Communal places are locations where owners take their dogs to be part of a group of other dog lovers, enthusiasts, or "fanciers" as some dog owners style themselves and other dog owners.  Such places take various forms and develop various patterns or behavior associated with that place.  Three major communal gathering places include:

         These are places where people in the neighborhood go to walk their dogs.   While dog walking around a block is commonly a solitary activity that often occurs for a brief time at early or late hours of the day (such as before or after work), these local parks and dog trails become a place where people with dogs can congregate.   There, they not only walk their dogs to exercise them and give them a chance to poop, but they have a chance to meet and greet other dog owners, while the dogs can socialize, too.
 

          In some cases, the entire park becomes a gathering place for dog owners, such as one park in Berkeley that was set up with dog trails in 1999.  It's opening was celebrated with an event called: "Bay to Barkers" after the famous Bay to Breakers Race held annually in San Francisco for runners from all over the world.  Perhaps this name was used to reflect the spirit of the San Francisco event, for here, too, dogs and owners could run freely.  They wouldn't even need leashes, as was required in many parks.   This event was a gala celebration attended by hundreds of local residents and their dogs.   There were agility events, obedience trials, kissing contests, a man in a Snoopy outfit, and plenty of dogs.  Want to see some pictures of what happened?  I was there for the day taking pictures, as well as looking for people who looked like their dogs.  To go visit, click on the dog in the carriage, and he'll take you there.
 

          In other cases, however, these local parks and dog trails are shared spaces, where people go with their dogs at certain times or in certain parts of the park.  But non-dog people use the space, too.  And sometimes that creates problems, because people have different interests and needs.  While the dog people may want to let their dogs run free without leashes, other people may not want to encounter dogs off leashes.   They find the free-running dogs disturb their own peace and relaxation in the park, and in some cases, even create fearful and dangerous situations, say when a person is out wheeling their infant in a baby carriage.  Could an out-of-control dog hurt their baby, they worry.  Or maybe a group of free-ranging dogs might join together and attack them.  There have been occasional incidents, and in many communities, such as San Francisco, non-dog owners have organized to promote leash laws, arguing that the park belongs to them, too.  And for now the news suggests that the trend is to continue the crack-down, putting more and more communal places under leash-control laws -- and if an owner protests, he might get cited and arrested.  

            I worked on one such dog-leash protest cases myself when I was an intern at the San Francisco Attorney General's office when I was in law school at the University of San Francisco during the summer of 1988.  The man had been walking his dog in one of the Federal Parks, so it was under federal jurisdiction, and after he was cited by a ranger, instead of paying a fine, he chose to protest.  He raised the same kind of argument still used today in these dog-leash protests.  Dogs should be allowed to run free.   But the testimony of the ranger was all that was needed.  The man had been asked to put on his dog's leash and told he would be cited if he didn't.  And since he didn't he was cited, for that was the law.  So his case ended very quickly, with a ruling against him and a fine from the judge, which he had to pay to the clerk.   I heard him griping as he left about the unfairness of the law and the judges.   But then, what of the rights of non-dog owners who want to use the park?  They, too, are sharing the space, so the rules of these places that are shared have to take into consideration both dog owners and non-owners as well.   The particular balance depends on the local community -- it involves a negotiated process for the use of that shared space.  You might say it involves a question of "To leash" or "Not to leash" as illustrated by these two dog owners with their leashed and unleashed dogs (or "Dogs Unleashed" as a movie threatening wild dog attacks might read!).

Leashed                                      Unleashed

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