The Las Cruces Dog Park is just south of the Meerscheidt Recreation Center at 430 Hermosa St.
The park has two sections, with three "double gates." Enter the first gate, unleash your dog so it does think it has to protect you and so it is free to run at will. Enter the second gate into the leash-free area: within a few feet there is a Waste Station" that has a dispenser for high-quality dog waste bags.
New dogs may have trouble in their first few visits getting comfortable or establishing any friends. It's good on one's first few visits to walk around the park; your dog will likely follow you and meet other dogs in a more relaxed and comfortable way. Some dogs, on the other hand, will bolt from the gate and go meet every dog in the park in just a minute or two. High energy excitement is generally not good at a dog park, so that situation requires close monitoring.
If you are in the park for more than 20 minutes, the odds are very high that your dog(s) will poop. It is against the law, for public health reasons, to leave your dog's waste on the ground, so it's good to have a bag (or two) on hand.
For about a year now, volunteers and the Coalition have donated toys left in the park for the dogs. Feel free to let your dogs play with the toys, but please leave them behind when you leave.
Many people "walk laps" for their own health and to ensure their dogs actually get some exercise. fyi, if one stays close to the fence around the general, larger section of the park, 6 1/2 laps is about one mile.
Dogs poop very quickly, generally, and unless they walk in front of you, it's easy to miss the act of them pooping. One can stop frequently to look back to check, or, one can make a point of picking up some poop, regardless of who it "belongs" to.
Many people come in and sit down to socialize with other "Dog Parkers." This is fine, but it's hard to correct a misbehaving dog from a chair, and it's impossible to pick up the poop from a chair. Now, we have many Dog Parkers who suffer a variety of disabilities; most of them will ask and express great gratitude to someone picking up for them. But it's hard to imagine how people who come in and sit for an hour or more can be responsibly watching and taking care of their dog(s).
Please watch for and pick up after your dog. Please stop your dog from harassing, barking at, nipping at, humping, or otherwise bothering other dogs, and get up and go to your dog to exercise discipline with him or her.
On the other hand, dogs sometimes like to "wrestle," and sometimes they get a bit noisy. It needs to be watched, because accidents happen, or new dogs join in but with different ideas of what is okay. Noisy play doesn't mean dogs are getting hurt; and one dog on top of another doesn't necessarily mean dominance. Look to see if the dogs alternate positions and/or if the one looking like a victim returns to the supposed aggressor: dogs don't generally do that. If the "under" dog is constantly trying to get away, and it's tail is between its legs, it does not want to play and it has a right to be left alone. Unlike many people, dogs try to avoid abusive relationships; if they return to play with another dog, they want to play with that dog.
Given that this is a public dog park, one can never be sure, until at or even inside the park, what dogs one might encounter at the dog park. Many dogs are regulars with friends that are also regulars at the park. If you are a regular, please be sympathetic and helpful to welcome and protect "new" dogs. If you are new, please be alert but somewhat forgiving of "regular" dogs that might be defensive or anxious about "the new kid."
And everyone, try to be friendly and communicate with each other when problems appear or develop. Being attentive and calm go a long way to solving problems at the park. Screaming and yelling seldom helps. Ignoring people who are expressing concerns is also rude and unhelpful, even if the people are wrong.
The northeast section of the park is sectioned off as a "Special Needs Area." There are now two separate gates allowing access to the Special Needs Area from outside the park. The Special Needs area is small, and owners or dog handlers define what "Special Needs" means.
It's imperative that the gate between the two sections of the park be closed whether or not anyone is using that section. People need to be sure that regardless of which gate they use to get into the section, it will be secure and separate from the the rest of the park. That requires that the gate be latched closed.
Cooperation is essential, too, so that other people with special needs dogs can use that section. Maybe you can use it for 20 minutes and let someone else use it. If you see someone using it when you arrive, ask if your dog(s) can use it with them or how long it will be before that user will be leaving. I guess if people can't manage voluntarily to work out schedules, we could make a rule limiting time in the special needs section.
Legal park hours are 5:00 AM to 11:00 PM daily (it's never locked, tho'). The park has one solar-powered light for park users after sunfall. Recently, the city started using security lights on the Meerscheidt Recreation Center, which helps light up the main sections of the park, especially in the center around the water fountain all the way across to the south side of the park. If ball fields are used at night, the dog park gets pretty good ambient (or unintended) light. If you go late on summer days when it finally cools, or just after work on shorter, wintry days, it's wise to have a flashlight.
Please do your part: watch your dog(s); go to them if corrections are needed; find and pick up their poop; be friendly.
