Dog Park at Walter Fuller Park

Or call (727) 893-7441 or email stpeteparksrec@stpete.org for more information.

• Dee
  May 30, 2022
  The Honest Review

  I am a regular at the small dog park and the large dog park is adjacent. On average, there are far more large dogs on that side of the park and there have been the brawls, but not too often from my perspective and I go at a very busy time. I go to the small dog park and there are on occasion inconsiderate owners that don't police their dog. So yes, even in the small dog park there have been fights, but again, not that often. Unneutered males were typically the aggressor. The other owners are very nice and conscientious. Sometimes, you are in a conversation or otherwise distracted and the other owners will mention when your dog needs to have a clean up. We all take the notification well as we want to the park clean. Honestly, I have yet to be at any dog park, including Northern Virginia, that doesn't have some idiot who left their dog's feces behind. I think if an owner doesn't care and is at a park on their own, they will leave the feces behind despite the fact that the park provides doggie bags and the garbage cans. They are unaware, imho, that it's not about the rain taking care of it, it's about the feces containing diseases and this is an effective mitigation to the spread of the diseases. Lastly, the size of the dog park. While the large dog area is enormous, the small dog area is small. Recently increased by about 25%, but it's still small.

• Kaylin
  May 9, 2022
  Great park, friendly people

  I just recently started going to this park and was wary because of the reviews. However, I have had the BEST time here. The other owners have been so nice, the dogs have not been aggressive with my pup at all. My overall experience has been great! It does get very busy here so I like to go early in the morning and right before sunset at night. They also have a great, easy walking path around the park.

• Tom
  Mar 14, 2022
  Be wary of negligent owners

  I am visiting Florida for the winter from Canada and have enjoyed bringing my miniature Australian to various dog parks around St Pete’s including this one. I agree with the other comments that too many owners are not watching their dogs whether it’s dog pooping, aggressive behaviour etc. Last week a larger dog attacked my pup and if I had not intervened would have killed her. The useless couple that owned this dog just stood there as I screamed at them to restrain their dog( F bombs fully intends). And then they watched astheir dog attacked a second time. I managed to get my dog out with some cuts on her ear and throat. Such a shame that just a few irresponsible owners can spoil it for the majority.
  I’m not sure we’ll ever return.

• Chris
  Feb 4, 2021
  Illiterate and disrespectful owners!

  All these negative reviews are absolutely correct! You are not getting a true picture by visiting once or twice.
  I live close and used to take my dogs all the time...not anymore!
  The “rules and behavior” are clearly posted. The owners are just ignorant! Seems they can’t read, or choose not too (I can only assume these illiterate owners are also the ones spreading COVID).
  Owners come to socialize, smoke weed, eat, or talk on phone...everything but watch their dog. It’s not a bar! Watch your dog! Aggressive dogs are not permitted! I have personally witnessed, on 2 separate occasions, a pit take down a German Shepard and another kIll a smaller breed. Even after those incidents, the owners were still screaming “my dogs not aggressive!!” Yah, ok!
  I always carried a small stun gun with me to protect myself and my dogs!
  It never used to be like this. There are too many other beautiful dog parks, with respectful owners, out there.

• J
  Jan 5, 2021
  Starting to be a Day Care area for kids

  Please do not come here with your kids under 10 please. This park used to be ok, until many ignorant parents think its ok to let their 2 year sit in dog feces and scream at other dogs. Place is starting to look like a daycare. Time and time again I see this, and refuse to enter the park, which sucks for my dogs.. Last month a 2 yr old approached my dog, I said to dad, no please stay away from my dog. Sure enough the toddler runs straight toward and gets trampled by 2 other large dogs who start fighting on top of him. Its a dog park. For Dogs. The playground is on the other side. Somebody needs to seriously start reporting this park to St Pete before some kid gets hurt.

• Kevin
  Dec 13, 2020
  Totally fine and peaceful

  Either the whiners on this page are fabricating stories, or they're way out of date. I went here (large dog part) on a Saturday at sunset and didn't have a single issue. All of the dogs are peaceful and getting alone, playing and running around amicably. All of the owners were friendly and responsible. So I really have no idea why everyone is saying that this is some kind of violent fighting ground. It's a great dog park and my dogs had a lot of fun.

• Shantelle
  Oct 8, 2020
  It's been a little Scary for my Little Pups and Me.

