Dog parks can be a bit intimidating. Will my dog get in a fight? Will he steal some one's tennis ball or sniff someone who doesn't want to be sniffed? Will he get sick (this one is the biggest questions)?

With all the warnings in books and in the news about the health hazards of dog parks is can be stressful. The good news is although bad things can happen, if you are a generally competent owner and respectful of dog park etiquette there should be no problems.

The park we have been frequenting lately is Laurel Canyon Dog Park on Mulholland (map below). It's a great park, full of tennis balls. Dogs can also lap up some water at the fountain (see Finn in the picture below). For owners there are loads of trash cans with shovels to encourage picking up anything a dog might deposit that no one wants to step in.

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There are a few other parks in our area but we have yet to go to them. For now Laurel Canyon sets a very high standard. If all other dog parks are as clean, welcoming, and big as this one Bear is in for a lot of trips to dog parks. I'm still nervous about letting him go off leash in areas that are not fenced but hopefully we can fix that next weekend when we plan on going out in the mountains for real.

Laurel Canyon is general gets 4 of 5 bones on our unofficial scale (scale subject to change at any time)