As the city of Mission Viejo researches the creation of a “dog park” on city owned land I feel it is important to know the downside of this potential $one million dollar project. Although the following comments regarding dog parks were published five years ago they are still applicable today.
CANINE BEHAVIOR QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
By Kathy Diamond Davis
Author and Trainer
Dog Parks
Q: I hear a lot of good things and bad things about dog parks. I very much enjoy taking my dogs to an off leash park because they get far more exercise than they would on a leash, and it’s very social for me and for them. My two dogs like people and other dogs. But I’ve seen some fights, some injuries, and lots of people yelling at each other over the behavior of their respective dogs. I was bit once breaking up a bad fight the wrong way. What do you think about off-leash dog parks?
A: Dog parks need to be a personal choice for each person with a dog. It’s a choice that needs to be made for each of their individual dogs, because some will function well in dog parks and some will not. Here are some points to consider in making your decisions:
1) Dogs can become ill from the contaminated soil of dog parks, and dogs without strong immunity should be protected from this exposure.
2) Dogs can become injured or even killed in dog parks, and this is a risk each person must seriously consider. If you know your dog is likely to injure or terrorize other dogs, that is a dog who doesn’t belong in an off-leash dog park.
3) Dogs have had their temperaments ruined through dog park experiences. If your dog’s working ability is important to you, there’s a good chance that after a few dog-park experiences, you’ll decide to keep your dog out of such places. Sadly, some dogs’ temperaments are too far gone to rehabilitate, by the time their people understand what is happening.
4) Dog parks need to be responsibly run. People should be able to walk by the dog park with their dogs on leash or their young children without being accosted by loose dogs. Dog parks should be fenced, and the off-leash activity kept inside the fence. Dog parks need to be cleaned frequently. There need to be rules that are enforced, to prevent malicious people from bringing fighting dogs to the park just to watch them maim and kill other people’s dogs.
5) After a perfect day at the dog park, realize your dog is probably going to need a bath! Churning dog feet and dog waste that isn’t promptly cleaned will leave the ground both dirty and contaminated. Be prepared, too, for injuries even when dogs have not been engaged in fighting. Hard running with dogs of widely differing weights can cause orthopedic injuries–especially in the lighter dogs, but also in any dog with an orthopedic weakness you might not have known was there.
6) Keeping your dog out of off-leash dog parks doesn’t mean the dog can’t enjoy exercise and dog-to-dog social time. A play date with a compatible canine pal in a clean fenced area, such as someones well-kept lawn, is a safe alternative to the dog park.
7) Dog parks should be a choice. I’m not in favor of taking this option away from people, but it needs to be an option that isn’t forced on anyone or any dog. A great many mature dogs with temperaments perfectly normal for their breeds can either be dangerous to other dogs in dog parks, or can be irreparably mentally damaged by these experiences. Dog parks are not for everyone.
Note: We own two King Charles Spaniels that we walk twice daily. Although we love them we also recognize the possible health and safety risks associated with bringing them to dog parks. It’s also worth noting that we have a joint venture with the City of Laguna Niguel who uses our animal shelter. Therefore, why not have a reciprocal agreement with them for our use of their dog park for all those who have this pent up need. It’s really a no brainer. Just pack your pet in the car and drive across the freeway. Their free access dog park is not much further away than either of the proposed Mission Viejo sites. This will save Mission Viejo taxpayers well over one million dollars on this “vital” Capital Improvement project.
The June 4, 2007 City Agenda Report Executive Summary of one potential site reads in part: “In summary, the preliminary estimate of probable construction cost for the Alicia Park site is approximately $1,000,000 for construction and $150,000 for design.”
Juice readers, city council and city manager. Did you see part two? $150,000 to design a dog park?Let me not overlook $293,420 for landscaping. I know the male dogs expect to find costly trees and shrubs to lift their legs on. What about the girls?
Mission Viejo’s Community Services Commission will take testimony on this proposed project on Oct 16th at 7 p.m. inside our council chambers. At this point in time two tentative locations have been identified inside city parks. While all residents and guests are welcome please tie up your dogs at the golden fireplug located by the front door. Thank you!
Note: Many years ago I had a colleague who sold electronic products on Long Island. He was toying with naming his firm “EFE Sales.” He told me he would provide “everything for everyone.” Sounds like our city council trolling for votes for the next election.
Juice readers. Would you support this vital project in your city if in fact you don’t already have a dog park?
Help me out here. Would you tell the rest of us if this represents a proper and necessary use of public funds?
Note: MY calls to both our city and Laguna Niguel have yet to be returned. If or when I do obtain some additional data I will amend this post. Specifically, the size of the proposed Mission Viejo dog park and the size and cost of Laguna Niguel’s park.
