Bark Park

I used to attend this park every weekend. It was a life saver when my dog was young and I needed a close by area to exercise her. Since then I have found more interesting and bigger dog parks in the area to take her. The park is divided into three areas. Two areas that rotate for the large dogs and once small dog area. These areas are all quite small (smallest parks in Columbus) and very uninteresting for dogs and people. The entrance to the park can also get very muddy. Bags are provided and their is also water on site.

I have a 110 pound Dogo Argentino named Fiona who stands 27 inches at the shoulder. I went to the Bark Park in the early morning hours in hopes of getting my dog some alone time so she could get used to the park. It was not to be, a woman with two small dogs followed me up the long path to the gates. Her dogs were small (havanese), so I figured she would use the small dog area and my girl could get some almost-​alone time to acclimate to the big dog side.
I entered through the double gates and took my girl off the leash. The mud was deep and slippery as all-​get-​out, so we plodded to the other side of the area where it wasn’t as bad. The woman with two little dogs headed straight for the big dog gates, so I quickly re-​leashed my dog. I told the woman it was my dog’s first day as she dropped her little dogs over the fence and onto the bench in the big dog area. «I have to get something from my car,» she said as she turned and walked away (parking is not close, so it will be a few minutes). Great. The two little, now UNSUPERVISED, dogs began barking and charged over to us.
Big dog owners know that their dog reacts to their attitude. Get tense and your dog will get tense. So I’ve got two little dogs incoming and I’m concerned about how this event will go. My dog can feel my concern and begins to tense up. One dog stopped barking at ten feet and ran away, it’s the most common reaction to my dog. The other dog isn’t as smart and charges in, growling and barking. By my calculation, its life expectancy was now down to the last few seconds. Before my dog could kill this worthless moron (sorry, but havanese are among the most worthless type of dog available, blech!), I kicked it away (can’t say I was gentle, but I was trying to save the stupid things life). It charged right back at me and my dog simply won’t permit such a thing to occur. Chomp!
A Dogo Argentino has powerful jaws, so much so that bite-​sleeve training is not recommended as they can still crush the arm inside. Toss my dog a rack of ribs and she doesn’t leave anything behind, she crunches through bone like potato chips. This little havanese has made a terrible mistake.
So my dog grabs the little dog and gives it a quick shake and fling instead of the spine-​breaker she uses on raccoons and possum (lucky for it). The other owner returns just in time for it to go Unilocaling and running back to her BUT DOESN’T SEEM TO CARE.
«That’s why there’s a little dog section,» I shout.
«Why don’t you let your dog off the leash? Let’s see what happens,» she says as she sits down to use her phone.
«Because my dog will kill both of your dogs,» I reply with an angry smile.
Luckily, she catches the hint and moves to the little dog section. Fiona and I headed back to the car a few minutes later.
The facility is just a small open field with very little of interest. It hadn’t rained for a day but a large muddy patch still surrounded the entrance to the big dog side and the mud was quite slippery and deep. I didn’t notice any obvious piles of poop, so it had that going for it. The doggie watering fountain was not operating the day I went (I assume the water was shut off or frozen because it had been so cold).
I give the facility 3 stars, but my experience, above, brings it down to a 2. Fiona and I will find somewhere else to go play.

An ok dog park. An average amount of room to roam. Rather dirty and unkept though. Also, there’s never anyone there. The main attraction to a dog park is dog socialization.

I really liked the Bark Park, even though it’s a bit out of my way. Ive gone to a few parks since I moved here in March. This is my favorite dog park so far.
They have 2 seperate playing areas, one a bit larger for running around. There’s also a beach section which was closed when I came here in March, so Im hoping to be back soon since it’s warmed up.
I have a pitbull/​black lab mix who LOVEs parks. Its truely no exageration. My usually very obedient dog always makes me look like a fool when we get to a park. In order to get her energy out I throw the Chuck-​it around for about 30 mins before letting her near another dog; she tends to jump and Id rather her be tired out and more focused on listening to me before she goes where the people are. It’s really the people I’m worried about at dog parks, no my dog or how she acts around them. Thanks to sterotypes the once most popular dog in America is now feared and globalized as a monster; Columbus being even more fearful. Just because my dog is a pit people usually have a hard time at dog parks when I show up, so when I rate a park this is what I remember most clearly: how was my dog viewed? I dont want to go back to a place where no one wants to play with her… that just isnt fair.
So to start, this dog park had quite a few dogs when we pulled up, and quite a few less once we walked into the play area. 6 dogs left as soon as we got there, and another 3 by the time we walked into the dog area. 0 were left when Jersey was unleashed. Besides me being pissed, I let it go since I didnt want Jersey getting tense, I played with her Chuck-​it and got her energy out. 2 little dogs showed up with their owners. Jersey had no interest in playing with them since she was overly involved with her toy and those dogs were overly involved with guarding the play area from people trying to come in.
About 30 mins past before the 6 dogs who left as I arrived came back from their walk. They checked to see if I as still there, and they instead went into the other play area. Grrr!!! I stayed at that park for an hour and a half just waiting for someone to show up who wasnt affraid of my dog. No one came. There were 10 dogs in the other play area, all of whom looked a bit click-​ish, like they didnt want to associate with outsiders. So I left. And they all went into the larger area once I got my dog back in my car. They even watched as i left. I was horrified, hopeing that my thoughts were just that… thoughts, and just made up. But I was right, no one wanted to play with Jersey. She still had fun though. I’ll be back soon though since it’s getting hotter.

