Things to Do > Activities & Facilities > Dogs

So you want to build a Dog Run!

Dog Runs provide safe, well-maintained space where dogs can enjoy off-leash activity. Runs typically offer one or more large, fenced-in areas, a mix of sun and shade, fresh drinking water, benches, and lots of social interaction for dogs and their owners. There are dozens of dog runs in parks across New York City, created in partnership between the Parks Department and community volunteers. This guide offers advice on how to proceed if you are interested in adding a dog run to a park in your neighborhood.

New York City has more than 2300 parks covering nearly 30,000 acres. But in a city as crowded as ours, there are many equally compelling and often competing demands on these important spaces. Undisturbed natural areas, athletic fields, playgrounds, open lawns, gardens, and yes dog runs, in proper proportion all have a place in our parks. Underlying infrastructure, access, construction constraints, and design considerations also play a role in how we use park land.

To discuss the feasibility of building a run in your community, start by contacting the manger of your local park. To reach this person, you can contact the Parks Department headquarters in your borough at the number below, or you can also call 311 and leave a request to be contacted regarding a dog run in your local park.

Ongoing care of your neighborhood Dog Run

Dog Runs are constructed where there is a significant user commitment to helping us build and maintain the run long term. Because not everyone enjoys being among unleashed dogs, we generally do not send park staff inside runs, relying instead on users to keep the interior clean. Parks provides technical services (e.g., plumbing, repairs, pruning), and as we often do with playgrounds and ball fields, we ask dog run users to provide financial support for the run’s upkeep – typically through our Adopt-a-Park program or through a park’s conservancy or “Friends of” group. Runs that are not maintained or fall into disuse may be closed to allow for other uses.

Design Considerations

Many New York City parks are designated as scenic landmarks; all are designed and restored by landscape architects, and changes to any park must pass an extensive planning and review process. In adding any facility to a park, we must consider not only its intended utility, but also its impact on the surrounding landscape and on overall park use.

Functional considerations when designing a dog run include the items discussed below. Cost will also be a factor: fencing, plumbing, surface materials, and other elements will quickly add up. Recently built dog runs have cost well in excess of $100,000. This money typically comes from private donations and City Council allocations.

Size and Layout

The size of a new facility will be dictated by the existing landscape and current use of the surrounding area. Existing dog runs range in size from a few thousand to twenty thousand square feet. When possible, the size of the run should be adequate to meet average local demand. Whenever possible, the run should be divided into a main play area and a smaller area meant for small or frail dogs. Ideally, the two areas will have separate entry gates.

Double Gated Entry

An adventurous unleashed dog can easily slip through an open gate. We have also noticed that dogs on leash, as they arrive or depart, have a greater tendency to get into fights with unleashed dogs. A successful solution to both these problems is the double gated entry, where arriving and departing dogs first enter an enclosed foyer to be leashed or unleashed, and only the inner or outer gate is open at one time to prevent escapes.

Fencing

The fence around a dog run is meant to keep dogs from escaping, first and foremost for their own safety. A four foot fence usually accomplishes this while not obstructing the landscape sight lines. The fence style and fabric is both a design and a cost consideration, but the fabric must be tight enough to stop small dogs and thrown balls from slipping through. Our landscape architects are familiar with many well tested products as well as the approved typical elements used in historic parks.

Surface Material

A few, less used runs have grass, but in most areas the intensity of year round use will make it impossible to maintain a lawn, leaving compacted dirt to puddle or turn to dust, and some other surface material must be installed. Drainage, cleanliness, and long term maintenance are crucial.

