First walks in Long Beach.
Outside designated off-leash areas, a dog in any public place in Long Beach needs a secure six-foot leash, held by someone who can control it. The rules, the 12 dog facilities the city lists, and how we suggest starting a new dog’s first week.
The rules, in short
From LBMC §§ 6.16.100, 6.08.010 and the city’s dog-parks directory.
- 1Outside designated off-leash areas: secure six-foot leash, held, in any public place
- 2Off-leash in city-designated areas: fenced park exercise areas and the Dog Zones (Rosie’s, Seaside)
- 3Visual and voice control at all times inside them
- 4License and vaccinations current, tags on the collar
- 5Leash back on for the trip in and out
Hours, exceptions & the fine print
The leash law’s exceptions are written into the code itself: fenced dog exercise areas in city parks, approved and designated by the City Council, plus permitted obedience trials and shows. The city’s directory lists two Dog Zones - Rosie’s Dog Beach and Seaside - and its posted rule is leash on everywhere outside the parks and zones. The code sets conditions for the exercise areas - 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., no unattended dogs, none under four months, current vaccinations and licenses, no females in heat, no aggressive or declared-vicious dogs - and the facilities’ own rules add one dog per adult and no food.
The first week
The same calm start we suggest everywhere - on Long Beach’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 facilities, for later
Once your dog has settled. The city lists 12 facilities - ten dog parks, a dog beach, and a dog zone - six to start with:
- 1Recreation Dog Park
- 2El Dorado Park Dog Park
- 3Wrigley Heights Dog Park
- 4Rosie’s Dog Beach
- 5Gayle Carter Dog Park
- 6Dr. Myrna “Mickey” Donahoe Dog Park
Sizes and hours come from each facility’s city directory page and they vary: El Dorado runs seasonal hours, Rosie’s is an unfenced Dog Zone open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. (the city notes it is not a dedicated dog beach), and Recreation and Wrigley Heights may close Mondays before noon. The other six: Coolidge, Jackson Street, K-9 Corner, Lincoln Park, Pike Park, and the Seaside Dog Zone. Ten have map pins; K-9 Corner is listed only by its intersection and Seaside has no address on its page, so those two are text only.
Pins mark the park or its listed access point, not the exact off-leash boundary.
Good to know
Worth knowing
A Long Beach license tag is required on the collar or harness at all times for any dog over four months, and you can buy it online through the city’s Pet Licensing page. Two easy-to-miss facility rules: no spiked collars, and the dog parks are non-supervised - the city says patrons use them at their own risk.
Sources
Sources: LBMC 6.16.100 (six-foot leash, dog-park regulations), city Animal Care Services page: longbeach.gov/.../dog-leash-required. LBMC 6.08.010 (license required): longbeach.gov/.../license-required-for-dogs. Dog facilities list and rules, Parks, Recreation and Marine: longbeach.gov/.../dog-parks plus each facility’s directory page.
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