I'm of two minds about off leash parks. Obviously, you are free from the threat of being fined for owning a dog; yes I know that technicality it's for dogs off leash, I'll address that later, but come on, you own a dog it has to be off leash to be happy and healthy so it's all part and parcel. 
The other benefit, is that you find dogs here; sure that sounds simple but it's a big city and some days I can go to my local park, which is on leash and not see a dog. If I go to Cedarvale Park, my closest off leash, I know I'll find dogs. That's important. My dogs are social, all dogs are (or should be) social and they love to play with other dogs. Hayley likes to herd them as sheep and Terra likes to use them to practise her Brazilian ju jitsu.
But there are downsides as well. Principally, a lot of people seem to think an off leash area, particularly a fenced in area such as Cedarvale, means they can give up their responsibility for their undisciplined, unbalanced dogs. I've seen people let their dog into that area and stay on the other side of the fence, with their back turned to the enclosure .. So now you have this strange dog running around, and its owner is paying no attention to it. Due to this kind of behaviour, I've actually broken up fights between dogs that don't even belong to me.
There are people who don't have control of their dogs, they normally can't let them off the leash due to this lack of control. But because they see this fenced in area, they feel they can let their dog go, not having any control, and let it basically run wild. I once had a situation where a dog kept stealing my ball and I couldn't get it back, which meant my girls weren't getting any exercise. I kept moving the girls further and further away and this dog kept hunting them down and taking the ball. Finally I asked the owner (who had been ignoring the whole thing) if she could just keep her dog over on that side of the park. Her response: She didn't want to tell her dog what to do, that's why she was there and if I couldn't handle that perhaps I should leave .... That was a Steely Dan, a bit of pretzel logic.
Some off leash areas work. There are ones here like parts of High Park and Sherwood Park that are trails inside fences where you can walk your dog. You actually have less interaction between dogs, people tend to walk and not hang out and let the dogs play. Which is the antithesis of what I want for the girls; I can walk them anywhere, on a leash, I don't need them to be off leash for that. I can leash walk them on the nearby Beltline all the way to downtown. What I'm looking for is a place where there are victims, I mean dogs, for my border collies to play with.
I have other opinions about off leash areas in public parks. (Yeh I know, me having an opinion, what are the odds) My question is: Why do we even need separate areas to play with my dog in a park? A public park. Isn't that a kind of segregation? After all, I'm a public, and so are my dogs. I mean, can't we all just get along? As I mentioned, the park a block from my house is not an off leash park and it's not particularly large but I take the girls there, meet other dog owners and even with a tennis court, baseball diamond and play ground, we find a space where we can keep out of the way and let the dogs play
Of course, I understand the logic here, the very points I made earlier, about people having no control over their dogs, and not particularly caring. I've seen dogs jumping on kids, raiding picnic basics and shitting at will, with an owner who has no clue and little interest in stopping them
You'd think the off leash law would help curtail this bad behaviour. It would be nice if the bylaw officers could target these irresponsible dog owners and fine them to the point they never let their dogs off the leash so the rest of us could. I've found that if dogs are controlled (which you can do without a leash) and owners are responsible and respect others, we really can get along. Everyone can enjoy their public parks
Unfortunately, the enforcement of the off leash bylaw never works this way. I would wager that the majority of fines handed out aren't for dogs running crazily around without supervision, or dogs behaving badly; most of them are given to people whose dogs are within a few feet of them, perfectly under control. Your dog doesn't have to be ill mannered, or dangerous or out of control, it just have to be off leash. So our erstwhile defender of public safety just has to walk up to a group of good owners with perfectly behaved dogs and begin writing tickets. This doesn't make parks safer, it doesn't change bad behaviour, it just makes the city richer.
You can't legislate behaviour and that's the issue. There are just too many irresponsible dog owners who have no control over their dogs and that makes it difficult for everyone else. This winter I've been disgusted with the amount of dog shit I've seen in the area, there is no excuse for that. I can't blame people, really, for demanding dogs be kept behind a fence. The problem is, I don't want to be behind that fence with their owners.
So I'm basically happy there are more off leashes but it makes me feel it's going to be more and more difficult to run my dogs in any public area I want, no matter how behaved they may be and how responsible I am. I feel limited to enjoy these public spaces and honestly, I don't think it's fair. But I don't see it changing any day soon.
So enjoy your public parks and areas, don't let bad dog owners off the hook, but don't paint us all with the same brush. And to the dog owners: Smarten the fuck up. Your dog is a huge responsibility. When in public you and your dog need control, and you need manners. If you can't hand that, buy a treadmill for poochie or at the least, keep him on his leash.
Maybe I'll make my own signs for the off leash areas: Dog area. Leashes not required. Common sense, definitely
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