Community Corner

Patch Pets: Three Rivers Off-Leash Dog Parks in Maple Grove

Each week, Maple Grove Patch will be providing readers with a peek at pets in Maple Grove in a feature called Patch Pets. The content of Patch Pets will vary each week, such as information from a Maple Grove vet, pet profiles, pet friendly places, an occa

Editor’s Note: This week, Three Rivers Park District Public Affairs Coordinator Beth Nash answers questions and provides information about the off-leash dog park at and in Maple Grove.

Maple Grove Patch: When did the and off-leash dog parks open?

Beth Nash: The [Three Rivers] Park District’s first dog off-leash area was at Elm Creek Park Reserve in 1983, and it was moved to its current location 10 years later in 1993. The Fish Lake Regional Park off-leash area opened in 2010. We also have five other off-leash areas that opened between 1990 and 2007 (Bryant Lake Regional Park, Carver Park Reserve, Cleary Lake Regional Park, Crow-Hassan Park Reserve, Lake Sarah Regional Park).

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Maple Grove Patch: What has been the response from Three Rivers patrons?

Nash: Our dog off-leash areas are very popular, and there are many owners who bring their dogs nearly every day, year-round. As communities have become more developed, there are fewer and fewer vacant lots and other informal places for off-leash exercise and training. Dog owners who live in apartments, condos and townhomes, where they can’t have fenced yards, are especially happy to have legal places to enjoy off-leash exercise and training with their dogs. In addition to exercise, these facilities provide opportunities for social contact: owners often gather with friends there, and dogs benefit from interacting with other dogs.

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Maple Grove Patch: What are some of the highlights of each off-leash area in Maple Grove?

Nash: The Fish Lake off-leash area is just under seven acres, and it includes a separately fenced area for small or frail dogs. When the restroom building is completed, it will be the only one of our dog off-leash areas to have flush toilets and running water. The Elm Creek off-leash area is 29 acres, with open and wooded areas. It has a wetland pond which is separately fenced and gated so owners can choose whether to let their dogs have access to the pond. There is a non-flush toilet (vault latrine).

Maple Grove Patch: What are some "need to know" items of information for newcomers to the Three Rivers off-leash dog parks?

Nash: A daily or annual pass is required ($5 for a daily, $35 for an annual). The pass covers all members of the household – both human and canine. Daily passes can be purchased at on-site pay boxes, and annual passes are available by phone at 763-559-9000, on-line at http://www.threeriversparks.org/activities/passes/dog-off-leash-pass.aspx or in person at many of our visitor centers and nature centers.

          The rules are posted on-site and can also be found at http://www.threeriversparks.org/activities/dog-off-leash.aspx. Dogs must always be under their owners’ control, and we allow a maximum of two dogs per human handler. We don’t allow aggressive behavior by dogs or people. Owners must clean up after their dogs. Proof of rabies vaccination is needed (either a tag on the dog’s collar or a copy of the vaccination certificate); a puppy that is too young for a rabies shot must not visit the off-leash areas. Untrained dogs don’t belong in any off-leash area or dog park. If a dog will not come when called, it needs more training before it is ready for off-leash play.

Maple Grove Patch: What have been some of the challenges of the Three Rivers off-leash dog parks in Maple Grove?

Nash: Most of the time, the off-leash areas operate pretty smoothly, and we don’t get a lot of reports of major problems. Dog owners are good about alerting us to concerns such as a gap in the fence or a missing sign. Significant problems are very infrequent at all of our off-leash areas, and we have not had any reports of serious injuries to people. Occasionally we hear of injuries to dogs; fortunately, only a few of these have been serious.

    Compliance with the pass requirement was not always very good in the past, but this has improved, and now most people are buying an annual or daily pass. Recently, we’ve noticed that an increasing number of owners are not cleaning up after their dogs, and we are looking at options for improving compliance.

     We occasionally get reports of aggressive behavior or lack of owner control. Typically these situations can be resolved by communicating with owners and making sure they understand our rules and expectations.

Maple Grove Patch: Are there any other off-leash dog parks in the Three Rivers Park District system in the works?

Nash: We don’t have any additional off-leash areas in the works.


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