  I was excited to try out a dog park that I hadn't been to before. First visit was nice, uneventful, even kind of fun. Since that first good visit I've tried to visit on several occasions, unsuccessfully. The small dog area seems fine. It's a little smaller which I don't mind as it makes it easier to watch and interact with my little pups and occasionally a couple other small pups that might be also visiting. They larger dog area always seems pretty wild. It is a much larger off leash run and often, in our experience people on the large dog side don't pay enough attention to their pups. We've seen fights break out that have scared my little pups. It's been a problem the last 3 times we've tried to visit. Too bad. It's a pretty area with big shady trees and access to water for the pups to drink. I don't think we'll be back.

• Mila
  Mar 14, 2019
  Avoid

  It doesn't have to be the dogs that are dangerous in this park. I went there for years with our dog Sargent. Then this African American woman showed up ;with her husky. She shoved Sargent off the picnic table and $1,000.00 later he can now walk again. We will not go back there again. There are 4 vets we went to and all say it is from an injury. He seemed to be paralyzed but with alot of work and a wheelchair he is now walking again. My thoughts about this woman are as bad as any one who has had a dog injured there. You can chase a pitbull out but what can you do about her and her kind.

• Brenda
  More than a year ago
  Avoid This Place

  I have a very large dog that I started bringing when he was about 4 months old so I could socialize him and hopefully help him from being so timid. He is 1-1/2 years old now and has never showed any sign of aggression. He loves to play with other dogs, just running back and forth. I have met some very nice social people there as we were going quite often to begin with but gradually quit going and have not been there since he was probably about 10 months old. It never fails except for just a few times that another dog will start bullying him and the owner is not paying attention. I don't know if it is his size and quickness or what but my dog is playing and the other dog starts that way then will start biting or getting aggressive. I've also been met at the gate and not able to get in, and have had to call out in a couple of situations NO at a dog to stop trying to hurt my dog. The owners that have these dogs just ignore it. A nice regular there will always seem to help. I ran into this site looking for another place to take my dog to see if there is a nice place to take him. It will be worth the longer drive to go to a place where I don't have to worry about him getting hurt due to the aggressive dogs. I'm a nice social person, but I am able to talk and always keep my eye on my dog. The regulars there know of these dogs and will tell you of other situations with them but I guess it is OK there.

• Bob
  More than a year ago
  The County Needs to Start Fining People

  Started reading these reviews looking for a good good dog park while we're down on vacation from Norther Virginia, where I'll add, the dog parks are well managed and people will get fined hundreds of dollars if they behave in the way described in these reviews. Unbelievable. Owners who are obeying the rules need to start calling the police when others abuse the rules as described here. What are those folks thinking.

• Ed
  More than a year ago
  Mr.

  I have been going to Walter Fuller for over a year. I have watched the quality of dog owners and the park in general go downhill. Dog owners do not watch their pets and so either the dog attacks another dog or a human or else the owner does not see that it is time to clean up after it. There is a sign in front of the park that lists the rules. Most of the rules are ignored on a daily basis. There is an owner of 2 standard poodles, his dog bite people on a regular basis. He always denies not only that his dogs bite and are a menace, but that the event even happens at the time. Today I watched as some one came into the park with a bag of food. When a dog investigated what it thought was a treat, the dog was swept off the table by the man with the food. A dog park is not a picnic area. When the owner of the little dog verbally confronted the man with the food, the man went over the top of the table and shoved the other dog owner. This park 's population has gotten too crazy for me.

• Sandy
  More than a year ago
  Use good judgment

  I've been going to Walter Fuller Park for nearly three years now. There's a small dog area, a large dog area, and a time out area. I have only used the big dog area.

  Water is available -- my dogs won't drink from it, but it's there. There are a lot of trees, and with shade and sand, there are several areas that get muddy after rains. They do add mulch, but you can imagine it doesn't stay between the traffic and the weather. There is a large grassy area for the big dogs.

  I've had to leave because of owners that won't curb their dogs. I have also been met at the gate with several snarling dogs and owners not paying any attention. When that happens, I don't go in. I've also been there many times when there are kind, conscientious owners, and it's a great time for owner and dog. I don't blame the park for the owners.

  On those occasions I choose to avoid the dog park, the walk around the lake is lovely. There are people walking with and without dogs and the occasional cycler, but most people make room for one another. I enjoy watching the people and the birds, and my dogs have, too.

  I'm glad to have a place close to home where I can go with my dog. I wish there were more like it. Maybe I haven't been to enough good dog parks, but it seems the reviews here are a bit harsh and more of the humans than of the park itself. People do tend to muck up a good thing wherever you go.

• Jan
  More than a year ago
  poor upkeep

  I went there with my two small dogs and was disappointed! There was lots of poop from previous owners not picking up after their dogs! The water area was in bad need of upkeep! The fenced area was very small! We will not be back, there are lots of beautiful well kept dog parks in our area! Just not this one!
  

