Sunny’s Dog Park

Awful in every way possible! My 30 pound terrier mix is a little too large for the small dog area but visually looks small for the big dog area. I get it… he’s little looking, but 30 lbs is hardly a purse dog. We started in the big dog area and met a really nice lady with her super nice golden retriever, Lucy. Lucy and Kibble got along great and really hit it off. Then comes this wild black Lab tackling my dog… not playfully… literally kicking him non-​stop like he’s a soccer ball, not allowing him to even come up for air. NO owner to be found and I’m holding this massive black Lab back by his collar and still nobody to grab their dog. I’m pissed. Finally I get the black Lab to scram.
If any owner is trained, they should know to instruct their dog to not always be on top and dominate. Play wrestling involves both dogs switching from top to bottom. (I know. I giggled too when trained to do this).
This place is NOT great… at all… for owners or dogs. It’s all SAND and the owners for the most part are inattentive and treat this as their daily wannabe high school quad hang out. What a bunch of losers. Never again! I call this the terrible dog and owner park.

Did you know that I’ve been taking my little monsters here to play, shit and roam for decades and had never known what this park was called? Shame on me!
This is by and far the biggest and best dog park in the East Bay. IT’S HUGE! Within comfortable driving distance from home through quaint northern Alameda, the park boasts two sides, depending on the size of your four-​legged cuddle monster. Inside, the place is decked out generously with chairs and picnic tables galore. In fact, I had a picnic birthday party for one of my dogs a few years ago inside the large park, and family and friends were able to bring their furry companions for a day-​long frolic at the park. It was great!
If you’re looking for a place to take your little (or giant) ones for a couple hours while you sit back and relax while they have their day, think about coming here. Then afterwards, enjoy a lovely stroll along the beach at Crown Memorial State Beach right behind the dog park. There’s no better way to end your fun filled day.

Alameda recently added another entrance/​exit to the big dog park which is GREAT! My Cali girl loves this park and can’t wait to get in, so having an extra entrance/​exit really helps. The ground is sand/​dirt which makes cleaning off my dog and picking up poop pretty easy. There’s normally a good amount of dogs that frequent the park, so Cali has a chance to socialize and play with them. Otherwise it’s just the tennis balls and me which she doesn’t mind either. There are normally tennis balls scattered around the park, so you don’t have to bring your own. Cali loves to run along the fence and torment the ground squirrels or chase after the birds that are brave enough to gather in the park. Nice dogs and nice people at this park with a good amount of parking spaces in the lot.

A nice place to play with your dog.
Watch out for Foxtails in the center area of the park.
Be cautious of Cliques. It turns into gossip fests. A couple of Yenta’s are in the daily mix.
Also an abundance of den Mothers.
Watch where you step, not everyone picks up after their dog.
I also recommend walking around the park before you throw a ball for your pooch. There are many holes in the sand/​dirt and a dog in a full run can break a leg. And so can his human. If you know where those holes are, you can pick a smoother spot.
Plenty of water available
Parking is easy but the tree’s send off a light spray of sap.
Easy to wash off.
Have fun, and enjoy Alameda. It is a great place.
Remember drive 25.

I just hit this dog park for the first time today. The Small Dog Park shares the fence
and whenever I drive by, I giggle at all the chairs lined up. I think this might be a front for a patio chair retirement community! But today I had my doggies with me and time to spare so we thought we’d take a lap. I pulled into the lot and parked right next to the «big dog» gate and my two goldens and I headed on in.
It wasn’t too busy. There were about 2 dozen dogs total — just enough to play with my pups but not so many that the place was crazy. The park is safely fenced in and not huge, but sufficiently large enough for my dogs to run like wild idiots and come out with gobs of slobber hanging from their mouths. I walked the perimeter while dogs came and went. I get the feeling that this community really respects and takes care of this park which is great! I didn’t see a pile of poop anywhere (and quickly cleaned up the one my dog cranked out) and the grounds are mostly a sand/​dirt mixture with some grass, trees and shrubs thrown in. Nice because the only other dog park I attend ends up with insane mud holes after a sprinkling of rain. There were a few left over tennis balls and large balls — just enough for entertainment, but didn’t at all fee like a dumping ground. There’s a water source by the gate and poop bags & bins scattered around the park. The other people who were there were friendly, but happy to keep to themselves it seems (which works for me!). And it was hilarious watching the little dogs tear up the adjoining park and my dogs had a blast in this section.
5^th star could be earned by creating beach access (ok, I KNOW it’s too far from the beach to do that and A-​town is too mean to let pooches enjoy the sand). Next time we’re over there and have a few minutes, we’ll be hitting it again.