1 Love what’s highlighted in yellow from DogPaw park.
2 Since there’s a lot of animosity, although it’s a more than the other parks charge, I think we should offer $200/dog/year (+ volunteer hours?). This means we could raise over $10,000 and I don’t think the director of the Environmental center could turn that down. If you couldn’t afford that, you could volunteer in the park on the trails or up at the Environmental Center. This would buy a tag for your dog to wear to identify that they could be off-leash.
3. There’s a form below that I got off a site to give us an idea of what could be on file, but would an intro class be worthwhile explaining dog etiquette? Just like we wouldn’t let our kids run in front of a jogger or bicyclist, I think we need to be careful with our dogs. We don’t want any accidents involving either: a jogger tripping or a bicyclist falling off their bike. I don’t think it would take much for the war to start up again so we need to be on best behavior.
4. I think we should limit the hours from dawn to 10am and the hour before dusk when the park is not heavily populated. The more we interfere with runners, bicyclist, kids, picnics, ball games, the more push back and complaints we’ll hear and the better chance they’ll want to rescind this decision next year.
Dog park rules
1. All dogs in off-leash program must
- be at least 16 weeks old to enter
- be fully vaccinated for rabies
- display a permit for use of the park
- be under the handler’s visual contact and voice control at all times
2. The following dogs are not allowed in the off-leash program:
- vicious, dangerous or aggressive dogs
- dogs with communicable diseases
- dogs while in heat
3. Dog handlers in off-leash program must
- clean up after their dogs
- carry a leash for each dog in the park
- discourage dogs from excessive barking and dominating behavior
- stop dogs from digging and fill holes made by their dog
- be responsible for actions and behavior of their dogs at all times
More rules from me:
- Any dog that bites another dog/person loses all privileges forever. The owner will be responsible for medical/veterinarian costs.
- Any dog reported 3 times will be (evaluated by peers?) __________________________________
DOGPAW has 4 off-leash parks in Clark County, Washington. No tax dollars go to maintain DOGPAW Off-leash parks. Our parks are maintained by volunteers who give of their time and energy to help maintain the parks. Membership fees and business sponsorships pay for the cost of running the parks and, eventually, will help build new ones. All of our off-leash dog parks are named after Vancouver and Clark County Police K9s killed in the line of duty.
Why DOGPAW?
DOGPAW passionately believes off-leash dog parks are valuable to the whole community because they:
- Allow dogs and people to socialize and meet friends
Why are dog parks needed?
Well exercised and socialized dogs make for better neighbors and friends. A well-behaved dog starts with a dog who is happy, and a happy dog is one who has used up all his energy doing what dogs do best – running and playing and sniffing.
Off-leash parks give dogs a chance to run, chase balls, sniff stuff and catch up with dog friends. And it gives their human owners opportunities to find new friends or spend time with old ones, walk in nature and enjoy some bonding time with their four-legged friend.
Non-dog owners can benefit from having better dog neighbors who have had opportunities to run off their energy in the safe open spaces of a dog park. Dog parks help reduce the impact of dogs in neighborhoods and help keep dogs out of shelters by reducing destructive and annoying behaviors with exercise.
Other links:
Rockville MD Off Leash Permission Program
Tails and Trails - Wisconsin
Dogpaw Off Leash Parks
IOWA CITY OFF-LEASH DOG PARK PERMITS (TAG) APPLICATION
Colorado Dog Off-Leash Pass
Colorado's Blue Tag
Serve Our Dog Areas -- Washington State
Marin County Dog Walker Permit
Shawnee Mission Park, KS Code of Conduct