Chapin Park — Attraction in Wichita

As a frequenter of dog parks, I was pretty impressed with this one at first. There’s one large dog fenced area, one small dog fenced in area. Both have lots of room, especially the big dog side. There’s working water fountains but the water drains away unless you’re holding the button so if your dog doesn’t like running water, bring your own bowl. The fence is pretty tall, which I really like. There’s some benches and places to sit but no shade. The park would definitely benefit from trees or a gazebo. It’s overall very grassy with few places for mud, which is nice. The grass now (June 2020) is very tall and definitely needs mowed. The biggest down fall for me and my dogs is how many people completely disregard the sign on the fence that says all dogs must be neutered and spayed. Both of my dogs are fixed but the amount of aggressive, bullying, unfixed male dogs of all breeds and sizes that try to mount my 80 lb female dog is something I’ve never encountered at any of the other dog parks we’ve visited in various states. Obviously, the occasional male dog will try to mount her but it’s extremely bad at this dog park. Not only has it become unsafe for her at times but none of the male dogs owners ever care or take responsibility for their dogs. And of all the times we’ve visited this dog park, all the other dog owners are extremely rude or very unfriendly, something I’ve never encountered at any other dog park. This dog park is conveniently close to our house but the unfriendly dog owners and aggressive male dogs don’t make this park worth a...

Please be warned (I am not the only person who has experienced this.) If you have small children, pets, or honestly just general concern for yourself, please be careful going here. The central area where the dogs are or the front area by the children's park are fine. The back area & paths behind the small airfield are places to definitely avoid. I live near the park. I was taking my usual evening walk a few weeks ago & saw the below on the sidewalk. (Yes, that is a used needle of injectable drugs, & it is a biohazard.) I had to call the police to come pick it up & dispose of it. I let the officer know that there had been several strange occurrences on the back trails. People's belongings strung around & holes dug along the river path. He said there were a lot of homeless people living just beyond the treeline. To be careful, that walking here was just an invitation to get robbed or mugged. That the drug abuse got worse during the pandemic. Shame, because it is a beautiful area. I liked walking there...

I love taking my dogs here and letting them interact with other dogs and people. It is an excellent place to work on recall training with your dogs if you have a week day off because it's slow during weekdays and still has a very large area for them to run around. There is a section for small dogs and a section for big dogs. It is rules that your animal is vaccinated and has been spayed or neutered. Every now and then there are tougher dogs that have more aggressive tendencies but are pared with a poor owner who does not try and curb them, but if that happens there are some nice trails to walk along out side the fenced area. It is very wide open and large with few trees so a nice breeze is consistent. In the summer a pool is usually placed in the big dog section, just a tiny kiddie pool. Little shelters that have roofs so dogs can lay in shade on...