What exactly are they building on this dog park? Dog parks usually have some benches, water fountains for the dogs and landscaping. Are they considering building some sort of community center on the land?? And what exactly needs to be designed? Dog parks are fairly straight forward. You take a piece of dirt, put a fence around it, add a water fountain, water meter and connect to the water main, and throw down some turf and trees….what am I missing?
email just received from our Mayor:
Hi Larry;
You have dogs. Would you be in favor of a dog park? Gail
anon 3:17 p.m.
What are you missing? If you drive to Mission Viejo and check out our million dollar plus sidewalk along Alicia Parkway by the lake you will answer your own question.
Yes there will be some benches and two $5,000 water fountains.
No. This site will not include any other CIP. It’s a BASIC dog park, or perhaps I should call it a “pet project.” Anything to spend taxpayers money rather than paying down some of our redevelopment debt.
another email response:
“Larry:
It’s difficult to understand the spending or proposed spending of our City Council.
Million $ dog parks????…are all the dogs thorough breds??? is Mission Viejo so affluent? Are are our automobiles so secure that we don’t have to invest additional $’s in beefing up security?
What has happend to “Common Cents”?”
Hell yes. I lived in the Laguna area prior to buying here (Santa Ana) and used the dog park in the canyon 3-4x per week. It allows your dog to properly socialize and exercise in a controlled yet somewhat free environment. After 5 years of taking our dog there we had not once been involved in an altercation. Further, most if not all cities in OC have a dog park, some suck, others are nice and stay clean as the majority of owners who frequent the park are responsible. It is important to note that a few , I believe Orange and Irvine have memberships set up that act like a co-op wherein your $15 per year donation helps fund services. Though not a requirement the mental/emotional responsibility to ante in motives most to do so. With regard to the overall cost of the park, it’s all relative. Your suggestion to “poach” another city’s park is lame, you’re telling your readers to drive into another community’s resource and over-load it. Lastly, if a city, Santa Ana for example, is going to develop into it’s full potential you have to keep residents using and caring about our own facilities and staying in our own communities.
this is funny – you know what the motto was on the first cent ?? it was “Mind your own business.” So when your dog does his business – mind it.
it gets better. here are some reasons why other park sites have been eliminated: Animal Shelter, could cause conflicts (but it is all right to place where kids play); Jeonimo Road Open Space, chain link fence could be an aesthetic issue (but it is ok to load up our parks with cell towers); Petco site, under power lines (but it is ok to expose unsuspecting park users to unsafe emf levels at flo-jo park).
“going to the dogs” has a whole new meaning in mission viejo, doesn;t it ! as does “take a bite out of crime”.
cathy schlicht
email response from a Mission Viejo resident:
“I absolutely do not support a dog park. I like dogs, and expect to be getting one of my own sometime in the near future. But why should I, who am not a dog owner, have my tax money spent on this special interest ‘pet project.’ And at $1,000,000 (probably more based on the city’s records of project cost overruns), I have to believe that some city personnel are in bed with contractors for this project for some financial gain on this project.
Help me out here. Would you tell the rest of us if this represents a proper and necessary use of public funds?
Come on now, Mr. Juice. Of course, a dog park is long overdue, and absolutely a fully justified expenditure of public funds (read that your and my taxes, friend.) Of course our city’s poor pooches and pampered puppies (and those of all the surrounding communities who are way too uncaring and stingy with their tax fund expenditures) need in the worst way a free, taxpayer supported, dedicated parkland for canine cavorting – a doggie Disneyland. Hey! Here’s a great idea for combining pet projects. You could share the same parking lot with one city council member’s special interest pet project of dedicated basketball, publicly financed, gymnasium. That way we taxpayers could support dog owners and basketball playing youth with our money spent on the same tax bill. Now, a really good example of wasteful and totally unnecessary expenditure of public money that would not serve a limited special interest group, but would be wasted on tens of thousands of citizens each day is fixing the constipated traffic fiasco at the I-5/Avery Parkway/Marguerite Parkway complex, likely the worst intersection in south county, if not all of Orange County. But our city council seems much more enamored with really necessary feel good projects like dog parks and basketball gymnasiums instead of troubling themselves with minor nuisances and pesky projects like the worst traffic intersection is south county.”
anon.6:22 p.m.
Poaching? We built a multi million dollar animal shelter BEFORE we built our city library and allow Laguna Niguel to use it. I guess that’s simply a case of being a good neighbor but if the tables are reversed you label it poaching!
