Minnehaha Dog Park
We've recently stumbled upon our new favorite dog park for winter. The Minnehaha Off Leash Dog Area is a long narrow stretch of land banked by the Mississippi. While I'm unsure of how "fenced" in it actually is, there is a large cliff that keeps us down in the wooded area, allowing us to follow the trails.
We have yet to check it out when there isn't any snow on the ground, but spring is coming soon enough. The last time we were there much of the ice/snow had melted to form shallow pools, stained by mud and minerals in the ground.
This is the messy time of year, the dogs get a bath after these adventures in an effort to maybe keep our car and house clean. The dogs love it. There are several sticks to carry and thrash about and downed trees to jump over. We have yet to run into a "jerk" dog or owner (knock on wood), which is especially nice for Cedar and Milo.
Birch gets all the attention, being a tiny little pup. He even steals the show from Mr. Stealyourgirl, Remi! It's also a great place to train because of the distractions and attention. The little boy has been able to meet several new people and dogs while running around on new surfaces.
There are a lot of different experiences there for all of the mutts to experience. Holes in the trees, a sewer cover, and so many different types of dogs from monster wolf hounds to tiny jacket wearing chihuahuas. People love to greet them, throw sticks or balls for them.
We love dog parks like this. We frequent trails with our dogs, therefore, recall and checking in is a high priority. Places like this provide a lot of fun but allow us to sneak in training. It's a win-win!
Last time we went, friends of ours came out with their four dogs. We had eight dogs running around that we needed keep track of! It was a lot of fun, watching them run around exploring the new place. A couple of the pups were brave enough to go down by the river! Such a perfect winter day. 2016, you are starting off right!
