Millie Bush Bark Park

Houston has more off-leash dog parks than any other city in America. Lately we had been taking our four to Ervan Chew Park near our apartment, but we finally made the trek across town to Millie Bush, known as the Cadillac of dog parks.

We left home rather late and arrived at shortly before dusk. The dog park was immense. Not impressively pretty, by human standards, as there were few if any mature trees. All the better for throwing balls. But enormous--and that was not even including the part of the park set aside for smaller dogs weighing less than 25 lbs. Lots of wide-open grassy space for running unimpeded. Best of all was the pond.


Jesse was the first to discover the pond. We had never taken her to a swimming venue before, but we suspected that she would enjoy it. I have never seen her looking so jubilant and non-neurotic. This is a dog who--even at the other dog park--returns to my side every few minutes for petting, and who "works" the crowd with urgency, leaning against strangers and then sitting blissfully on their feet as they pet her head. At Millie Bush, Jesse shone. She ran at top speed in no particular direction, flirted with other dogs, and dashed into the water again and again.


Simcha enjoyed the park, but as usual, went off in his own direction much of the time to explore. As anticipated given his mixed heritage, he declined to submerge more than his feet in the pond.

Elliot's behavior fell between those two extremes. He happily entered the water, but did not go out of his way to re-enter it. He and Simcha argued with a Husky. Boogie seemed less comfortable in Millie Bush than he had at the much smaller Ervan Chew; he avoided the water entirely, and spent most of his time as close to Katie as possible.

We never ventured into the small-dog side of the park, where Boogie might have been more comfortable. On the big-dog side, Millie Bush was so vast as to allow avoidance of other humans. Some seating was available, but it did not encourage friendly conversation as did the chummy circular bench at Ervan Chew. My local park had its own ambience that varied slightly by time of day and day of the week, depending upon who was there. Even with others present, watching the playful dogs had a soothing, meditation-like effect on me. I did not feel this effect at Millie Bush. Still, Millie Bush's size, facilities, and grassy substrate were a hit with our big dogs. Ervan Chew, on the other hand, is carpeted in wood chips that are sometimes uncomfortable for a running dog.

Time and the sunlight passed far too quickly. We were sad to leave, but glad that we had squeezed in a last-minute visit to what would become one of my favorite memories of Houston. As I marvel at the variety of dog park facilities offered by the Greater Houston area, it makes me want to become active in the effort to develop dog parks in Greater New Orleans.