The College Park Dog Park is open to all residents of Prince George's and Montgomery Counties.  To become a member, you must register each dog that you wish to bring to the park, pay annual dues, follow CPDPA Rules, and agree to the terms of membership.

Our membership is made up of people who are passionate about dogs, want to provide them the best social and exercise opportunities, and are willing to pitch in to maintain an ideal dog park setting.  The rules and agreement exist for the safety and health of our members, their dogs, the general public and the environment.  

Our members actively clean up park waste, monitor and intervene in dog behavior, maintain required dog health, and coordinate participation events.  And we have fun!

Prospective Member Services

Our Officers and Docents will work with any prospective members to schedule a preliminary visit to the park. Contact us by sending an email to CPDPPresident@gmail.com.  We will contact you by phone or email and set up a time to introduce you to the park and provide more information on membership.  

If you have recently acquired a new dog or puppy, or your dog has not routinely socialized with other dogs, or you have not previously been to a dog park, it is important that you work with us to schedule a controlled first visit to the park. This provides an opportunity to evaluate your dog's play style and ability to socialize with other dogs, and introduce him or her to a few new friends in a comfortable setting. We want to ensure the experience is a positive one for you and your dog.    

Each dog brought into the park must be registered with CPDPA for the safety and health of members and their dogs. Member dogs must have current county tags and an up-to-date rabies vaccination. We recommend a bordatella (kennel cough) vaccination as well. In addition, all dogs must be spayed or neutered. This last requirement is in place to forestall any aggressive behavior between intact and altered dogs. Like most communities, College Park struggles with dog-overpopulation and we encourage all members to be responsible and have their dog spayed or neutered.

For the safety and health of your dog, we require that puppies be older than 6 months, and at least three weeks post-surgery (neuter/spay), before being brought into the park. 

The Membership Process

To become a member, you must go through our online application and payment process, which starts at the Become a Member link.  The online application process consists of numerous questions and required information.  The details for what is required for membership can be found below under CPDPA and College Park License Requirements below.

Our application process, membership database, and membership renewal process is managed completely online, through our website. 

Application

Once you complete your application and submit your payment, your application will be submitted for review and approval.  You will receive an email notifying you when your application is complete.  The fee to register one dog is $30/year/household, and $10/year/each additional dog. Payments are processed through our website and can be paid by credit card once you receive a notification that your application is complete.

What you get

Once a member, you will have the ability to access the members-only website where you can get the latest fence lock code and manage your membership profile and security settings. You will also be able to join our WhatsApp Group if you would like where members communicate about meet ups at the park.

Park Access

Only active members listed through this application process, and their registered dogs, are allowed to come to the park.  We currently allow the listing of two household members through the application process.  If you require additional household members to be listed, please provide the names of the two most frequent household adults who will bring your dog(s)

CPDPA and College Park License Requirements

Our application requirements reflect College Park and County requirements.  This park is located in College Park, and as such, all use of the park requires that our members must meet all College Park and County requirements for dogs.  These requirements include:

“Leash Law” – All pets are required to be leashed when on property other than their owners’. This includes parks, tot lots, and other public property. When walking your dog to and from the park, you must use a leash to meet this requirement. 

“Pooper Scooper Law” – Owners/caretakers are required to clean up after their animal when it defecates (this includes their own property). 

Rabies Vaccine – All dogs, cats, and ferrets over four (4) months old must have proof of a current rabies vaccine. Rabies tags are not proof, only a certificate issued by a veterinarian is proof.

County Licenses – Dogs, cats, and ferrets over four (4) months old are required to be licensed annually (this applies to pets that reside in the county for more than 30 days, even if the animal is licensed in another county). The animal must also wear the license on its collar at all times.  The county license includes BOTH a rabies certificate from veterinarian, and proof of spay/neuter from veterinarian. 

In addition to College Park and County requirements, we ask about Bordetella (kennel cough) immunization.  We strongly recommend that you do get your dog vaccinated for this disease, should your veterinarian concur.  We have had several members whose dogs did get Bordetella, and it results in a cold that can affect your dog's overall health, and result in in-home quarantine of your dog for several months. We recently had some of our members' dogs get Bordetella from another dog in our park.  This was allegedly due to co-mingling with non-members dogs who were allowed in the park to play, in violation of our rules.  We ask that our members keep up to date on vaccinations that will maximize the health of all dogs in the park, even if not required by the City or County.  Dogs in a dog park, like dogs in a boarding facility, have considerable close contact.

If your dog is associating with other dogs socially, even at your home, it is typically recommended by veterinarians to protect against Bordetella, which is highly communicable disease. Although not 100% effective, the vaccine does greatly improve your dog's chances of not getting this disease, reduces any period of infection, and protects other dogs from your dog as a carrier.  If your dog gets Bordetella, you cannot bring the dog to the park until after a veterinarian has certified the dog's health, generally after a 3 to 6 month period.  We strongly recommend that notify your veterinarian that you are routinely taking your dog to a dog park, and ascertain if this and any other treatments would be advisable to protect your dog's health.  Our members generally see this as a "cost savings" measure -- since treating the dog for Bordetella for six months would be so much more expensive than our routine six-month vaccination.  More importantly, our members care a great deal about our dogs' health, and want to avoid their suffering through this disease.