The picture at left is a brother of Charlie - his name is Solie!  He likes the Halifax Common's too!

The Halifax Commons (which is bordered by North Park, Robie, Cunard, and Bell Road in Halifax) is one of those sticky places to exercise your dog.  The law says that dogs are not allowed on sports fields but in the winter between 6am and 10am you can take your dog there.   There are supposed to be no dogs on the fields when games are being played. 

But regardless, a lot of people take their dogs there.  The Commons is a great place to take your dog if they are the social type and like to play chase with each other or like to run after the ball.  Charlie has never been very successful there because he has absolutely no interest in balls and only a passing interest in chasing other dogs.  So he ends up sitting or laying down beside me while we watch everyone else having a good time.  He needs the momentum involved with walking in order to get any excercise. 

It is also a quite noisy spot with lots of traffic and when there are baseball games going on there is crowd noise and the surprisingly loud cracks associated with metal bats hitting softballs.  Charlie thinks he'd rather be in Dartmouth than stick around where that bat/ball sound is going on (another good reason to keep dogs on leash!!)

I like to use the Commons as part of an outing.  There is a good used bookstore on Windsor street (The Last Word) that I take Charlie in to, so we may go there and walk over to the Commons for a while and then walk around the neighborhood as well to give some variety to the experience.   There's also a self-serve dog wash that's opened up on Cunard street called "Metro Dog Wash" - they have a website at http://www.metrodogwash.com - so you can go get dirty at the Common's and then go get clean at the Metro Dog wash! haha!

If your dog is mellow and you have gotten your exercise in other ways though, the Commons is a great place to hang out and sit on a blanket (or on the grass if you are into that!) and spend some quality people watching time.  You can pretend to brush your dog, or read a book, or whatever, but the Commons is a very nice spot to be out by yourself within a group of people.

If you like the Commons please email me with your experience so I can add it to this page!!

Is your dog a dog friendly dog?  Click here and find out!  This link also has a link to the HRM's website about "responsible dog ownership"