5 Dog Walks in the Town of Huntington - and the Beach Rule
Lillian Ruff Pet Spa
One rule trips up more dog owners around here than any other, and it has nothing to do with leashes. Dogs are kept off Town of Huntington beaches — with one narrow exception almost nobody hears about. Here is what the town allows, five trails it names for on-leash walking, two state parks people mix up, and what a sandy walk leaves in a coat.
Town of Huntington Code §159-20(D) prohibits dogs from all town beaches except paved areas and boardwalks. The boardwalk is fine. The sand is not.
Start with the beach rule
People read "dog-friendly town" and assume that includes the shoreline. It does not. A dog can be quite legal on a boardwalk and out of bounds twenty feet away on the sand.
Crab Meadow Beach's observation deck is open Memorial Day through Labor Day and bars animals other than service dogs. Rules and seasons change, so check with the town before you rely on any of this — we are groomers, not the town clerk.
Five town trails that name dogs
The Town of Huntington allows on-leash dogs in most of its 140-plus parks, with leashes six feet or shorter. Five walks are named specifically as on-leash dog-walking trails, spread across the hamlets around East Northport.
| Walk | Where | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Jerome Ambro Memorial Wetlands Preserve | Seaside Court, Northport | Wetlands preserve, on-leash |
| Phragmites Park | Fort Salonga Rd, Centerport | Town park, on-leash |
| Frazer Drive Park | Greenlawn | Town park, on-leash |
| Sunshine Acres Park | Town Line Rd, Commack | The upper paved path is the named route |
| Dix Hills Park Woodland Trail | Veterans Memorial Hwy, Dix Hills | Woodland trail, on-leash |
Think about these in coat terms first. A wetlands preserve and a woodland trail put a dog through damp ground and low brush; a paved path does not. If your dog carries a long or dense coat and you are short on drying time that evening, take the paved one.
The off-leash run is in East Northport
The town's off-leash dog run sits at the Huntington Animal Shelter, 106 Deposit Road, East Northport, NY 11731 — the same hamlet and ZIP as our salon at 16 Laurel Rd. It is roughly two-thirds of an acre with waste stations, a shade and rain pavilion and running water, open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm and Saturday and Sunday 9am to 4pm.
You need a permit, and it is free. Here is the order it goes in.
Check you qualify
Permits require Huntington residency, a licensed dog and current rabies vaccination.
Check the dog
Dogs must be spayed or neutered and at least four months old.
Collect the permit
Permits are picked up at the shelter office, past the dog park itself.
Bring two dogs at most
The limit is two dogs per visit.
If you want water and a paved walk instead of an enclosure, Northport Village Park — the roughly nine-acre waterfront park at the foot of Main Street, also called Cow Harbor Park — permits on-leash dogs and has paved paths, benches, parking and restrooms. Main Street's sidewalks are dog-friendly and several shops and restaurants put water bowls out.
Two state parks, two different answers
Sunken Meadow State Park
- Leashed dogs in the undeveloped eastern portion
- Not on the beach or the boardwalk
- Not at playgrounds, pools or the golf course
- Not inside buildings
Caleb Smith State Park Preserve
- No pets at all, anywhere in the preserve
- A passive preserve — bikes and picnics banned too
- Do not plan a dog walk around it
- Worth knowing before you set out for Smithtown
Two state parks people ask about have opposite answers. Check before you go, not when you get there.
What sand, salt and mud actually leave in a coat
This is the part we see on the table. A walk does not damage a coat. What happens after it usually does.
The home routine that prevents most of it is short. Check the feet and between the pads. Rinse with plain fresh water — you are removing salt and grit, not degreasing. Dry all the way to the skin, especially on a double coat. Then brush, once the coat is dry and the grit is out, never while it is wet and sandy.
Ticks, without the scare story
New York State's health department splits its deer-tick surveillance into two fixed windows: nymphs from May to September, adults from October to December. In Suffolk County in 2025, nymph density measured 61.04 ticks per 1,000 square meters, with 26.6% carrying the bacterium that causes Lyme. Adults collected October to December 2025 tested positive at 52.8% — roughly double the nymph rate.
Some context, because those numbers get stretched. Suffolk is not the tickiest county in New York by density; it ranked eighth in the state for nymphal density in 2025. It does lead the state in raw Lyme case count, with 3,152 in 2024 — but a count is not a rate. The 2025 surveillance report says the Capital District region tended to have the highest Lyme incidence rate between 2020 and 2024.
Going through a coat with a comb is how ticks get found, and we will tell you what we find and where. We do not diagnose anything. A bite site that looks inflamed, a rash, or a dog who seems off after a walk is a call to your vet, not to us.
When it is a bath, and when it is nothing at all
Most walks around here need no more than a rinse and a proper dry at home. A paved loop at Cow Harbor Park on a dry day needs nothing. We would rather tell you that than sell you an appointment you did not need.
Book when the coat is genuinely loaded — sand deep in an undercoat that will not brush out, salt residue on a dog already itchy, or mud dried into mats behind the ears and between the toes. If a mat has set hard enough that brushing it out would hurt, the honest answer is a haircut instead.
We are at 16 Laurel Rd, open Tuesday to Saturday, 9 to 5, closed Sunday and Monday. The salon here is grooming only — no daycare, no boarding. Our East Northport location page has the details, and booking is online.
Questions people actually ask
What does a post-walk clean-up cost?
It goes by your dog's weight, and both ranges are published: bath and brush $35 to $120, full groom with a haircut $70 to $155. You can see the figure for your dog and book in the same place on our grooming page.
If you find a tick during the groom, what happens?
We tell you what we found and where on the body it was, so you can pass that on with the date and where you had been walking. We cannot diagnose or treat anything, so the next call is your vet's.
Can I bring my dog in still damp and sandy?
Yes. We are washing the dog anyway, so a sandy arrival costs nothing. One request: do not brush a sandy coat first — that grinds grit into the skin and makes the dog sore before we start. Appointments are booked online in advance rather than walked in.
How long does a double coat really take to dry?
Far longer than the top coat suggests. The outer layer can feel dry to the hand while the undercoat is still wet at the skin, and that is the layer that turns tangles into packed matting. A towel and a warm room rarely reach it; a proper dry works air right through.
Can I get my dog in on a Sunday after a weekend walk?
Not in East Northport — we are open Tuesday to Saturday, 9 to 5, and closed Sunday and Monday. Our Ronkonkoma salon at 835 Portion Rd is open seven days, 9 to 5, and it is a short drive away.
Walk first. Book the clean-up when it is actually needed.
Pick your service, see the price for your dog's weight and choose a time online — no phone tag.
See pricing & book ›16 Laurel Rd, East Northport, NY 11731 · Tue–Sat 9–5
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