I am for it! But will there be a fenced in/double-gated area for the off-leash pets to roam?

The beagle in the picture is too cute!

P.S. I think off leash fun from 5 a.m. - 10: a.m. sounds like a great idea but I have a feeling it may be a harder sell for the 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. time slot when more people are outside, walking their dogs in the evening or kids outside playing.

I'm curious to see how this progresses.

Thanks for the update!

I think this is a good idea, but ONLY if it is a fenced in area. I bike through Patterson Park during those hours to get to and from work and I have been chased by unleashed dogs on several occasions now, but I refuse to have to not use the public park because people can't control their own pets.

How about 6 to 7a and 6 to7p. If those times don't work for you, use a leash.

Having off leash hours is in lieu of a fenced in area. As a dog owner and 15 year resident of the city, I am still amazed at the reluctance of people to work with dog owners. I bought my house because it was close to the park so I could enjoy it with my dog. Right now I use a leash all the time, and pick up after my dog. I don't think asking for an area of the park - a couple of hours a day is too much to ask (especially in the off hours), I use the park too & I'm tired of being unfairly treated.

I'll be completely disgusted if they choose those hours to be off-leash. Those are the only hours we're walking our dog during the week, which means we'll be left to fight off the unleashed dogs every time we take her to Patterson Park.

I was running through Wyman Park once and got bit in the back by an unleashed German Shepard. The bite pierced my skin and tore a hole in my shirt. The dog's owner said, "Oh, I'm sorry, she's just having a bad day." I had another one lunge at me and bark aggressively while the owner was hanging out in her car talking on her cell phone.

I'm all for letting dogs run and play, but when you have owners who can't control them, especially big dogs, what do you do? Every time I pass a dog now (dogs are almost always unleashed in Wyman Park) I'm a little paranoid. I guess it's up to the responsible dog owners to school the clueless ones. I should be able to run without being threatened by unleashed dogs.

A two hour window like 7-9 am and another from like 5-7 pm would be great. I would take a 1 hr timeframe twice a day. I also feel its unfair for me to not be able to use the park without a leash at least 2 hrs a day.

I love the idea and the hours for Riverside Park!

"But first they're planning community meetings in each of those neighborhoods to see how people react to the idea of having off-leash dogs in the park at all"

The idea...? I see LOTS OF DOGS off the leash every day in Patterson Park. Very well behaved dogs. Does Wanda even live in this city? What do you mean, the idea? Why don't we start with REALITY.

Chasing around dog owners in the park results in nothing except outrage at the people who approved it. The law is stupid.

The people who don't need leashes are the people with well-trained dogs. You should be praising those people, not punishing them.

As a dog owner living next to Riverside park, I hope we can reach an agreement with Parks and Rec soon so that dog owners can exercise their pets without breaking the law, and those who want to avoid dogs can feel comfortable using the park as well. Off leash hours seems like the most practical means of accomplishing this - best laid plans to create fenced-in dog parks in the city have been years in the making without any tangible result. The lower playing fields in Riverside park are an ideal place for off-leash dogs (when there is no scheduled softball / kickball etc). This area is naturally separated from running / biking paths and playgrounds, and unwanted canine encounters like those described in previous postings can be kept to a minimum. Councilman William Cole deserves tremendous credit from both sides for pursuing a solution to this issue. We would not be this far without his efforts.

Lee Watkins, I see lots of off-leash dogs in Patterson Park everyday too. But they're not all well-behaved.

You say "The people who don't need leashes are the people with well-trained dogs", but the people with well-trained dogs aren't the only ones with off-leash dogs.

The off leash hours are way too long in the mornings and evenings. I'm a dog owner who prefers leashed dogs and these hours are basically the times I would need to use parks as well due to work! If the city wants to provide a dog behavioral specialist, aka dog bouncer, on hand during these times for safety then great. Don't see that happening!

drury--you are not paranoid. With your experiences, I think you have good reason to be cautious around unleashed dogs!

I continue to root for fenced dog parks large enough to let them run, though the city seems entirely unwilling to work with groups to make that happen. My dogs don't get to be off-leash without a fence for a number of reasons, and they get a bit frenzied when they see other dogs running around loose. (It's not fair and I'm the meanest Mom ever!) They love to run when they have a large enough space - as anyone who saw Molly in Patterson Park Sat. morning when she somehow wormed her way out of her harness and took off can testify - but the Canton dog park, for all its merits, doesn't provide enough running room to get them fired up and zooming.

I wonder why is Stony Run Park not being considered. There are always lots of unleashed dogs there and it would be easy to designate one side or the other of the stream as the dog area and the other side as the runner/biker area - in fact that would work all day every day. The stream is just about as good as a fence for a boundary.

I think that the field just down from the Pagoda in Patterson park from 5am to 9am and then after 8pm would be awesome!

It will be dog owners responsibility to keep off-leashed dogs in those boundaries and then if other people don't want to be near off-leash dogs than they can avoid that area. It works quite well in Prospect park NYC. That is our dog's idea of heaven. Seriously. It is awesome for all!

I would love to have a place I can let my dogs run off leash. A non-fenced area is not what I want, however. Patterson Park is bordered on all sides by busy streets. What is the big deal with a couple thousand dollars for a fence? My taxes pay for soccer fields, softball fields, swimming pools, etc., that I don't use. Why can't we just get some fenced dog parks that are larger than a postage stamp?

If you don't want to get bit, then don't be made out of meat.

I'm all for having off leash hours as I have a well behaved & trained dog. I think it would be a good idea that if you want your dog to be off-leash that you attend some sort of class. Not all dog owners are irresponsible, and those of us that have trained our dogs and actually pick up after our dogs would love to let them socialize and play off leash. A fenced in area really defeats the purpose. Then that area will just become a mudpit like most dog-parks.

If it works in a city as large as NYC, or many other much larger cities than Baltimore, than it can work here. The proposal is not to utilize the entire park for off-leash space, but rather certain areas of the park (i.e. the Pagoda area in Patterson Park) would be designated as off-leash during specified hours and all the runners / bikers / sports players would still have their spaces. It's not like off-leash dogs are going to be running rampant through every inch of the parks. Everyone needs to learn to compromise in this situation - dog-owners need to respect the rights of non-dog owners and likewise those people need to respect my rights and my dog's rights.

As a side note, ugh it all the Dining @ Large commenters lurking over to this blog despite bashing it over on D@L in previous months.

Off leash hours have been successful in many cities, many of whom also have many and LARGE run/ park areas for dogs. If people can not control their dogs, or they cause issues, I think the city should still reserve the right to ban certain dogs (admittedly, this would be tough) or fine them (remember, people can still call and complain). This would solve the issue some people have with off leash dogs (rather, irresponsible owners who don't/won't control their dogs). Remember, a dog's poor behavior is a result of the owner- not the dog.

While Baltimore City might not have a central and large park like Central Park, NYC, we do have one of the largest and oldest urban park systems in the United States (http://parksandpeople.org/publications/special_reports/Discover_Baltimore's_Parks.pdf)- surely some REAL space can be carved out for the other members of the family. Maybe even make one park entirely a dog park and ban off leash from all other remaining parks.

The park system should be shared by all family members and all residents of the city. Much of the actual tax base in the city is comprised of dog owners- many of whom are aware of their dog's behaviors and are responsible owners, just looking for some time and space to run their dogs responsibly.