Take Paws The official pet travel blog of GoPetFriendly.com

Off Leash at Dallas Road with Everybody and Their Dog

We love our Canadian friends.  We love off-leash dog parks.  So this post about a Victoria, BC off-leash dog park is a perfect mashup for our blog.  And who better to write about this little slice of heaven than park hound Jim McBean, a resident of Victoria and rising pawblogger.  Because GoPetFriendly traveled the Trans Canada Highway on both of its 2009 road trips, I was interested to learn that the Dallas Road park is “Mile 0″ of this vast stretch of road.

Guest post by Jim McBean of DoggyBytes

I moved back to Victoria in April of last year after a brief eight month stay in a frigid western Canadian city that shall remain nameless. Ok …  just a hint, the name of the city starts with the letters c-a-l and ends with the letters g-a- r- y. Brrrr!! Glad to be back in beeyootiful British Columbia.

The summer of 2009 was specTACULAR one here in Victoria, and nearly every day Sweety (my 14 ½ year old Border Collie) and I would head down to Dallas Road along which runs Victoria’s most popular all year round off-leash dog park. The park runs from Clover Point to downtown Victoria, flanked by the Strait of Georgia and the Olympic Mountains to the south and Beacon Hill Park to the north.

This place is truly a magical one, bustling with all kinds of activity. There are joggers, kite surfers, sun worshipers, boaters, cruise ships, people picnicking on their lunch breaks, sightseeing tourists and, of course, everybody and their dog … literally!

Everyday Sweety and I would drive down to Dallas Road, her favourite place in the whole world.  As soon as we get close enough for her to smell the salt water, she starts going nuts. Sometimes we head down to the beach and other times we just stick to the path.  Sweety’s probably met 1500 dogs over the summer months; no joke – that’s how popular this off-leash park is.

Dog or not, if you’re planning a trip to Victoria checking out Dallas Road is a must! Just be prepared to want to move here though!