First time at the dog park

[Michael Romanos]

I am appalled at what some local authorities in the USA pass over as a 'dog park.' What are the dog parks like in your town, region?
Are they well grassed, well caref for, do they have trees and bushes, are they interesting and large enough for at least a 10 -15 minute walk around the perimeter. I suppose they wouldn't ever contain a stream with a swimming hole of sorts for dogs paddling and swimming.

[darci]

Actually yes Michael there are some very nice dog parks in the USA.

[milles2]

I have been to 2 different ones here in my area. One is simple an ipen grassy area (no trees) that a village has near it's ball fields. The second one has shady areas, picnic tables, landscaping etc. My friend in Pa has 2 dog parks and one has a stream and pnd, ;ots of trees. They vary quite a bit.

[Jespah]

I thought the fenced-in dog park we visited in Connecticut, while although small, was in a lovely area and quite nice. I believe that was in the USA.

Deb

[Mvons]

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

I am appalled at what some local authorities in the USA pass over as a 'dog park.' What are the dog parks like in your town, region? Are they well grassed, well care for, do they have trees and bushes, are they interesting and large enough for at least a 10 -15 minute walk around the perimeter. I suppose they wouldn't ever contain a stream with a swimming hole of sorts for dogs paddling and swimming.

Must be nice that number one you live in a area that has tons of affordable and open land to create large dog parks. Number two that trees grow fine there. Number three that you have NO drought and can easily water the grass. Guess that also covers the stream. Streams here are for the wildlife that a dog park would only destroy.

Southern Calif goes in an out of droughts and it is a sore subject because I lost 20 100ft trees from the drought. Central Montana is in their 8, yes eighth year of drought. Are there any Aussies on the dry side on this forum?

So no Idyllwild does not have grass because no one in their right mine would WASTE water, by having a grass yard. A dog park here is as large an area as the recreation group could AFFORD ($80K for 1/4 acre). The key is a secure, high fence surrounding it so I will be able to take my corgi and not worry about a predator hopping the fence!

Poway (our prior home) is fortunate to have a large dog park with trees and grass that the gophers destroy with their many holes. It is the only time I applaud the coyotes when they feast on the gophers there. It is nice and maintained is because it is part of the community park, not separate and they have the funds to maintain it.

Personally I think a crummy little dog park in a city with only a fence is wonderful because of the low income people who might be crammed in a tiny home and will really use the facility to give their dog some running room. Sorry if their poor park is appalling to you because they are too poor. But a crummy dog park is better than nothing. But if you'd like to improve those appalling parks, they'd love to have your financing.

Merrie

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by Mvons

Personally I think a crummy little dog park in a city with only a fence is wonderful because of the low income people who might be crammed in a tiny home and will really use the facility to give their dog some running room. Sorry if their poor park is appalling to you because they are too poor. But a crummy dog park is better than nothing. But if you'd like to improve those appalling parks, they'd love to have your financing.

You know Merrie, I seriously doubt if the dogs really care if there is grass or bushes, trees are nice for shade. Streams would just make for muddy dogs.

And you make some very good points about droughts and such. Even Utah is mostly desert, even where I live, it's considered high mountain desert. We have mostly sage brush on the mountains around us.

Peggy

[Michael Romanos]

I must admit that in areas of extreme drought in summer months, a good grassed dog park must create difficulties. But hey, what about in the winter, autumn and spring. These local authorities look after parks for sole human use very very well, with watering and planting and mowing etc. Dog owners shouldn't be given the worse end of the stick - not as tax and rate payers. And dogs do love grass. They are grass animals. Dirt parks are for rodeos. Corgis just love shady areas in warm-hot weather. Somewhere you and your dogs can sit in the shade following play seems pretty good to me.
There are some poor special spaces for dogs in some areas in the region I live in. An agility and obedience club in Kapiti has a council facility given them but it is inside a rubbish tip area. The club wants out but the council won't help out with anything else that is suitable. And in Wellington City where dogs are heavily restricted, a new dog walk area has been established -but it is in a god forsaken place and miles away from anywhere handy and fairly unattractive I believe.

