Fido Field

Love that there’s a dog park not even .5 miles from my home. It’s a nice little spot for your pups to get some energy out of them! I was skeptical at first but I’m glad I went because now I’ll always come to this dog park!

My husband and I wanted to take our French Bulldog to a small off leash Dog Park. I am not a huge fan of Otto Armleder (we used to take him there).
My husband mentioned this place and heard nothing but good things. It is located next to the Athletic Pet Club downtown. This has been here since 2013. There is one side of the park which is gravel mixed with tiny pieces of rubber (easy on their paws) for large dogs. The small dogs area is grass and turf areas. Both are fenced in and size of the park is half an acre.
The park is really clean and they keep the doggy bags stocked.
Parking — Street metered.
They close at dark however if locked, the combo is B-​A-​R-​K.
From what I read online, Balls Around the Block supports this dog park and & $ 50,000 donation by Procter & Gamble Pet Care division.
My Frenchie really had a great time. I would definately return!

More like Fido Fail. Brought my dog to this park the other day instead of our usual Washington Park. When we got here the grass was over grown, there was debris in the park and the gate to the field wouldn’t latch. Even worse, there were NO other dogs here! How practical is it to put in a dog park in an area were very few people live and instead its mostly businesses?!

I’ve been following the Fido Field group on Facebook for a while now, and finally got the chance to try the park out with my dog last weekend. My dog is small (15 lbs), and loved running around in the small-​dog area. I like that it has turf so that he doesn’t get all muddy, but the area around the trees that doesnt have turf is like a little swamp, and he kept walking through it and getting mud all over his legs.
The large-​dog side seems really nice, with the recycled rubber to keep the mud away. And it’s a good amount of space for larger dogs to run.
The two times that I’ve been there it wasnt busy (first time there were two other dogs in the small side, second time there were three dogs in the large side). It’s nice that it’s not crowded, but I’m hoping that once is stays consistently warmer outside we’ll see a few more doggy friends to play with!

I have two large Pitbull pups who love this dog park! We live a block from Washington Park but the concrete, crowd, and smell of urine really bug me. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy going to Washington Park and appreciate its location. But if I want to give the boys a real treat, I walk them 10 blocks to Fido. This park is huge-​Jordy and Clay love running up and down the hill, sniffing around, and chasing/​wrestling each other, without the fear of running into a urine-​soaked boulder or pack of dogs (Washington).
The only negative… my dogs think the new recycled rubber-​chips are chew toys;)
To P&G and the hard working folks that put this park together (and continue to make improvements), Jordy, Clay, Erin & Ben THANK YOU!!!

Finally had a chance to check this place out over the weekend. We live in Fort Thomas so it’s not a walk but a very quick drive to get here. We liked it. The gravel is a bit polarizing for some it seems — but we came here because we figured it wouldn’t be as muddy as our other parks, which was true. I wouldn’t like to let my dog run too hard for too long on the gravel, but it didn’t seem to bother him — and he spent a lot of time exploring the grassy areas. It’s definitely easier on his paws than Washington Park. We did hear that they are finding funding to replace the gravel with recycled rubber, so that should be nice.
It wasn’t busy when we were there — which is good and bad. At least there were a couple other dogs to interact with.
We came on the weekend and parking was easy to find, although nothing we could find was free.
I’m trying to organize an afternoon with friends where we hit up a pet friendly bar in Mt Adams for lunch and then take a walk down to this park to play — should be fun.

An amazing park, as it is a all-​volunteer project. Benches are in place, and pet-​wants even contributed the dog bones laid on the concrete. An annual pub crawl fundraiser contributes to the effort. Expect a recycled rubber surface over the existing gravel next year!

Was a nice park being in the heart of downtown! Little disappointed with the rocks but the dogs love it!

When I first moved to Cincinnati, I searched for all the dog parks in the region and was disappointed that there wasn’t one close to home. I have loved Otto and Wags but there is something about walking your dog to a dog park that is preferred.
Alas, Fido Field. Living in Mt Adams I just hop across the 71 from Van Meter and you are at the back entrance of the park. It is awesome. My dog isn’t a fan of the gravel but there is lots of green space and brush. There is no water so be forewarned but I hear that they are trying to find funding to support water fountains and benches. I’m so glad that people went out of their way to provide this park for downtown dog owners!

I heard about this park from a friend that lives downtown. I was super pumped to check it out. Thought, what a great idea to put a dog park downtown! we really need more green space in the city. But green it is not. So don’t get your hopes up. It is filled with gravel. Huh? Yeah, gravel… I went there on a Saturday afternoon and to my dismay, it was locked. Both entrances, locked. Really? I don’t understand why it needs to be locked. By judging from the sidewalk, there are no benches, no water for your pup and not much room for fido to run around either. Really, it’s just a fenced in area filled with gravel. I’m not sure why you’d have to lock that up. I can’t imagine any bum wanting to curl up on that comfy gravel. I wasn’t privy to the code to get in, which I found from one of these reviews is BARK. But I really think a park should be open on a Saturday afternoon. Is that too much to ask for? Either way, I don’t think my dog would of enjoyed running around on the gravel. I get that gravel is easy upkeep, but I think mulch would of been a better option or even crushed granite. Something a little more easy on their pads and more comfy for them to lay on. Eventhough I now know the password to get in, I’m not sure if I’ll be running off to check it out anytime soon with Sawyer Point just down the street. Great idea, just maybe should of been executed a little better.

