Dog owners know their four-legged friends need space — a lot of it. Particularly space where they can frolick off leash. Run. Bark. Wrestle. Chase. You know, dog things.

But have you ever stopped to ponder just how dog-friendly Minnesota — or even Minneapolis and Saint Paul — is for Fido? Thankfully, the good folks over at The Trust for Public Land took the time to dig in to the data to find the answer. And if you thought we stacked up well compared to other cities in America, well, you're not wrong.

The list — which ranked Minneapolis and Saint Paul separately — slotted them both among the top 40 in the nation. Minneapolis (Rank: 28)

Population: 415,852



Dog parks: 7



Dog parks per 100,000 residents: 1.7

Saint Paul (Rank: 37)

Population: 304,055



Dog parks: 4



Dog parks per 100,000 residents: 1.3 It appears no city can hold a candle to Boise, Idaho, which has 15 dog parks for its roughly 225,400 people. That's a whopping 6.7 off-leash dog areas per 100,000 residents.

The next closest was Portland, Oregon, with 5.2 dog parks per 100,000 residents. Henderson, Nevada, ranked third in the country, while Norfolk, Virginia, and Las Vegas rounded out the top five. While dog owners in these cities may feel discouraged, they should take solace in the fact they don't live in the cities listed below, which tied for dead last. Not one has a single dog park.

Garland, Texas

Lubbock, Texas

Santa Ana, California

Newark, New Jersey

Hialeah, Florida Each year, the organization's Center for City Park Excellence gathers data on the nation's largest city park systems.

"This year, we decided to take a closer look at the dog parks data because they are becoming so popular," Charlie McCabe, the center's director, said in a statement. "That led to these rankings of cities with the most dog parks relative to population."

Dog parks, meaning off-leash dog areas, were among the fastest growing park amenities in the combined parks systems of the 100 largest cities, The Trust for Public Land said. The group, which aims to create parks and protect land to foster healthy and livable communities, released its findings in March. There were 774 dedicated dog parks in the 100 largest cities last year. That's 38 more than there were in 2016, and 40 percent more than there were in 2009, the group noted.