One factor that's often not given enough consideration when officials look for a place to put a dog park in a community is walkability.
It's an irony that in looking for a place for dogs and their humans to get some exercise, whether it's easy for a significant part of the population to actually walk to get there is often overlooked. It's all well and good for the dogs to be able to run happily off-leash once there, but we should really be prioritizing how we get them there as well.
Many off-leash dog parks are located on the periphery, so it's most common to see people pull up to them with their dogs in the back of their vehicle.
This can exclude dog owners who may not own a vehicle, or for whom it just seems like a lot of effort to load the dog(s) up at the end of the day to head to the dog park.
Exercise is the name of the game here, after all, so it makes sense that people as well as their canines should be able to get some in by walking there.
Also, if there isn't a spot within an easy distance it's far more likely that people will unofficially commandeer a space somewhere around their neighbourhoods, which can become contentious.
This means a relatively central location is ideal for dog parks.
A dog park can be a great amenity for a neighbourhood. Not only is it an important place for dogs to socialize, it can also become a hub for owners and other community members to socialize as well.
The Municipality of North Cowichan is currently considering where it can develop a dog park for Chemainus. Right now, dog owners seasonally use a sports field as a dog park, but recreational use of the field is set to increase, so the best long-term option is clearly to develop a new site, in our opinion, though continued shared use is one option that's been put forward.
You can have your say on the three options on the Connect North Cowichan website.
Other features that are important in creating a dog park are fencing, so that dogs that have a tendency to wander out of bounds remain safe and contained, size, year-round access, shaded areas, benches for people, parking and access to water.
Costs for these types of amenities are relatively low, so the land itself is the biggest ticket item, though in the Chemainus case North Cowichan is smartly looking at municipally owned parcels.
In an era where new infrastructure is increasingly prohibitively costly, community dog parks are a great way to give people a gathering place that adds real value to their lives and doesn't break the bank.