[corgimom]

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

I am appalled at what some local authorities in the USA pass over as a 'dog park.'.

You are? Have you been here to see some of our dog parks?

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

I suppose they wouldn't ever contain a stream with a swimming hole of sorts for dogs paddling and swimming.

A local dog park has one.

[Dillydoodle]

deleted post

[Mvons]

Michael as the moderator, could you please learn to stick to the thread on your post. You should have started a new thread on what is the condition of your dog park, instead of going off on a different subject in this thread!!! We expect more of a moderator because on other forums (automobiles) I get that skill. It helps a person doing a search by looking at thread titles because sometimes a person can't come up with the right search word. Which is what I had last night.

Merrie

[Cheetah]

Unfortunately, the grass in most dog parks around here gets destroyed by drought, and the dogs in the park. There is a STRICT water restriction in Colorado (because somebody decided to sell what little water we have to neighboring states), and unfortunately, watering the dog parks does not take priority.

That said, I've been to dog parks that have trees and bushes, and most of them have a water supply for the dogs to drink (one even has this huge bowl, and you turn the faucet, and the water refills the bowl instantly).

Most of the dog parks around here are free, so they really don't get a whole lot of money to work with. All the nicest ones are inside state parks and you have to pay to get in (and me being currently unemployed, I can't afford to pay to go to the dog park). So basically, we take what we can get. Apparently, it's very expensive to have a dog park built. My grandmother was part of a board of people who had one built, and it took thousands upon thousands of dollars just for the proper fencing (with double gates), the poop bag receptacles, and trash cans. After the dog park had been there for a few months, the grass got torn out by all the dogs who went there.

When I took Shippo to the dog park for the first time, I let him sit inside the double gates for a while, so the other dogs could approach him without crowding him. After he was comfortable with that, I let him in and he ran around with the big dogs.

[Michael Romanos]

There is no dog park or dog walking strips or areas in New Zealand that are privately owned or incur a fee for its use. The ones that have been put together are owned by a local authority (town or city council) and are therefore constructed and maintained from general taxes (local taxes here are termed 'rates') ie all the people pay for the facilities out of general taxes.
There was a thread or posts in the past on Go Corgi from a member oin the USA who wanted to know how to go about getting a dog park installed in his area and one that was of a good standard. I don't know whether this member succeeded or not but he did get some sound advice.

I think you'll find that some of the man-made dog parks in the USA are pretty lousy.

The biggest dog park in the world is in Australia - the great outbacks - which goes on for days and days and miles and miles and is home to the Dingo. Not much grass in a lot of that expanse of Aussie - which contains the world's largest desert.

[minnesotaCorgi]

It's not unusual for a puppy to be super cautious, hesitant, and essentially not play at all during their first play date, even with other puppies. Penny hid under chairs and between people's legs for her first couple play groups. However, your best shot at a positive play experience is to get Molly together with dogs her own age. Besides the size mismatch, older dogs generally aren't interested in rough-housing with puppies.

Do you have a Humane Society nearby? If so, they may have a small dog or puppy play group that you and Molly can attend. These were great for my dog's first "play" experiences. There may be a fee to attend, but for your money you get a controlled hour of play with dogs her own age, and staff who can give you assurance.

However, if the dog park is your only option, you might be able to network with other small dog—preferably puppy—owners. Sometimes people hang signs up by the fence at my local park, notifying others of times/days they're available to meet. This works best if your dog park has a dedicated small dog area.

Hope this helps.

[MagnoliaFly]

I went to a local dog park (we have about 8 in our county) this week and it really is nice. Both areas have agility obstacles in them (adjustable jumps, A frames, short tunnels) and benches/picnic tables for the people. Both areas have a water bowl/spigot for thirsty doggies.

Bernies first experience was awesome because there was another corgi puppy there. They played together for two hours!

Its plenty grassy and shady, but I wish there was a digging area for dogs that like to dig (like my Bernie). The one she found was right under the bench for the people and she started to get dirt on people sitting there.

I wish the little dog area had more square footage. The big dog area of course has a good size but the little one is just sub-par. I'll hafta go to a few different ones and see how it is.