How we research

Every fact on Pawnauta comes from a source you can check, and every page lists those sources at the bottom.

1. The city's own list comes first

A city guide starts from the official list of off-leash areas published by the city or county parks department — usually on its website or open data portal. If a park isn't on the official list, it isn't presented as an official off-leash area. Private dog parks, dog bars and apartment dog runs are mentioned separately and labeled as private.

We learned this the hard way: crowd-sourced maps alone are not enough. In Austin, most dog areas on OpenStreetMap turned out to be apartment complexes and businesses, while some of the best-known public areas didn't appear by name.

2. Rules come from the posted rules

Leash laws, hours, fees, permits, age limits for puppies and children, and dogs-per-person limits come from the park department's posted rules or the city code. When we can't find a rule in an official source, we say so — in our comparison tables that shows as "—", never a guess.

3. Measurements and comparisons

Sizes are measured from OpenStreetMap outlines of the off-leash area itself, not the whole park. Population figures come from the US Census Bureau's latest city estimates. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License.

4. Travel and federal rules

Guides on flying, national parks and crossing borders rely on the agencies that set the rules — such as the National Park Service, the Department of Transportation and the CDC — and on each airline's or hotel's own published policy, with the date we checked.

5. What we don't do

• We don't write "we visited" or invent ratings, reviews or personal stories.
• We don't give veterinary or medical advice. For health questions, talk to your vet.
• We don't accept payment to list, rank or describe a place.

6. Photos

We use real photos of the places we write about whenever one exists under an open license, mostly from Wikimedia Commons. Each photo is credited under the image with its author and license. When a photo shows a nearby trail or lake instead of the dog area itself, the caption says so.

7. Tools

We use software to collect open data, measure areas and help draft and organize text, including AI writing tools. The facts on a page come from the sources cited at the bottom of it, not from the tools.

8. Updates and corrections

Hours, fees and rules change. Every guide shows the date it was last updated and links to the official page, and we recommend checking the sign at the park before you go. If something is out of date, email [email protected] and we'll fix it once we confirm it.