Lane Road Park - off leash group

This is a great place to meet and greet. I go when I visit Columbus. My dogs both recall very well, and are well behaved off leash - if you can't trust your dog to recall stick to a fenced park. The best part is the number of dogs that come is reliably large! Most of the people are regulars, and it is a great little part of the community. Respect the other users of the park, and everything is great!

Pros: Lots of space, can count on a good group to play

Cons: No fence, so you have to control dogs

Thompson Park (formerly Lane Rd Park) is a large city park with several ball diamonds and soccer fields. Dogs are permitted to be off leash before 8am and after 8pm (5 pm during daylight savings time).
Each evening dogs and their owners gather near the shelter houses to visit. During the summer,there are often 20 or 30 dogs romping together. While the dogs play, their owners chat. Usually, a good time is had by all. On the rare occasions when someone shows up with an aggressive dog, trouble is soon nipped in the bud since the owners watch out for each others dogs.

Sometimes there is discord between dog owners and ball players. When a game is going on, the ball players seem to think the dogs should vacate the park. They don't seem to understand that the regulars are there 365 days a year, rain or shine. They count on their playtime in the park! The owners try to keep the dogs away from the game but every so often a canine will run right into the middle of a game.

I have been taking my dog Aspen to the Lane Road Dog Party for 10 years. I feel that she is so well adjusted because of the regular vigorous exercise that she gets at the park. In her youth I had a few bad moments because she wasn't always willing to come when called. Since the park is surrounded by city streets and has no fence,I had visions of her chasing a bunny or a squirrel into traffic. Luckily, the park is large enough that one can stick to the center and stay away from the cars. If the weather has been wet the athletic fields can get somewhat soggy so we then use the paved bike trail that runs around the outside of the park. On those walks I keep Aspen leashed.

Pros: Lots of dogs in all different sizes

Cons: No fence to separate park from city streets.