The overall cost is relative. Easy for you to say when it’s not your money they are spending on this high priority “pet” project.
One MV taxpayer suggested licensing. I guess this would translate into “pay as you go.”
Why does’nt the city council just consult with Cathy Schlict. She has an opinion on everything, knows everything, and knows the ins and outs of police work; where they should be and what they should be doing. Why waste our time dealing with anyone else. Unless, of course, Uncle Joe Holztman wants to pipe in with his expertise.
In a recent public forum when the advocates of the Dog Park were pushing their plan the question was asked “Should there be a fee for the use of the Dog Park.?” The response by the advocates was one of great indignation by the advocates of the dog park a BIG NO !!!. “Why should we pay a fee for the use of the Dog Park ??”
A Soccer Mom answered the question “Because I have to when my kids team uses the City of Mission Viejo Fields.” A baseball mom added the same answer–I have to pay for the use of the fields.
So build it, and maintain it with a fee based structure to support it. Just like the YMCA the city gave away, just like the local gyms for the kids to play basketball at, and just like Flo Jo Park when my child had a birthday party there.
Over $1 million dollars for a dog park is ridiculous. How much does some hurricane fence and a few excessed old fire plugs really cost ??
Cindy Lighter
Mission Viejo
Larry,
Come on buddy, that’s a regional facility to support the county because I don’t know, we’re the county seat? Don’t question whether my money has gone anywhere or assume you know where it will. I’d be willing to donate personal funds to a dog park in a heartbeat, would you? Could you?
Regarding the library, you need to focus on productive action and maybe focus your time and energy into helping kids graduate high school and maybe they will make it out with the ability to read and actually use a library. You guys act like such a bunch of pompous academics it pisses me off more often than not. I just love it, thanks.
Email from long time Mission Viejo resident:
“My cats are waiting for a feline park that is landscaped with some aviaries. The city could import some tropical birds for their enjoyment…I am certain that we can budget for that as well?!
“Commom Cents” is not in the MV vocabulary…..”
anon 8:54 p.m.
Based on the tone and text of your comment you are a member of our city council or one of their ring bearers who take offense to those of us in the trenches that are not afraid to point out bad policy decisions.
As to Uncle Joe. Your credentials and common sense are not even in the same league. He has pointed out more abuses in MV than most of the everyday citizens who fail to question the city and its out of control spending habits.
Cindy Lighter.
You have clearly made your point. Thank you.
PS: Another resident suggested registering the dogs who use the park. That registration fee could be used to cover part of the costs.
His name. Joe Holtzman.
anon 10:18 a.m.
Think about your comment for a moment. I reported that the city built our animal shelter with heated concrete floors BEFORE building our city library. If you want kids to excell do we place the higher priority on a dog house or build our new library, which was twice the size of the former county facility, as a valuable source of information to help our children graduate.
email from a Mission Viejo Democrat. Yes, we do have Dem’s living in our city.
“This is what happens when the inmates run the Asylum.”
Email from a former candidate for the Mission Viejo city council.
Who said that Democrat’s do not care about wasteful expenditures of taxpayer money on self serving “pet” projects:
Hi,
Go back and watch the council meeting (a few meetings back) where council (with the nod and smile from management) approved to spend $300,000 of Mission Viejo taxpayers’ money to have a float in the Rose Parade in Pasadena so they can sit in their grandeur. What in the heck does Mission Viejo get from spending $300,000 of taxpayers’ money to sit on a float and wave while all the roads around Casta Del Sol have the worst landscaping I have ever seen (worse that many freeway ramps in other cities!)? And, why isn’t the land off Jeronimo by Casta Del Sol used for a park that can accommodate dogs alongside grandparents/parents/children? Why is it called “open space” that could one day be a development if it is not turned into a park? Other cities would not let such a prime piece of land go to the wayside. It should be a continuation of the Oso Trail for families (and dogs in a small area) can use. We pay the taxes but we don’t get the use of our land. The landscaping has been hacked to death and left barren and ugly. In addition, weeds are allowed to fill the empty spots. We need to make Council and management responsible or get those in office and management who will be responsible. Mission Viejo has never looked worse in most areas in over 15 years. And, with all the trees being cut and not replaced, how do they get away with being noted by the Arbor Society? Is that misrepresentation at its best. We need to say no to the $300,000 Rose Parade float (most people did not even know or watch), no to a $300,000 dog park, and yes to the beautification of our streets and parks. It is time that the Mission Viejo manager and council cease causing our property values to fall lower than is natural by the market. When all roads leading to Casta Del Sol look so destroyed and the “open space” across the street looks abandoned for the most part, it is time for change.
What do you think?