[PennysMum]

We go to Marymoor Park, the biggest off-leash park in the country, all the time-- several times each week when the weather is nice. I've found that the key to being as safe as possible is to go at times when it is not as crowded. Weekends tend to be insane, but weekdays there are always fewer people there-- and the weekend dogs tend to be a bit less well-trained than the dogs that one meets on weekday mornings. When we're there, I try to steer clear of owners who look like they don't have much control over their dogs, or dogs who don't look comfortable and easy-going. Thankfully it is a very large park with a lot of trails, so it is easy to dodge folks when I have a bad feeling about them.

Penny's a little bigger than most of the dogs on this board though-- I don't know if I would dare take her if she was extremely small. Even at 11lbs she is often the littlest one in a playgroup, and a couple times bigger dogs have tripped over her even if they didn't mean any harm by it.