First, there are for more dog parks catalogued in the West and Southwest than there are in the Southeast. I’m not sure if this is indicative of a friendlier dog environment or that the web site has done a more thorough job of chronicling the ones in the West. An additional theory might be that there are more places in the Southeast where dog leashes are simply not necessary in the first place. Further adding to that perspective is that Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee are not even listed in the guide.

Overall, the results of my survey of this site were revealing. Some cities in the Southeast have a couple of off-leash dog parks each, like Charlotte, N.C. and Charleston, S.C. Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia had a strong showing with five parks in the Tidewater region. Florida seems to do better than the rest of the region with four of these dog parks in South Florida and six in the Tampa area.

As we move west across the country, the scene begins to change in Texas. Houston has three off-leash dog parks while Austin tops what we’ve seen before with ten! The best named parks award goes to the Fort Worth, Texas Fort Woof Dog Parks.

In the West Oregon puts in solid numbers with six parks in Corvallis, four in Eugene, and two in Salem where dogs roam freely. On a per capita basis, Portland must lead the nation in dog parks with an astounding fifteen. California shows itself to be dog-friendly with six in L.A. and thirteen in both Sacramento and San Diego.

The Southwest really sets the standard though. Tucson has eight dog parks while the Albuquerque metropolitan area boasts nine. Greater Phoenix reigns supreme in my survey with a whopping 23 off-leash dog parks.