Enjoyable park with a good group of regulars on Saturday mornings around 9 am, earlier if it’s gonna be muddy. Worth the short trip from Gahanna/​Easton area for your dog to be able to play and interact with other dogs.

This dog park is a great place to take your furry friends. there is a little dog area and a big dog area. The big dog area can get muddy due to very little grass in the majority of the field. There is water available in each area and in the area in between all the pens. Great place to let your pet run around, but wear some old clothes!

I LOVE this dog park! I just wish it wasn’t so far away!
There’s a great area for the little dogs and so far there has been lots of little dogs there every time we’ve gone. I love that there is a water source in each section of the park so the dogs never go thirsty. The small dog area is pretty well maintained, I haven’t come across any little packages left behind by other dogs, so the owners do well with cleaning up after their pets. The one bad thing about the small dog area is that there is no shade! There are some trees at the very far end of the fenced in area, but they don’t give much shade. And there is one small tree inside the small dog area, but you can’t stand in it’s shade because it is so small (only good to shade the dogs).
I do have one thing about this park that really made me really angry, but it’s not really the park, it was the people. I took my dog there once this spring and there wasn’t any other small dogs there, which wasn’t a problem cause my dog still loves to run even by herself. The problem was that ALL the big dogs were using the small dog area because the big dog area was a little muddy. So we tried to use the big dog area instead, but there was so much dog poop over there is was absolutely disgusting! The big dog owners obviously do not pick up after their dogs and that is some huge poop! My dog couldn’t run in the areas where it wasn’t muddy because it was covered in poop so we had to leave and drive 20 minutes to another dog park. When we came back a couple days later, the big dogs had almost ruined the small dog area, making it extremely muddy and left huge dog poop everywhere.
Big dogs need to stay in their area and leave the small area to the little dogs.
Also, a pet peeve of mine is people who bring their young kids to the dog park. A dog park is no where to bring your young kids! Especially when they harass the dogs. My dog is scared of kids now because some kid picked her up and threw her on the ground because some parent wasn’t watching their kid. If you want to exercise your dog and include your kids, take them on a walk, not to the dog park.

LOVE this dog park!
So far it has been the best park we’ve been to since moving here in November.
There were a lot of people there which is always great to have other dogs to run around with ours. They had two different sections, one for the larger dogs and one for the smaller. Always a great option so the small dogs aren’t trampled.
The only downside is that the entrance is so far away from the parking area. So much anticipation for our dog to just get up to the gate!

This was my 6-​mo. old puppy’s first time at a dog park. She’s a yellow lab, a big tomboy but a little timid. Most of the owners kept a careful eye on the pups, but one time my little one got cornered by a big pup. The good news is that there is a bench up near one fence, so scardy cats like mine can hide out until they feel better about the situation.
We went after a rainy weekend, so it was a little sloshy. The water area didn’t seem clean, so I kept her away from it for the most part. It was also VERY stinky near the trash. Again, I think it might have just been because of the rain.
The facilities otherwise were fine — lots of big/​little space for those sized doggies to play together. I thought it was charming that the outside of the fence is lined with memorial gold plated bones remembering departed furry friends.
I’ll go back, but remember not to wear good clothes — you will get muddy from all the friendly paws and noses. Oh and no one told me that you don’t want to be the lady with the treats in your pockets… you might have more friends than you bargained for by the end.

Very, very fun. Keep your little/​tiny dogs in the designated little/​tiny dog section and keep your big/​husky dogs in the designated big/​husky dog section, and all will be just dandy. There are three or four corrals for dogs to run around free in and even a section by the reservoir that has a corral for dogs to run around in and get wet. It was a little chilly the day we went here, in February, but it was fun.

If you have a dog this is the place to be! Seriously, the dogs will try to run up the sidewalk to the park passing the other dogs leaving and with excitement will try to mark EVERY spot on the way. 3 fenced in area’s with fresh drinking water. Lot’s of dog toys. A separate location for the little dogs so they don’t get eaten by the big ones but if your dog is brave he is aloud in with the big boys. I’ve noticed on the weekends owners do not have control over their fierce dogs. Don’t let that detour you all together. I recommend going during the week ONLY. The dogs love to play and run!