We have had success with a number of surface materials and are always on the lookout for something better. Wood chips, pea gravel, stone screenings, and even asphalt are currently in use in popular City dog runs. Each has its fans and critics. Here are some of the pros and cons:

• Wood chips are inexpensive, readily available, easy to replenish as a hearty volunteer project. When fresh they have a pleasant odor, and they provide a soft bed for puppy rough housing. Concerns include sharp, splintery edges that some dogs don’t like to walk on. Over time they will absorb urine, smell bad, and need to be replaced on a regular basis.
• Stone Screenings, properly installed over larger broken stone, will drain well, are flushed clean by rain, and have resilience comparable to soil. Dogs enjoy playing on this surface, yet tend not to dig in it – a maintenance advantage. The material is fairly expensive to install, and when very dry becomes quite dusty, which some users find objectionable.
• Pea gravel - picture smooth, jelly bean shaped stones. Less successful than stone screenings, these stones get stuck between paw pads and sometimes get kicked up at bystanders. They move about, exposing bare soil which then becomes compacted, restricting drainage and leading to puddles. But they do not have the same dust problem as stone screenings.
• While perhaps harder on dogs at play, asphalt paving is easily cleaned, drains completely if properly installed, and has none of the dust or paw problems of the other materials. It will become noticeably hotter in summer.

Water for Drinking and Splashing

Active dogs need plenty of fresh drinking water for their health and safety, especially during warm weather. Access to a water line is an important consideration in choosing a location for a run, as running a new line any significant distance will greatly increase the cost of construction. A variety of fountains suitable for dogs (and people) are manufactured, and the choice will be part of the design approval process, as will our plumbers’ ability to provide long term maintenance.

Many dogs love to play in water, so you may want to include a pool or similar feature. An adjacent storm sewer and adequate drainage is a must, and it must be possible to regularly refresh the water as it will quickly foul.

The Building Code requires a back flow preventor to ensure that contaminated water is never siphoned back into the City water supply. This will be housed in a large, above ground box between the water main and the water feature.

Remember – dogs may not drink directly from park drinking fountains meant for humans, but a bowl may be filled and placed on the ground for your dog.

Benches

While owners must remain attentive to their dogs while in the run, they will welcome the ability to sit down to rest or socialize with other dog owners. The run design should include an adequate number of benches – suitably chosen to match the surrounding park design palette. These will usually be installed on concrete piers. For some reason, dogs love to dig underneath benches, so install a pad of cobblestones or other paving material under each bench.

“Adopting” a bench – wherein a donor plaque is attached to the bench in exchange for a large donation – is a popular way to support the construction and maintenance of a run. Discuss this possibility with the park manager, who will know the current cost of adopting a bench and how the funds would be handled.

Lighting

Parks are closed at 1:00 a.m. or earlier if signs are posted, but during winter months or on a nice summer evening you may wish to take your dog to the run after dark. Is lighting available at the run and along the paths leading to it? The lighting in City parks is part of the Department of Transportation’s streetlight network, and installing new lights is a complicated and costly part of any design, so look to see whether lighting is already present when selecting a site.

For safety, runs that will be used at night should not be too far from a park entrance. However, when the plan comes up for approval before your community board, neighbors may raise concerns about barking noise late at night and early in the morning. Parks will consider this when developing and approving a dog run location.

Shade and Perimeter Plantings

As at any playground, run users will want protection from hot summer sun. Existing mature trees inside a run will likely survive if dogs’ digging is controlled, but new trees will need to be protected by fencing or benches. Consider placing them instead just outside the perimeter fence.

Perimeter plantings provide an important barrier between dogs inside the run and joggers and others passing by outside, and will generally enhance the appearance of this park facility within the larger landscape. But many people without dogs will enjoy stopping by the run to watch the canines cavort, so consider creating spectator spots just outside the fence. These might be pads of cobblestone or other appropriate material. Similar paving may be desirable to allow trashcans to be neatly placed just outside the fence for easier emptying by park staff.

Run Amenities

To foster community spirit and better run maintenance, consider installing a bulletin board for notices of concern to run users, such as announcing volunteer days to clean and maintain the run. Dispensers for baggies will help owners remember to clean up after their dogs. A bin of some sort can hold spare baggies and cleanup tools such as rakes, shovels and litter grabbers. Remember that, especially in our landmarked parks, visual clutter is objectionable. Work closely with your park manager to ensure these important elements are chosen and installed properly.

As with any change or improvement to a City park, your Community Board and City Council Member will likely be a part of the process approving and funding a dog run in your neighborhood park. Your park’s manager can assist you in understanding this process, and answer any other question you may have about New York City Parks.