The story
Built by a dog dad,
for dogs like his.
Bark Parks started with one reactive German Shepherd, one frustrated owner, and a simple question: why isn't there a better option for dogs like Finn?
Andrew Dare
Founder · Cape Town
Andrew is a Cape Town-based dog dad and the founder of Bark Parks. He shares his home with Finn, an 8-year-old rescue German Shepherd cross with a big heart and a complicated relationship with the outside world.
Finn is a reactive dog. On the lead, he lacks confidence around unfamiliar people and other dogs, something that's far more common than most owners realise. What started as the occasional moment of tension on a walk gradually became a persistent challenge. Every outing came with a knot of anxiety: which route would be safe today? Who might they encounter? What would happen if another dog approached off-lead?
Over time, the list of places Andrew could take Finn without stress grew shorter and shorter. The options that remained were busy parks, popular walking trails, beaches on summer weekends. All of them often felt more like a gauntlet than a walk.
Andrew didn't want to stop giving Finn new environments to explore. He wanted the opposite: a way for Finn to experience the joy of sniffing a new garden, running through open grass, and genuinely switching off, without the unpredictability that made it so hard.
When he discovered that private dog park rentals were gaining traction overseas, he saw exactly what was missing in South Africa. Dog owners here deserve the same option: a safe, private space, booked in advance, just for their dog. No strangers. No surprises.
Finn
Chief inspiration officer8-year-old rescue German Shepherd cross · Cape Town, Western Cape
Finn is reactive, cautious on the lead, and not particularly interested in meeting strangers. Give him a private garden with good grass and he's a completely different dog. He's the reason Bark Parks exists, and he's never going to know it.
You're not alone
There are thousands of dog owners just like Andrew, and most of them are invisible.
You don't see them at the dog park on a Saturday morning. But they're out there. They're the ones setting an alarm for 5:30am to walk before anyone else is around. They're crossing the road every time another dog appears, turning around mid-walk because something feels off, or cutting the session short before the anxiety becomes an incident.
Some of them have stopped walking their dogs altogether. Not because they don't love them, but because the stress of not knowing what they'll encounter has become too much. Others carry a quiet shame about it, as though having a reactive or nervous dog is somehow a reflection on them.
It isn't. You're not alone. Your dog deserves to experience what other owners don't even realise they're lucky to have.
Andrew Dare, Founder
Whether your dog is anxious, reactive, or just in need of room to run, there's a Bark Park for them.
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