Sawyer Dog Park

We love the Sawyer Dog Park. When we tell our dog, «want to go to Doggey Park?,» he jumps for joy, tail wagging and sloppy kisses for everyone! We enjoy just letting him run around with other dogs and we enjoy having him follow us as we walk the perimeter. The owners are very attentive to their dogs there. There are so many trees that you can walk in the shade the entire time if you like. There is a pavilion if you want to sit while your dog is exploring and benches all throughout the park. There are many consistent visitors to the park so its nice seeing familiar faces… on the dogs and the owners. Owners are good about picking up waste. Its a park of happy owners and happy dogs.

The best $ 30 you’ll ever spend for your dog! This place always has other dogs unlike Cherokee when I’ve been there 30+ minutes with none. The rules here are enforced and I appreciate the fact that they are. Tons of room, two kiddie pools and lots of tennis balls. Room to run and room for those not as keen on running to stay away from the rowdy bunch. For those people with kids, this park has a playground right outside of the dog park. You can exercise the dog while your significant other exercises the kids.
So far, this has been one of the best things we’ve found in Louisville!

I love and miss this park so much!
We recently moved to the Highlands and have been visiting Cherokee Park’s dog run since it’s so much closer. I wish it was as good as Sawyer, but alas, big dogs abound in the small dog area in Cherokee and nobody picks up their poop.
Sawyer is massive and there is so much wooded and shady area. Paying a mere $ 30 a year for exercise for your dog and being provided with unlimited entertainment is one of the best deals in town. Every dog owner in town should have a membership!

Great for dogs but watch our for land mines. People need to pick up after their own dog! Great place to let the barkers run wild.

Sawyer Dog Park = Disneyland for my two pups.
Of the five dog parks in the Louisville Dog Run Association (LDRA) we’ve been to two of them (Sawyer and Cochran Hill in Cherokee) and from what we’ve experienced and been told by other dog owners, Sawyer is the best of the five. They have six acres of land, with two acres dedicated to small dogs and four acres dedicated to large (or rowdier) dogs. And my two pups (an eighty pound Malamute and a ninety pound Rottie) are capable of using every square foot of those four acres!
The space dedicated to the larger dogs is separated into two parts with a chain-​link fence. That fence has two large openings — one in the front and one in the back. Throughout the park are benches and two gazebos as well as plenty of buckets of water. Most dogs stay toward the front of the park which is virtually open dirt/​grass for the dogs to run, romp, wrestle and fetch. The back half of the park is a wooded area with several paths that wrap around the entire four acres.
On most spring/​fall days after work, you can find an easy twenty dogs romping around the park. On Fridays and Saturdays in the spring/​fall we’ve seen upwards of forty dogs on the «large dog» side of the park alone.
My only qualms are that during the busy seasons, water seems to pool up near the entrances along the fence where both of the water faucets are located. This not only creates mud, but pools of green slime-​like gunk that my Malamute loves to eat. Also, I’ve run into a couple dog owners who were either: 1) way too over protective with their dogs and 2) way too scared of dogs in general. But I guess that’s expected with a public service like a dog park. Finally, some owners let their dogs wander all over the park, which in and of itself is fine, except for the fact that they often fail to pick up after their dog.
Regardless of those qualms, $ 30 a year gets my Malamute into «Dog Disneyland» as much as I want and for an additional $ 20 my Rottie gets to join him. In my mind, that’s $ 50 well spent to keep my pups well-​exercised, well-​socialized and happy!

This park saved my sanity when my dog was in her puppy years. We don’t have a fenced yard at home, so the dog park is the only place she gets to run amok off her leash. And she absolutely loves it.
For the dogs: Lots of tennis balls and toys to share. Fresh water to drink and a pool to splash in (it’s a good idea to keep some old towels in your trunk). TONS of space to explore. Separate areas for small and large dogs keep the little guys from feeling too intimidated.
For the people: Clean-​up bags available throughout. Most of the owner’s are pretty conscientious so you can run after your dog without worrying too much about your shoes. Plenty of benches and a gazebo to relax while the pups are playing.
We’ve also been to the Cherokee Dog Park, but I prefer the bigger space at Tom Sawyer.
If you’ve never been, the dog park is across the street from what I think of as being Tom Sawyer, but there’s a sign. If you don’t know if it will be your dog’s cup of tea, one of the regulars will usually let you in for a trial — but don’t try to abuse the system. If you plan to come back, it is well worth the $ 30 annual fee. (Multiple dogs in one family get a price break)
Some of the volunteers seem to take their badges (er, name tags) a little too seriously, but they are just there to enforce the rules. And the rules are there to keep you and your dog safe, so just go with it.