Good schools, a convenient commute, low taxes ... the list of things home buyers want in a community are fairly familiar. But there’s another feature that real-estate agents and the buyers and sellers they serve may start to consider just as critical.

Thanks to the annual Dog Park Rankings from the Trust for Public Land, it’s easy to see how parks for pets are becoming increasingly, ahem, pupular — and which cities have the most of them.

There are now 774 dog parks in the 100 biggest metro areas, a nearly 5% increase over last year and up 40% since the trust started keeping track, in 2009. “Dog parks are among the fastest-growing amenities in the 100 largest U.S. cities’ park systems — and the top cities may be surprising,” the trust wrote in its analysis.

Or not so surprising, if you believe housing-market attributes reflect people’s priorities, including man’s best friend.

As Ralph McLaughlin, former chief economist with Trulia, told MarketWatch, “With dog ownership on the rise in the U.S., it shouldn’t come as a surprise that home builders and local governments are increasingly providing dog parks for their residents. Dog parks may also play a role in helping sustain relative value in neighborhoods with them compared to those without.”

As dog lovers would say, “Good boy!”

But if your city or town doesn’t have a dog park, don’t get (p)upset. The Trust for Public Land shared a few resources with MarketWatch, including some tips from a company that helps engineer dog parks, thoughts from the American Kennel Club and some best practices from the city of Ann Arbor, Mich.

And here’s some backup if you get pushback about devoting municipal resources to the canine population.

Daren Blomquist, senior vice president with real-estate data provider Attom Data Solutions, reviewed the trust’s annual report. He told MarketWatch, “The cities with the highest density of dog parks are some of the most dynamic housing markets in the country. In the top 10, at least half of are in the top 50 for highest home-price increases, according to our data. Most are posting home-price appreciation faster than the national average. These markets are going places, and I think part of what is drawing people to these areas is the dog-friendly environment that they’re finding.”

Give that guy a bone.

Lola, a Shetland sheepdog, approves of outdoor time. Lauren Loricchio

As this comment from the popular online documentarian the Dogist shows, when people take dogs to parks, it sparks all kinds of community: