Barker Field — Attraction in Richmond

Harvey’s mom here ☺️ Wanted to express my appreciation for this park, but also get the record straight.

I’ve never seen nor interacted with the two white men that claim my dog is such an issue here. I’m one of very few black owners that attend this park. It’s a bit too convenient for my dog to be the only one mentioned by name in two reviews posted shortly after each other and overlapping in text.

Is my dog big and does he play rough? Yes. Do I remove him from a situation where a dog isn’t matching that level of play? Yes.

If my dog was attacking all these dogs and people, I would be in the red in vet bills and bites are pretty much always reported. He’s a big dog and the breed has a strong bite force, if he attacked there would be some serious damage. Wouldn’t your first instinct after having your dog “attacked” be to make sure the other dog is up to date on their shots?

This park is a wonderful community. The weekend crowd does seem to attract less attentive owners, but thats every dog park. It should be known that for the well-being of all attendees(human and canine), no unfixed dogs are allowed, no exceptions. If you ever see me or Harvey, I welcome you to come over and...

We have a five month old Dane puppy, we try our best to train him well and make sure he has good manners when meeting other dogs and people. We are always looking for new parks and places to take him to make sure he is properly socialized. After seeing so many positive reviews for Barker Field we decided to bring our boy here. It was absolutely horrible. They have two sections one for big dogs and one for small dogs. There were a few small dogs in the big dog field, which is fine if they can stand their ground, but these small pups weren’t just “standing their ground” they were immediately trying to pick a fight with our dog. And the owners just let it happen. One of the dogs didn’t even have a collar on. We were there for less than five minutes. As we were trying to leave a little dog kept trying to bother our dog and we had to grab OUR OWN dogs collar to keep him away and the owners of the other dog simply brushed off his bad behavior as if it wasn’t an issue because “it’s a dog park. He’s playing” we will NEVER be coming back to Barker Field and I hope that anyone who has a properly socialized dog finds somewhere else to go because your dog will be...

The dog park has plenty of space for the dogs to run and roam. There are usually a good number of dogs at the park ranging in all shapes and sizes. Peak times are heavier.

Unfortunately, there are some dogs that can't handle being independent around other dogs. They are aggressive and dangerous. More often than not, their owner just stands there and continues on with their conversation. On more than one occasion I have had to leave out of fear for my dog's safety. It's almost like being at a playground and the parent of the bully not doing anything to stop their child. "Oh well, he is an aggressive boy."

Don't get me wrong, their are some nice people there and there are some nice dogs, but too many people let their dogs do whatever they want with no reprimand.

Finally, there are some owners who use the park to groom and shave their dogs. You will often find a large pile of dog hair just lying there. This sucks for people who actually keep...