These dogs have gone to the parks
By Coley Ward
cward@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.04.2007
Sometimes it's good to get out of the house, get a little exercise and sniff a stranger or two. Just ask the dogs who romp regularly at one of Tucson's "bark parks" — fenced areas where dogs can run and play off-leash while their owners sit and chat.
Dog parks have become all the rage in recent years, according to Tucson Parks and Recreation Administrator Peg Weber. She says communities across the country can't add them fast enough.
Nowhere is the trend more evident than in the Tucson area, where there are nearly a dozen off-leash parks.
In the mornings and in the evenings, the dogcentric playgrounds are filled with the sound of slamming car doors, barking Labradors and yelping Yorkies. The parks are busiest from 6 to 9 a.m. and from 5 to 8 p.m.
You'll see every breed imaginable at the parks, not to mention all sorts of owners.
Jacqueline Dyer said she stopped taking her Alaskan Malamute, Chica, to Udall Park after being made to feel unwelcome.
"They don't understand their behavior," Dyer said. "They think playing is aggression and you can't explain that every time."
Others say they prefer a park with active users. Kerrie Yarnell visits the North Sixth Avenue Dog Park in the evenings with her 16-month-old Ridgeback mix, Sonny. Yarnell says she loves the park's familial feel.
"I think people come here for the same reason, and a sense of community is generated out of that," Yarnell says.
Thom McKinney of Dog Day Adventures takes his dog, Scout, and clients' dogs to Brandi Fenton Memorial and Udall parks.
By and large, he said, he believes dog parks are attended by very responsible people.
There are many different opinions about dog behavior, he said, but if another dog owner is becoming distressed about something that involves your dog, then it's only common courtesy to direct your dog away.
"The dog parks are fascinating because they have such a dynamic ebb and flow. It's not a stable pack of dogs; it's constantly changing," McKinney said. "If you consider that, the dog parks work extremely well."
If you're wondering which dog park is right for you and your furry friend, park officials suggest you first check out the parks without your dog. Start with the park that's closest to your home and go from there.
Talk to the humans there.
That's what we did. Here are some of their stories.
Old friends
Dana Wilson and Diana Rubin are at Jacobs Dog Park every morning at 8. Wilson brings Comet, a pale yellow, 9-month-old Labrador/Shar-Pei mix. Rubin shows up with Buddy, a young brown Labrador.
Both women have diabetes and had an afternoon of doctors appointments ahead.
Comet, who was found wandering the desert as a puppy, is today training to be a helper dog.
"I couldn't have found a better dog if I tried," Wilson says. "He goes on the bus with me and stays right beside me. He's learning to bring me things."
Too rough?
Two dogs, a bull terrier named Thor and a smaller brown mix named RJ, are jumping on one another and biting at each other's necks.
RJ's owner, Gina Caracci, is nervous.
"I can't help it," she said. "I know they're just playing but I'm overprotective."
Several dog owners said that Reid Park has too many aggressive dogs.
Other dog owners have a more laissez-faire approach.
"If their tails are wagging, quit your nagging," says Mark Dinkle. "That's what the sign at the front of the park should say."
Like a family
The relatively modest dog park on North Sixth Avenue near East Grant Road, which is only about one-third of an acre, makes up for its lack of size with plenty of heart.
When a bull terrier puppy was found abandoned and injured at the park recently, the regulars held a fundraiser to pay for his surgery. Lola Handzel volunteered to take in the dog and now isn't sure she'll be able to give him up.
"I've already got two dogs and a cat," Handzel said. "But he's just so sweet."
First the door, then . . .
Rachel Moss sometimes takes her Weimaraner, Gracie, to Reid Park, because it's closer to home. But if she has time, she prefers to take her to the quiet, not-too-crowded Jacobs Park.
Moss, who brings Gracie to Jacobs Park about three times a week, says the decision to get a dog was her husband's.
"We were renting and there was a dog door in the house and my husband stared at it every day until he finally decided we had to get a dog," Moss said.
Now, she says, Gracie is "her dog."
"I wasn't sure about a dog at first," Moss said. "But after we got her I fell in love with her."
West Side park boasts killer views and a lake
One of the most scenic and serene spots to take Spot is just down the street from the most depressing place in town — the county pound.
In addition to an unobstructed view of the Catalinas, the canine playground at Christopher Columbus Park is a stone's throw from the park's lake. With its waterfowl, boaters and anglers, the tranquil pond is world's away, atmospherically, from the nearby cages at Pima Animal Care Center.
On Sunday afternoon at the park, more than a dozen dogs of all sizes got along famously as they romped around the West Side enclosure. A Boston terrier parked himself in one of the big water bowls, turning it into his own little swimming pool.
Calvin Forrey, 22, was there with Pooch, a red-nosed pit he found wandering the streets a few days earlier.
"I'm trying to find the owners," said Forrey, who found the dog near East Fort Lowell Road and North Mountain Avenue. "I'm going to see if he has a microchip and I've been looking around the neighborhood for 'lost dog' signs."
If he fails to find the owner, Forrey plans to give the dog a home and plenty of love.
New park coming soon
In December, a brand-new off-leash area will open in Reid Park.
The new bark park, which will dwarf the city's other dog parks, will be named Miko's Corner Playground in memory of Miko, a Tucson police dog killed in the line of duty last year. It will span two acres — nearly twice the size of the city's second-largest dog park, at Udall Park.
The new park will feature a grass surface, with a dirt track around the exterior and dozens of drinking fountains for humans and dogs. It will replace the current off-leash area.
— M. Scot Skinner contributed to this report.
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