‘Will you please leash your dog?’
It’s a simple request. Yet, depending on a person’s sensitivity level, it comes off as either a neighborly reminder of Bend’s leash ordinance, or a micro-aggression worthy of a shouting match.
From Monday, May 12 to Friday, May 16, this directive will come from Bend Park and Recreation District stewards and Bend Police Department community service officers. Staffers from the two organizations will heighten their patrols of city parks and trails to remind dog parents to tether their pups outside designated off-leash dog areas, of which Bend has nine.
Authorities are seeking voluntary compliance during this five-day window. Thereafter, repeat offenders may be issued $250 tickets and 30-day bans from park district property. Owners of off-leash dogs that damage property or injure other people, dogs or wildlife can also be held responsible in civil or criminal cases.
Think of this friendly engagement campaign as behavioral training for dog owners. Yet, as evinced by the number of people letting their dogs off-leash every day in Bend parks, some dog owners seem to think: My dog’s fine off leash; who cares?
“Some people visiting a park aren’t expecting to be approached by an unknown, unleashed dog,” says Joel Lee, the BPRD park stewardship manager. He encourages dog lovers to think holistically about how they and their pups interact with city parks, trails and all the people who use them.
Lee encourages folks to remember that some people inherently fear dogs, have been attacked by them, or simply don’t care for them. These non-dog people are entitled to enjoy our parks just like anyone else, he said. And even some dog lovers don’t want to meet your unleashed dog, including owners of reactive dogs.
The safety of park wildlife, from deer to squirrels and geese, is also a priority for BPRD.
The BPRD park steward team, which Lee oversees, consists of two full-time staffers and two seasonal workers. They keep tabs on dogs in parks, just as they do, say, vandalism.
“We have different categories for all these different aspects of our job,” Lee said. “Dogs are definitely one of our largest entries.”
In 2024, his team observed 11,015 instances of dogs on leash and 2,746 dogs off leash — a compliance rate of about 75%.
Bend Police maintains a database that details police service calls in public parks. So far this year, the department has received 42 complaints regarding dog incidents on park properties. That’s on track to supersede the 95 dog incidents reported in 2024. In 2023, 123 dog complaints were made. In 2022, there were 97. The summer months typically see the most complaints, according to the database.
Dog leash rules also apply while walking to a dog park from the greater park entrance or a parking lot. The authorities said that loose dogs leaping from parked vehicles can create safety concerns for the dog as well as for others, especially in busy parks such as Ponderosa, Big Sky and Pine Nursery Parks. (View a map of off-leash dog areas here.)
Bonnie Dias, a certified dog trainer who owns City Strut, a dog training service in Bend, said she’s conflicted about leash laws.
“Dogs can’t be leashed all the time, just like children can’t sit at a desk all day,” she said.
While the law is the law, Dias added, she wonders why, amid heightened leash enforcement, more off-leash dog areas aren’t added to high traffic parks, such as Drake Park.
Asked why, Joel Lee, the BPRD park stewardship manager, said a lot of factors go into deciding where off-leash dog parks are installed. While such planning is beyond his purview, Lee points out that parking capacity is a concern, since off-leash dog areas become destinations for dog owners. And grass that grows in off-leash areas experience far more wear and tear than turf outside its confines.
This article appears in Source Weekly May 8, 2025.
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It will take a high dollar ticket to convince dog owners. Most wont think theyll get caught. When they do, the consequence will be be ready.
This should be entertaining to hang out in the parks this week. Do they really think they’ll bring about behavior change in one week? It’s like trying to slow drivers down on the parkway by handing out tickets one week a year.
I’m a dog lover, have owned dogs, and have nothing against them. It’s the owners that can be entitled and disrespectful to other dog owners and to people who don’t want to be around them in the parks, the store, the restaurant or farmers market where just last week I observed about every other person had to bring their dog.
I see so many dogs off leash all over town. I’m glad to hear that they’re planning on doing more to enforce the leash law, because I never see anything being done about it. Ponderosa Park is a perfect example. EVERY time I bring my son, dogs are running off leash in the ball park, where there are large, clearly printed signs stating off-leash prohibited. So many dog-owners just don’t care. And it’s grossly unhealthy. These parks are for children, and thinking that your dogs should be allowed to ignore the laws, leaving bacteria-ridden excrement on the very same grass children and families are playing and sitting on, is maddening. Not to mention the obvious problem of having those unleashed dogs run after those of us using the space. If I have to hear one more dog-owner laugh and say, “it’s ok, he’s friendly”,….
Not only are many people fearful of dogs, as this article pointed out, but many of us are ALLERGIC to them. That doesn’t seem to bother the owners for some reason. Not only is it baffling to me that the city doesn’t seem to do anything to manage this issue, but my son and I were just at the fenced in park downtown next to McMens this weekend where there have been “no off-leash dogs” signs surrounding it for years, and now the signs seem to be gone and the dogs are still running around off-leash. Are the people “enforcing” this dog-owners and just don’t care?