Susan Richardson enters the Newport Paw Park with her dogs.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

Brewski, a 2½-year-old Yorkshire terrier, greets almost everyone who visits the dog park.

“That’s why a lot of people call him ‘The Mayor,’ ” says Bob Foster, who’s at the other end of Brewski’s leash when they leave the park.

The dog park within Warwick City Park is one of five legal off-leash dog areas in the state (see box), although more are being discussed or planned in other communities.

On a sunny weekday, more than two dozen dogs are playing at midday at three of the parks: the Gano Street Dog Park in Providence, the Newport Paw Park on Connell Highway and the Warwick City Park dog area.

Brewski and his human visit the Warwick park every day, and sometimes twice a day, throughout the year, rain, shine, sleet or snow. The Yorkie and Bob Foster have come to know all the other regulars. In an area for small dogs only, Brewski was wrestling with Charlie, a 10-month-old schnauzer-poodle cross or “schnoodle” and Pepsi, a cockapoo cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle.

Dogs and humans at the off-leash areas get to know one another’s personalities, several humans said, and sometimes conflicts arise.

“I’ve seen people shoving each other because of their dogs’ behavior,” said Foster.

On cue, a pit bull in the large-dog area appeared to become overly aggressive with another dog, and the pit bull’s human was slow to pull her dog off. Another dog’s human began shouting at the pit bull’s owner. She shouted back, and then decided to leash her dog and leave.

“Watch the other dogs now,” Foster said. “Watch them settle down now that the pit bull is gone.”

Within seconds, the other dogs resumed rough-housing and chasing one another, but a sense of calm settled over the park.

Several humans cited the safety that fenced dog areas offer, but throughout the country, and in Rhode Island, large dogs have killed small dogs in paw parks.

“They don’t mean to,” said Terri Page, owner of Page’s Pampered Pets, a pet-sitting company in Jamestown. “They shake them like rag dolls.” (In September, an adopted greyhound killed a six-month-old Pomeranian-poodle mix at the Barrington dog park.)

When Page opens the door of her van at the Newport Paw Park, it’s like a clown car, with a dozens breeds, large and small, pouring out.

Most dog parks have separate areas to keep large breeds and small breeds apart. Nonetheless, each time a new dog enters an area, the pack’s dynamic changes, and the dogs must rearrange their social hierarchy.

“It’s instant,” said Robert Pierce, who runs Kush, an athletic pit bull with a slate coat, at the Dexter Dog Park in Providence. Though he says that on weekdays the park is busy only between 7 and 9 a.m. and 6 to 8 p.m., “Sunday is potluck day, with all kinds of breeds,” each of whom will establish a place in the pack’s order. “Everyone is here. It’s the jackpot.”

Dogs at their new park on Gano Street in Providence can tell immediately which pack members are dominant and which are submissive, said Brian Boyce, watching his two young beagles, Abbey and Lucy. And, he said, a dominant dog can tell from a submissive dog’s yelp that the dominant dog is being too harsh. “They back off,” he said.

When Karen Donohue first brought Muffin, a beagle-Chihuahua (“cheagle”) mix, to the Newport park, the diminutive dog “was very picky about the dogs she socialized with,” Donahue said. As time passed, however, Muffin became more outgoing and confident among larger dogs. “It’s made a big difference at home, too,” Donahue said. “She’s a lot calmer.”

Dog parks build relationships among the humans who go there, too, said Kelsey Landhal, who visits the Gano Street park in Providence with her seven-month-old Rottweiler, Baci. “When I moved here from Buffalo, I didn’t know a soul,” she said. “Now, I know everyone here. The dogs have a community here, and the people do, too.”

tmeade@projo.com