All that considered, dog parks were Nina's Disneyland. We just happened to live in an area with excellent dog parks, and at a time when the best one was still free. That was Pratt's Wayne Woods, where the off-leash section was 23 acres with at least one water bog. We went there so much, that if it hasn't been altered, I could tell you the nuances of every step 13 years later.
Nina knew we were near when she heard me turn on the directional signal at a specific intersection, and would proceed to howl and caterwaul until we got there. (Always amused me to hear other dogs losing their minds entering the parking area, too.) We'd park the car, then walk to the entrance where there was a large shrub that must have thrived on uric acid. The beaten path was a giant loop around the perimeter, but there were also bisecting paths, which crossed in the middle.
Usually, we'd start out by heading left (clockwise) so we'd hit the mud pit first, then dry off as we walked the rest of the path. The mud pit/bog/pond was the big social spot for the dogs, and by proxy, the owners. The veterans were wearing old sweatpants or other unimportant clothes, knowing there was no way to avoid the mess. The dogs would run in and out, wrestle, chase, play king of the hill with toys someone left behind, and they all seemed to be super excited. In fact, I think it was this particular spot that caused them to wail when the blinkers went on.
When Nina was a puppy, all of this insanity was a little hard to take in, but she certainly enjoyed the rough play. If another dog was making a run for a toy, she'd take a shot, too. She was not aggressive, though, so if the other dog got there first, she wouldn't fight for it, she'd just come back out and wait for another opportunity. And there were endless opportunities.
The rest of the park was just prairie with a worn in path through it. The entire area was fenced, and the south and west borders had a trail on the other side of the fence where folks on horses would trot on by. I can't remember if Nina ever didn't take exception to the horses. For the majority of encounters, she'd run 30-yard sprints, back and forth along the fence, barking and yelping the whole time. When the horses were finally out of sight, she'd go back to sniffing and walking like nothing happened. (She'd sleep really well when we got home, though. The sleep of the righteous!)
As with the park by our house, the other dog owners were pretty astute, and while there were some rules posted, common sense still seemed to prevail. As such, with very few exceptions, the dogs were also pretty well mannered. To my memory, the dog Nina got along with best in her entire life was named Pebbles.
We only saw Pebbles and her people at the dog park but it was just as well - they would just run the whole time. Pebbles and Nina looked very different, but they must have had similar thought patterns. It was almost comical - they'd trade off chasing and being chased, using awesome speed bursts and athletic cuts and jukes - and then they'd both stop on a dime to research a new smell. Sometimes, we'd lose them in the tall grass, but we could still hear one of them yelping, in pursuit and so close to tagging the other. They both always came back and sniffed the periphery around us as we continued to walk.
Pebbles and her people moved to North Carolina, but it was around that time that we started hearing (and finding bloody evidence) of dog attacks at the park. New people were bringing bad dogs, and the word on the picnic tables was that they didn't care about the damage they were doing. Shortly after that, we heard about a child getting hurt by a dog and decided it was time to find a new spot.
Kane County has an awesome forest preserve system. We tried a number of other dog parks (including one in Naperville where Nina got backed down by a miniature pinscher) but the next best one was only a few miles from the original spot. Fox River Bluff had acre after acre of prairie, but sloped down to the shore of the Fox River. She could stay up top and stay dry, or traverse the hill and get sloppy in the muddy banks. Not only was it superb fun for Nina, but I can't imagine a more beautiful landscape for us to hike. Oddly, there were far fewer dogs there. If we ran into one or two it was a busy day.
Most other dog parks we encountered in those early years were okay or not much fun at all. Typically, it'd be an acre or two of flat, fenced-in land where dogs could socialize, but not really useful for exercise or exploring.
Eventually, after we moved to Sugar Grove, we found a new dog park that was almost as nice as the first one, but those are stories for another day.
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