The Barrington Dog Park – The Good and The Dirty

And I mean DIRTY! 

Located:

333 S Barrington Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
Neighborhood: Brentwood

The Barrington Dog Park is the closest dog park to my apartment and it is the one I frequent the most.  They have a MASSIVE big dog area with wood chips and grass and lots of benches and it is really nice.  However, the small dog area is maybe a quarter of the big dog area and has literally just dirt with a small patch of grass.  Theo gets really disgustingly dirty there.  I know, it is a dog park and that’s supposed to happen.  But this is bad!  I like it because it is extremely close to my home, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to come there if it wasn’t.

Theo just went this morning, and no dogs were in the small area, and I had to give him a quick bath before work. Grr, it is normally not that bad but apparently it must have rained last night a little because he was filthy. Not fun!

The park isn't normally this empty.  The weather just wasn't great.

The Good:

• Lots of FREE parking in a big lot.  In LA, that’s rare.
• Small and big dog area separated so Theo doesn’t become a big dog’s snack.
• Theo loves it and there are tons of adorable dogs, big and small, that come here a lot.
• People are great about picking up after their dogs and there are shovels and pooper scoopers available.
• Water spout and water dish available so you don’t have to bring one from home.

The Bad:

• It has no lights so it closes at dusk.  For those who work full time and need a dog park for after work hours, this is not the place to go. It is also pretty dead when I have taken Theo before work 8AM – 930AM.  It has a good crowd on weekends and I am hoping once it is light out at 6PM weekdays again, more people will go.  
• No grass or wood chips in small dog area. Dogs get filthy fast. 
• Some owners bring their large dogs to the small dog side.  I’m fine with this as long as the big dog is mellow.  My biggest dog park peeve is when owners bring hyper, bigger dogs over. The small dog area is for dogs 25-30 pounds or less.  My 6 pound dog doesn’t need to be trampled on!

TIPS:

• Come on dry days.  If it has rained even two days before, opt out of visiting.
• I’ve seen a few fights break out in the big dog area and a Pomeranian died there in December.  : ( So sad!  Don’t take small dogs to the big dog side.  There are some clueless people who still bring aggressive dogs to parks in order to socialize them treating your dog as their guinea pig.  Use caution!

Don’t let this scare you. We hit this dog park up at least twice a week and Theo loves it!  He has lots of friends there and since he is an only child pup, this gives him his socialization fix, which is definitely needed.

Have fun!