Fashion finery at the dog park? We’ll take sensible shoes, thank you

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We’ve never thought of off-leash dog parks as a place to show off one’s clothing -- more like a place to get splattered with muddy paw prints and covered in fur.

Those perils to fine clothing haven’t stopped some fashionable dog owners from looking nice while exercising their pets at area dog parks, though.

For The Times’ Street Fashion series, photographer Colin Young-Wolff visited area dog parks to talk to owners about what they -- and in some cases, their dogs -- were wearing. He met a lot of folks who, like us (and, we imagine, like many of you), dress down for the dog park.

One of them, the sensibly-clad Lucy Ibarra, offered this advice to dog-park newbies: ‘Don’t wear your nice clothes. I got peed on once.’ Of course, there are those among us who must dress to impress, regardless of context.

Check out Young-Wolff’s photo gallery of dog-park fashion at The Times’ Image section. And for the outdoorsy dog owners out there, be sure to take a look at our interactive maps of off-leash dog beaches and dog-friendly hiking trails in Southern California.

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photos, from left: Dominique Brown with her mixed-breed, Thaler; Shenit Hernandez with her mixed-breed, Moe; and Jon Lindsey with his French bulldog, Gustave Flaubert. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff / For The Times