Bridget

keep in mind this place can get pretty busy on the weekends during peak hours. People and their dogs are in close proximity. Please use good judgment. A barking dog is not a good fit. A stressed dog is not a good fit. Correcting your dog for their behavior when they’re having a hard time with where you brought them is not a good fit. But if your dog is happy and enjoying this type of socialization, you can even bring them to the bar for a coffee or alcoholic beverage and walk from shop to shop. there is often a water dish available at the bar and every time I’ve been here, people are happy to see dogs. That is as long as the dogs are happy to see people.

Check in was easy, rooms were nice and clean, no issues.
The walls are pretty thin and the pet friendly area is at the end of a hall next to an exit and gym so bangs could be heard most of the night which I wouldn’t have noticed without my dog but we ended up keeping treats by the bed and tv on so he didn’t react to the sounds all night . Probably not suitable for a sound sensitive dog. The exit door closed hard.
Otherwise, there’s a big grass lot out back to walk in . I brought my own poop bags. I did see some turds where inconsiderate folks didn’t pick up but nothing excessive on the property.

LOok up Canine To Five doggy daycare events, they lead free pack walks through here . It’s a meet up and walk. Social dogs welcome. I’ve always had great experiences at their pack walks!

BEst trails you’re going to find within 30 minutes of Detroit and it connects to the paint creek trail you can take in to downtown Rochester for lunch or ice cream and to visit the dog bakery. It’s not a short hike but it’s a fulfilling one! Trails are shared with mtn bikers so step aside and pay attention. My favorite entrance is at the pavilion with the staircase. It has the most varying elevations s hills and follows the river at parts. It gets pretty muddy down there after a good rain/thaw so you can always take the trails at the back of the parking lot which are flatter and up higher

THis was really cool, a very different experience. I went on a Friday before work let out (3:00 ish) and there were around 10 dogs there. It could be a bit much I think if it were much more crowded as it’s not that large. Personally, I’d avoid peak hours. . Like any dog space, the people make or break it and there were several people not paying attention while they drank and chatted and several piles of poop went unnoticed but that’s no fault of the establishment. Overall , the dogs attending were social and everyone had a good time. There are poop bags, water bowls and hand sanitizer provided. They put out spray bottles to get dogs attention if things escalate I guess since there’s no treats allowed which kind of weirded me out at first but no one was being excessive with it so I suppose safety first .
My only complaint is the AstroTurf wreaked of urine and I was there only 3 hours after open.
It’s something different and unique to do and I’d recommend it

I searched online and saw that illegal sex acts , drugs, and racing is indeed an issue here according to the sheriff’s department. HOWEVER, I wound up here anyway after my friends who are locals took us here having never heard of such complaints. We went midday on a Saturday, found a pull-up and had a really nice time . I was surrounded by families playing, people barbecuing, and fishing. It was as more of a party, but nothing inappropriate.
NOTE many of the swimming areas are in mangroves and the clams are sharp so stay away from the mangrove edge and keep your dog away or you might end up with lil slices on your feet/paws. I wore shoes in the water.
There are a bunch of little pull-up spots you back your car right up to that is pretty cool. I kept my dog on a long line but others let theirs off. The busy road is too close behind for comfort. The tide rises so watch your car position as the day goes on if you pull right up to the shoreline!

The beach is a decent stretch, dogs are allowed off leash on the shoreline (I think. The signs say dogs must be leashed walking *to the park and everyone goes off leash) which is great and It was clean. Note that the beach area is not fenced in so your dog can’t be a dasher and needs to have good recall because the trail and parking lot is just on the other side. The grassy dog park portion is decent size so the dogs don’t have to cluster.
Now, I went on a Saturday early afternoon in Feb and had to get out of there . The beach was so overwhelmed with dogs that it was super stressful. There were dogs resource guarding who weren’t suited for this atmosphere and leashed dogs with barrier frustration crowded by swarms of off leash dogs. It was too much . The following year I went on a Friday morning and it was glorious - A handful of dogs playing with enough space to leave a situation and room to run the shoreline and practice recall. The fenced in park area was also pretty relaxed but still with dogs to play with.
If you can help it, avoid this beach during peak hours/days