A Dog Park in Great Falls
A comment on another blog got me thinking about a topic that my wife and I have discussed on many occasions. It has to do with a dog park in Great Falls (or lack thereof).
Technically, there is one. Happy Tails boarding allows you to use their fenced area after hours to allow your dog(s) to run around.
However, I’d like to see a larger area used as a dog park. I think this is a big failing of Great Falls. My wife and I have used dog parks in other towns on quite a few occasions.
They are a good idea for many reasons. One, it allows a city to have a controlled place that owners can let their dogs run free. They can do it here instead of over at the local playground or ball fields. Also, it is good for owners because they can let their dogs run around and work off energy. It is also a great socialization tool for the dogs (a well socialized dog is good for everyone).
Usually dog parks have two separate areas (one for larger dogs and one for smaller dogs). They usually have a couple of benches and trash cans. I’ve also seen where they have water bowls of sorts that allow the dogs to get water. That would have to be shut off for the winter, of course.
Once a dog park is set up, there really isn’t much maintenance. You have to have someone come and mow the grass and take out the trash. That’s about it. I think it would be a great addition to Great Falls.
November 25th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
I am not a dog owner currently so I have no idea what goes into a dog park but the city has many “parks” which have no playground which may be converted to a dog park. What would need to be done to say the Boston Heights park on 34th & 1st north?
(That is a park I visited recently so it was the first to pop into my mind)
November 25th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Panda,
I haven’t been to that park myself so I’ll make mention of some general rules of thumb for conversion (in my humble opinion).
First and foremost, it would have to be fenced in completely. I don’t mean that the entire park has to be, but the dog park portion must be completely fenced in with gate access. There’s no point in a dog park if there is no way to keep the dogs from running away. Most parks have trash cans so that is probably already there. Honestly, that’s the bare minimum. So you are looking at additional fencing costs, really.
To make it nicer, you can add poop bag stations, water for the dogs, etc. But that kind of stuff isn’t necessary at first. I’d say adding the poop bags would help with the cleanup issues. I’ve found that most people who go to dog parks pick up after their dogs.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
The dog park located just off of the Van Buren foot bridge in Missoula is pretty nice.
Fenced in entirely, with an area for the dogs to get into the water if they want, trash cans, lots of trees and bushes, and of course, little dog-poo plastic picker-uppers that fit over your hand are supplied at the gate.
It seems to work for the Missoulians.
Dog Park in Great Falls might work well over on Park Island or even Taylor Island (with foot bridge leading to either)
This way, the pooches would get plenty of bushes, trees and water to play in if they want, and, it would be out of the way of those who might complain about all of the visiting that dogs like to do amongst themeselves.
December 1st, 2007 at 5:07 am
That’s good to know about Missoula. We are always trying to keep track of good dog parks around the state so we have somewhere to go when we travel.
I believe it is Billings that has one attached to a State Park/Lake (the name is slipping my mind at the moment). It also has access to water if the dogs want. It’s not big but it is still nice to have somewhere to take the dogs.