• Sue
  More than a year ago
  I was bit by a dog

  A few days ago I was bit by a dog while trying to keep my curious dog away from a golden retriever that was attacking a Rottweiler puppy. It was a tan bull mastiff that literally came up to the area where the dog fight was happening and bit me in the butt. I had to go to the ER and get shots antibiotics etc... And the owner of the bull mastiff left quickly out of the back gate and stared at me as I was screaming in pain and getting light headed while he walked away. If anyone that reads this was there and knows who the bull mastiffs dog owner is could you please call animal control and report who they are. 727-582-2600. I've made a report so they should be aware of the incident. I'm just trying to avoid getting rabies shots on top of everything else! Before this incident this was one of my favorite parks

• Mary
  More than a year ago
  bad humans

  We are also finding that there are a few "regulars" there who think they are the managers. A few days ago, a couple brought a puppy, who could have played in the small dog side, but one of these women had her boxer and another of her dogs over there, the second dog with a muzzle. So a friend of hers had a new puppy...who she didn't watch and it kept attacking the puppy that the couple had...then the boxer's human said to the human who had the attacker.."if they want to be so protective of their dog, they should not bring it here"... hello !... if YOU had not misobeyed the rules (no dogs over 20 pounds in the small dog side)... they could have had their puppy in a safe place...OH yes... when you finally put your boxer with the larger dogs, where he belonged... he tried to hump anything he could.. while YOU stood with your back to him, gossiping...one of the humans had to leave with her female because he would not leave her dog alone...YOU ladies do no have the right to break rules, nor do you have the right to boss people around...BAD humans... BAD humans...

• Maria
  More than a year ago
  Awful

  First off, the small dog area is smaller than my backyard. The poop was not picked up by previous users. By the community water bowl, the fence is not all the way to the ground, and my Chihuahua went underneath and popped up on the big dog side, quite a heart attack for mom & dad! I will not take my dog back here because it is not safe, and it is unkept.

• Laura
  More than a year ago
  Ups & Downs

  This park was a favorite of mine until one of two of my dogs was somewhat attacked by another dog. I yelled to the owner as I cowarded over my dog to protect him while the owner yelled "you have a Pitbull, who cares". There are some people that go there regularly and act like they own the park. That I don't care for. I get that I have a bullseye on my back bringing two Pitbulls to a public place but that's exactly why I do it. My dogs have Never gotten into fights with other dogs because I do make them sociable to other people and dogs. I also don't care for the dog owners who bring their small children there. They tend to get knocked down and the parents look confused as to why. Really, it comes down to how the owners act, not the dogs.

• Helen
  More than a year ago
  dog owners don't care

  I have gone to this park for a long time & haven't been in a while because my dog passed away. Now with the new pup, I was excited to go back.

  First of all, It's grown too much. There are too many dogs there ,& most of all, the people don't care to pay attention to what their dogs are doing. I walked in & five dogs were on top of my dog & wouldn't leave her alone. I yelled for the dog owners to please come get there dogs & I had one response of a lady yelling at me "don't come to the dog park then!"

  I also agree with the other review about the water. It trickles out of the fountain & it's clogged most of the time & then it over flows & gets muddy.

  Not going back

• Sherri
  More than a year ago
  Poor upkeep

  Lots of nice people and good dogs at this park but the facilities stink. The water fountain for people and dogs hasn't been cleaned in years and the water is very warm IF it happens to work when you try to use it. Patrons have supplied numerous clean bowls for the dogs to drink from but these are promptly thrown away by Mr. Debee who is the park supervisor. He states that they will fix the water soon. Gates need repair, grass needs to be mowed consistantly, bags replenished before the weekend.................. Poor quality upkeep!

• Julie Stumbaugh
  More than a year ago
  No bones about it!

  This is our new dog park! We have since returned to this park five times and I must say the dogs and owners there have always been very courteous and friendly. Everyone picks up after their pet and monitors them closely. Thanks for providing our boy with a fun place to play with his buds!

• Julie
  More than a year ago
  Colton loved it!

  Our Catahoula, named Colton, absolutely LOVED this dog park! There were about 5 other large breed dogs there that he had lots of fun playing with! We will be back!

• Mila
  More than a year ago
  Walter Fuller Dog Park

  Walter Fuller is not really a dog friendly environment. It has a fenced area for dogs to play but if you wish to walk around the newly created walkway that encompases the lake be prepared to dodge bikes, skateboards and other annoyances. The walking area should be policed to keep these dangerous situation from occuring. There is a lot of complaints about dogs barking at skateboards racing by or almost being hit by hoards of children trying to keep up with the parents that are all on bikes...will not go there again.

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