Rocco, Carmelo encounter a friend (left) at the local dog park. Photos by Gregory Tejeda |
AS
IN THOSE areas completely fenced in so that a dog owner can legally bring their
precious pet, unhook their leash and let them run about. Working off the
frustration of being chained up the rest of the day.
The
idea is that it’s pet exercise. They can run. They can play. They can interact
with other dogs – although one aspect of every dog park I’ve ever seen is the
separate portion maintained for dogs who act up.
Almost
like a ‘doggie jail’ for those pets who just can’t “play nice” with each other.
My
own experience with dog parks involves the two canines my father and
step-mother have. I help out with their walking, and periodically am the one
who puts the dogs in the car so we can make a 5-minute drive to their
neighborhood dog park.
WHICH
I HAVE to admit, it’s like the two dogs (Rocco and Carmelo, a black standard poodle
and tan goldendoodle respectively) eagerly anticipate the trip. Getting them to
climb in the car is never a hassle. Although sometimes, Carmelo tries to then
move to the front driver seat – and oftentimes will have his paws up on the
steering wheel as though he’s going to take the automobile out for a spin.
Carmelo (right) encounters a pack at the park |
In
fact, the real trick is to wrestle with the dogs long enough until we actually
get past the locked gates that demark the point at which the municipal “leash”
laws no longer apply.
Plus,
I always find it intriguing the notion that any dogs who happen to already be
in the park come running over to the gate to “check out” the newcomers.
WHICH
INVARIABLY CREATES a noisy racket – everybody in sight is barking at each
other, and it doesn’t end until the dogs are safely inside and off the leash.
Then,
there’s the sight of dogs galore running all about. And sometimes my father’s
pooches managing to find another doggie or two whom they feel some special bit
of attention for. They make a new “friend,” so to speak. Other times, they “wrestle”
with each other.
Carmelo gets playful at the dog park |
Personally,
I find it enjoyable to know I can let the dog off the leash and they can have
some freedom (of sorts) to run about as they please. Which is why I find it odd
that some people seem to think the dog park is a place to find a bench to sit
in the sun and watch while their own dog is perched nearby. It’s like those
people won’t let their pets have any fun.
Then
again, I’ve heard of some dog owners insist they’ll never take their pets to
one of these public parks. They insist their precious pooches will get
contaminated by the germs carried about by everybody else’s mutts!
OF
COURSE, I have to admit that Rocco once developed a pretty serious cough – one
severe enough that he was taken to the “vet.” Who ultimately diagnosed it as
“kennel cough,” and said it most likely was something he caught off another pet
at the dog park. Some medication and a two-week time period away from the park
turned out to be the cure.
My father playing w/ pooches at park |
Now
I know some communities have had these facilities for some time, while others
are trying to turn any sizable plot of land they have into a dog park. I know
in Gary, Ind., officials are contemplating using a one-time Little League
baseball field as a dog park – on the grounds that the outfield fences already
are in place. A one-time center field can become a new doggie playland.
Over
here in Illinois, the General Assembly signed off on providing $50,000 to the
Chicago Public Schools to develop a dog park in the Mount Greenwood
neighborhood, and $200,000 to the Chicago Park District for a place in the Hyde
Park neighborhood and another such facility elsewhere. While the Fox Valley
Park District will get $150,000 for a new dog park in Aurora and upgrades to an
existing park in Montgomery.
It
might be the smartest money spent, if it encourages people to not let their
pets roam free and unleashed. Now if only we can get all pet owners to pick up
their animals’ poop, we’d have a better world.
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