer to drive Alcoa Hwy instead of Pellissippi Pkwy. I will be back to the PetSafe dog park, though. They have a larger area with the pond and two different covered pavilions.

The downtown dog park had 5-6 free parking spaces right in front of the park when we visited the first time. They have now installed parking meters. According to the installers, it appears the free spots were being abused by locals where they were parking their cars and leaving them there for hours if not days.

I have a couple of suggestions. It appeared to me that there is no garbage can at the entrance/exit to the large dog side at the corner. I recommend adding a garbage can at that entrance. Even though there is a garbage can at the main entrance, it really is a good idea to have one at both entrances. Then, fenced in areas for dogs should be checked on a regular basis for erosion under the fence or areas that dogs may have dug under the fence. Granted, we were a small dog in the large dog section, there was a section of the fence near the overpass that looked like a dog could easily get under the fence, maybe even a middle-sized or larger dog. In addition, the gate at the back of the large dog section had quite a gap where a dog could get through if it wanted, especially if a squirrel, rabbit, or some other animal is on the other side of the fence.

I have a request. PLEASE PICK UP YOUR DOG'S POOP! Is it surprising there are a lot more poop instances left behind on the large dog side than there is on the small dog size? Maybe there should be a poopie bag dispenser at the large dog corner entrance as a reminder. I took pictures of the poop but the webmaster was not interested:)

Thanks, Knoxville. We appreciate your Downtown Dog Park as a good addition to the other nice dog parks in Knox County.