I wish we had a dog park!

[skyler08]

We have this great place where we live called Woodcock Lake, we take Skyler there all the time. It has a huge lake, a creek, a mile long dam and tons of nature trails. There is also an old beach there which is no longer open, I would love to see it turned into a dogpark. It would be perfect, it's fenced in has lots of running room and of course is right on the lake. I think I might see if I can do something about it, and maybe get the word around and see if anyone will listen. Has anyone on here had experience with something like this?

[mbc1963]

I don't have experience, but my city is in the middle of debating a dog park, because there've been a couple severe dog attacks in the last few months, and people are up in arms about vicious dogs. Which makes the dog owners say, "Hey, my dog is completely under control and I need a place to exercise him!"

 

Unfortunately, what city leaders seem to have in mind is to take a very small bit of grass (maybe a few acres, long and narrow?) and put a fence around it. Which means you can't really walk your dog there - you can just stand around with other owners, while every random dog in the town is in your dog's face. Not gonna work for me and my reactive dog, nor for most people I know who like to take their dogs to the woods to get in a good sniff/run adventure. ::Sigh::

 

What I'm going to do is continue to take my dog into the public parks where there are woods to run, get him off the busy trails, and let him run. If I see a person with a dog, I leash Buddy and it's fine. If I see a person without a dog, I just have him do a "sit-stay" until they pass. It's really good training practice for both of us.

 

Good luck. I imagine there are some city legal hoops you have to jump through?

 

Mary

[skyler08]

Yeah, I guess you are right about there being so many dogs and people it would probably be over crowded. I guess I can't complain, taking her for a dip in the creek and a walk in the woods has been fine.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

They want to take some of our dog parks away! Most of them are just grass and fence, some not even fenced, but there are a couple like what you mentioned that are by the river and wonderful! They do get REALLY busy with all the water crazy labs and retirevers, but if you get there early in the morning or later around supper time, they aren't so busy. They are thinking about making some of the dog parks into no dog parks, which I think is stupid! I would imagine that there would be a ton of stuff you'd have to go through to get the city to change it over, but if you live in a smaller city, it may not be that long of a procedure....

[Alaska]

Good article here: The Bark examines the nation's dog parks and gives tips on how to create a park of one's own

[DTrain]

In my experience generally cities are not very receptive to dog parks. It increases their costs to have the parks cleaned and cared for. No matter what rules are set some people will not follow them, they will not clean-up after their dogs. To many people allow thier dogs to run which creates problems with other dogs. The vast majority of people do not have trained dogs so they are a problem waiting to happen. Cities get far too many complaints. I have visited several parks in large cities and have found both dog and people problems. Most of the problems come from over-crowding and everyone wants their own space. Most dog parks I am aware of in large cities require that the dogs be leashed so what is the point. In actual fact most cities with dog parks would like to get rid of them. I have heard it suggested that some cities now want to charge for park use so they can assign cleaning staffs. I have also heard it suggested that some cities would like to set new rules and have the parks patrolled by a by-law officer, revenue. I am not aware of one at the moment but see if you can find a city with a successful dog park program and take it from there.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

In my experience generally cities are not very receptive to dog parks. It increases their costs to have the parks cleaned and cared for....

 

That is funny you mentioned this! The off leash park that I usually go to has an annual spring clean up as soon as the snow is gone and EVERYONE goes to help clean up the park. This year the city proudly handed out over 700 parking tickets to all the volunteers that were parked on the service road instead of in the parking lot. I am pretty sure that they've made any money they lost back on that one. There is also a retired lady that volunteers to "patrol" the park durring week days to make sure people are abiding by the laws. The majority of maintenance (which is minimal since it one massive field by the river) is done by volunteers. So, it is possible...

[Bo Peep]

That's awful about the tickets!! I loved the little dog park that was near my old house. Everyone picked up after their dogs, hardly any fights and the owners would jump in and sort them out. They just had some good people there. It's open all year, but you rarely see people on hot days, just when it starts to cool down. It's even lit for nighttime. There is another one with no fence that I used to take my old dogs to. It's too far of a drive for me from here. They don't provide benches, shade or water or poop bags. I like the new one better. I hope you can get one started because they truly are fun for the dogs.

[skyler08]

Thanks everyone. I will probably put the word around town and see if anyone seems interested, maybe at a city council meeting or something. The city/town I live in is fairly small, I'd say 20-30 thousand people, so we'll just have to see what happens I guess.

[Bo Peep]

Good Luck!!!!