I took my little dachshund Cooper to Fido Field for the first time this past week on the recommendation of a friend. We live in OTR, have courtyard access in our building for going out and play but an actual dog park has been unavailable for us due to transportation issues. Fido Field is amazing. I love what the designers have done with the space, I love that it is safe for me to unleash the beast! As far as the gravel goes in the park, I think it is great! My dog can easily run on it (he is about 10 pounds by the way… and can run full tilt on those rocks) and he can’t be stopped! He will run over and over on the rocks chasing his ball! If you have a dog that tries to run on smooth gravel and gives up, (also if you find it hard to walk on smooth gravel yourself) maybe you both are hipster princesses and should consider moving to the suburbs. Or purchase some new shoes with a decent insole. Downtown living is challenging and provides challenges for all members of the household. SMOOTH CUT gravel is easy for my dog, for myself, and it helped to wear him out pretty quickly during our play! Thank you P&G!

I’ve been living downtown for several years, and always have to drive all the way over to Lunken to let my dog off the leash. I am so happy this opened, as now I can just walk my labrador a couple blocks and let her get out all of her energy.
I think they have done a great job in designing this park given the land that was provided. While I was initially skeptical about the gravel, my dog doesn’t care at all ! She runs just as much as she would on grass, and her and the other dogs have a great time playing up on the hill and running over the bone shaped mulch beds.
This is just another great example of how downtown is really becoming a great place to live. Great job by the selfless people to make this a reality, and I can’t wait to take my dog here on the weeknights and weekends!

Every dog-​owning Downtowner has figured out that one, odd place where it’s okay to make a «potty run,» but an actual place where the dog can run unleashed with his friends… That’s always been an issue requiring us to pack up the beast in the car and drive to the ‘burbs. City dwellers, accustomed to having all of our recreational needs accessible by foot, can add another amenity to the list: Fido Field. Plenty of (though certainly not endless) space for the dogs to reach peak speed, secure double-​fenced entrances, and even a separate small dog area make for a very complete run and romp time for the dogs. Thanks to the effort of the Good Samaritans who envisioned this facility, raised funds, and lobbied P&G for a sizable donation (thank you, P&G), this little dog nirvana is absolutely free of charge, to boot. A previous reviewer noted that he didn’t like the crushed limestone surface, but as someone who has used dog parks all over the eastern U.S. I will note that this is a sound choice for several reasons:
1) No mud-​covered dog if the weather has been wet for a while. Been there, detailed the car afterward. Not cool.
2) No eau-​de-​urine-​canus aroma, since limestone quite naturally absorbs odors. Also appreciated.
3) No camouflaged doggie poop land mines. Urban dog owners are especially adept at collecting feces, so it’s rare to find any here, but in that unlikely event, it’s visible enough not to become shoe icing.
4) Unlike grass, which requires mowing and watering, or mulch, which can contain splinters or smell tempting enough to eat (horrors) and still requires expensive annual re-​application, limestone takes care of itself. Given that this park was 100% privately funded and is self-​sustaining, you should relax and know that your tax and/​or admission dollars are safely tucked away for other uses.
Every dog is different, and if yours requires grass, the presence of this park certainly doesn’t negate the options that existed before this one came along.

Fido Field has been in talks for years. P&G gave a sizable donation to create a dog park downtown right near their headquarters on this land and then it was just a matter of getting all the pieces in place.
They’re still doing this, like adding in signs to mark it as an official dog park, but for right now, it’s fenced off, they have waste bags at the entrance and your dog is ready to run! Yay! … If it can run, though.
Here’s the issue. They mowed all the grass and replaced it with gravel. Really? Gravel is hard for me to walk on and even harder for my dog to run on. She tries and then gives up and it’s so sad. I understand wanting to mow the grass if you have no one to take care of it but why not replace them with woodchips? It looks better and it’s way easier to walk and run on. Gravel? Seriously?
Fido Field also teeters between a really cute park and a semi-​gross park. In the middle of the gravel they’ve done a really nice job at landscaping, putting up little mounds of dirt that looks like bones (awww…). However, to the sides of the park is still gross and wooded — there are tons of weeds and branches that my dog gets caught on and when it rains, even a little bit, it turns into a swamp and she gets covered in mud. And since she can’t run on the gravel, all she wants to do is be on this grass area.
Now, I am psyched that there is a park here because I live downtown and it is awesome that I can take my puppy to a spot she can call her own without getting in the car. Thank you! My dog is also a little strange and doesn’t like other dogs, so the fact that no one is at this park makes her happy too … but I worry that no one is at this park because it’s not a good park for dogs, and that doesn’t fill any need for anyone.
A little more landscaping and a change in the ground material and I’ll totally update the review. For now though, I was so excited when I heard about a downtown dog park and so disappointed when I actually came here.
ps. The park gets locked at night but if you want to come in, go to the main gate on Eggleston and use the code BARK. That will unlock it!