Location: 677 South Avenue, New Canaan, CT
Rules:
All dogs must be spayed or neutered. This is a rule at many dog parks and is recommended as a tactic to reduce the possibility of dog fights.- Dogs must display current rabies tag, Town license, and Spencer’s Run ID tags on their collars at all times when in the Dog Park.
- Owner/Handler maximum of 3 dogs per visit.
- Children five and under are prohibited from entering Spencer’s Run – no exceptions. This is for the protection of the children.
- Children under 15 years must be accompanied by an adult and should not run, chase dogs, or pet other people’s dogs unless permission is granted by the owner. Children are not allowed to bring toys into the park, such as sports equipment.
- When entering Spencer’s Run, remove your dog(s) leash only in the corralled area. Prong collars, choke collars and chains, or spike collars must be removed from dogs prior to entering the run.
- Do not allow others to enter without using their own pin codes.
- Dogs displaying aggressive behavior toward people or other dogs must be leashed and immediately removed from the park by owners/handlers.
- Owners/handlers must remain inside of the fenced area, with leash in hand, and within view of their dogs at all times.
- Owners/handlers must properly clean up after their dog(s) and take their dog’s waste when leaving Spencer’s Run. All waste must be disposed of only in the dumpster, which is located in the parking lot. It is important for all members to keep a clean safe park for our dogs to use.
- Owners/handlers must stop their dogs from digging and immediately fill any holes in order to help avoid injuries.
- No dog treats, rawhide chews, human food, alcohol or smoking are allowed within the fenced area. No glass containers are allowed.
Parking: There is plenty of parking available directly adjacent to the dog park.
Description: Waveny Park has 250 acres of parkland including Waveny House in the center which houses the office of the New Canaan Recreation Department. The park has approximately 3.5 miles of jogging/walking trails, soccer, baseball, and softball fields, picnic area, platform tennis courts, Waveny Park Swimming Facility, artificial turf Water Tower Field and lots of open area. The park also hosts Spencer’s Run Dog Park, a roughly two-acre fenced-in piece of land lined with trees, sitting areas, a dog watering section and a double-gated entrance. For your dog to enter the park, you must first fill out an application, pay a membership fee, whereby you’ll receive a special dog tag and combination for the pin-code entry to the park. You can go to their dedicated website to apply.
REVIEW BY DUSTY BLUE: This park reminds me a lot of the Rowayton Dog Park with the layout, although Spencer’s Run has more trees and the yard is better kept. Like Rowayton, there is a gravel-lined watering area which is nice. This place has a lot of rules to follow before you can get in! Even with all the rules (which seem to be in place to keep undesirable dogs out), I was harassed by a couple of dachschunds who thought they owned the place! They barked and nipped at every dog who came in the gate. Seems like it’s always the smaller dogs that are the troublemakers!