Gabriel Dog Park

I don’t know if I will be returning to this park. I took my dogs to this park on Friday (1÷16÷14) and both seemed to have a good time. But something about the crowd at the particular time did not sit well with me. I can only speak about the people who were there at this time. I know not everyone is like this. I feel like most of people there at this time were not keeping watch of their dogs. There were people off in the corners smoking, backs turned, and heads buried in books. But there were a few people who were very vigilant. The inattention of most of the people there wasn’t such an issue until there was an accident. A young girl was run into by two dogs. I was horrified as I watched her get launched into the air. She fell on the ground screaming in pain. One of the dogs was hers and the other belonged to a man who did not seemed too concerned. As anyone should do, her mother quickly picked her up to her feet and then put her dog back on the leash. But the dog that was chasing him was excited and wanted to play some more (can’t blame him though, that’s what dogs do). But the dog’s owner was not helping! It took the mother yelling at him to subdue his dog. This angered me. In all the dog parks I have been to, owners are always quick to intervene. This man seemed more offended by the fact that she called him out rather than being concerned about the girl’s well-​being. Even as they were leaving he had the nerve to approach her. I couldn’t hear all of the conversation but it sounded more like he was offended by her calling him out. To add to my disappointment, no one else seemed concerned by what happened and no one rushed to see if the young girl was ok or asked! This is not okay!!! I can’t speak for everyone that goes here. I hope this was a rare instance. I did meet some lovely people. But this experience really hit me. If the mother is reading this, I hope your lovely daughter is ok!

My favorite dog park in Portland area. They opened the summer park today. It is a very large fenced park with plenty of water bowls and space for my larger dog to really run around.

Good dog park. Central to much of SW, fenced and enclosed, and sandy so it stays relatively dry. Dogs get a lot of exercise with the slope and it’s big enough to really launch a chuck-​it ball. They had a tent and dog bowls with water, trash cans nearby and sometimes doggy bags. Beautiful scenery in the hills and trees!

Great dog park for the winter… it’s sand so our dog doesn’t get muddy!

This park is gorgeous, at least in the summer. That’s when the grassy part opens up. It has some flaws, however. Little dogs must mix with big dogs, and because it’s a great park for ball-​chasing, little dogs stand a good chance of getting run over.
It’s also one of those parks where you occasionally run into aggressive or unruly dogs. When Portland gets some breaks in the weather, the vibe of all those unexercised big dogs can be amped up and a bit out of control. More than once I’ve seen a friendly game of chase turn into a pack chasing some frightened dog with no owner intervention.
Other days, however, the mood is calm and friendly, and the dogs all get along. On those days, we stay for awhile.

Gabriel is one mixed area. There is no small dog section. Its been awhile since I have been so will let other locals comment more.

This park is absolutely the best, maybe not by Portland standards but if the park was in Boston this place would be the rock star of dog parks. This large completely fenced in park has chairs and a vast shade tree for the dog walkers to relax while the dogs run around like crazy. There is plenty of parking, easy to find and perfect at least for our dogs. Run ‘em around and wear them out.