First walks in Arlington.
In Arlington, your dog stays physically restrained by leash or chain whenever it is off your property - a police service animal on duty excepted, and your own vehicle counts as your premises - with three off-leash dog parks, two of them closed one morning a week for upkeep. The city’s own rules and how we suggest starting a new dog’s first week.
The rules, in short
From the Arlington Code of Ordinances and the city’s dog-park pages.
- 1Off your property: physically and continually restrained by a leash or chain - except your own cage or vehicle, a police service animal on duty, and the city’s designated off-leash sites (fine print)
- 2Off-leash play: three dog parks - Tails ’N Trails is closed Tuesday mornings, Rush Creek Wednesday mornings
- 3License and rabies vaccination once the dog is over four months - both tags stay on the dog
- 4Scoop immediately - and carry something to pick up with; it is a legal duty
- 5Annual license: $10 altered, $45 unaltered - free for trained support dogs
- 6At Rush Creek: leashed until inside the double gate, three dogs per visit
Hours, exceptions & the fine print
Arlington calls a dog at large when, off its owner’s premises, it is not “physically and continually restrained by some person by means of a leash or chain of proper strength and length that precludes the animal from making any unsolicited contact with any person, their clothing, their property and/or their premises” - and failing to keep your animal from being at large is an offense (4.11). The code sets no leash-length cap. The written exceptions: an animal confined in its owner’s cage, automobile or other vehicle is not at large; a dog lawfully in a city-designated off-leash site is not at large; and a police service animal working with its peace officer is excepted from the offense (4.11(B)) - the code carries no general service-dog leash exception. The scoop law has two halves: remove the defecation immediately and lawfully, and carry the materials or implements to do it whenever the dog is on public property or someone else’s - being caught without a bag is itself an offense (10.05).
The first week
The same calm start we suggest everywhere - on Arlington’s streets.
- 1Leash, quiet streets, short and sniffy - calm hours, near home, ending before your dog is wound up. An off-leash area is not day-one material for a brand-new dog.
- 2Sniffing is the point - let your dog pause and sniff instead of focusing on distance. More on the sniff walk.
- 3Settle first, explore later - more on the first days: a routine for a newly adopted dog and a calm start to every walk.
The dog parks, for later
Once your dog has settled. Arlington has three documented off-leash dog parks - two run weekly maintenance closures:
- 1Tails ’N Trails Dog Park - 950 SE Green Oaks Blvd. - 5.7 acres, daylight hours, free - CLOSED TUESDAYS until noon
- 2Rush Creek Dog Park - 1900 Valleywood Dr. - 4.8 acres, free - CLOSED WEDNESDAYS until noon
- 3Downtown Arlington Doggie Depot - 105 N Mesquite St. - opened March 2025, a Downtown Arlington Management Corporation park built with the city Parks Department
The first two are the city Parks Department’s own pages; the Doggie Depot is downtown’s partnership park, opened March 13, 2025 - the “two public dog parks” copy on the Tails ’N Trails page predates it. After wet weather, both city parks post status on the rainout line, 817-462-8441. Rush Creek’s posted rules: leashed until you are inside the double-gated entry, three dogs per visit, and you clean up - Tails ’N Trails adds shaded, wooded off-leash areas and a paddock next to the Animal Services Center. On the map, all three pins are geocoded from the parks’ official street addresses. Everywhere outside the fence, the restraint rule applies again.
Pins mark the park or its listed access point, not the exact off-leash boundary.
Good to know
Worth knowing
Every dog (and cat) over four months in Arlington needs a current rabies vaccination and a city license - and a dog wears both the rabies tag and the license tag (3.01). The license is annual: $10 for an altered animal, $45 for an unaltered one, with proof of rabies vaccination (and of alteration for the discount); support dogs professionally and specifically trained to assist disabled owners are exempt from the fee (3.02). Licensed, sterilized, vaccinated pets that get impounded earn one “Free Trip Home” per calendar year (city license page).
Sources
Sources: Arlington Code of Ordinances, Animals chapter (§3.01 license and vaccination; §3.02 fees and support-dog exemption; §4.11 animal at large; §10.05 defecation and implements): arlingtontx.gov. Dog parks: Tails ’N Trails, Rush Creek, and the Doggie Depot opening; license fees: Animal License Registration. Pins: all three geocoded from the parks’ official addresses. All verified November 2, 2026.
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