When Mabel first arrived at the park, she investigated the fence, the playground features and darted around the enclosure to see and do everything possible.
The 2-year-old pug couldn’t be happier and if she was able, she might have even given the new 7th District Regional Dog Park two paws up.
“There are destination dog parks and we didn’t go to that level,” Recreation & Parks Director Art Shepherd said following a tour of the park. “But this certainly says to our community and everyone who lives here that we have something for everyone and this is a place you do want to live. You don’t have to go somewhere else to get this kind of experience.”
The dog park, which was completed June 12, features two large fenced-in areas, one for small dogs and one for larger canines, with each having its own acclimation area.
“The bigger dogs can intimidate and take over the play space from the small dogs,” Shepherd said, “so that gives them room to roam and that allows the dog owner to be in a safe and comfortable environment.”
Mabel’s owner, Tammy Garner, said she loves the small fenced-in areas and said the feature is “absolutely important.”
“If you have a dog like Mabel that’s not ready to get back on the leash,” the Bushwood resident said, “you can get her [on the leash] in this area.”
The dog park on Colton Point Road in Bushwood also features various toys such as ramps and holes for dogs to jump through. There is also a covered picnic table, benches and everything is ADA-compliant.
“We knew about the dog park business because [putting one in at] Lancaster [Park] taught us a lot of things that we had observed over the years,” Shepherd said.
A contractor and playground specialist were brought in to discuss where the state of Florida-shaped dog park would be situated in the park.
“You look at this size so you have to look at the square footage and figure out, where am I going to fit it in?” Shepherd said.
Shepherd added that citizen input requested a dog park in the northern area of the county, but the recreation and parks department went the extra mile.
“Oh this one here, for sure [I’m happy],” he said. “The way it lays out, its look. The feedback we received from the community was they were very delighted with how it turned out.”
“What grew out of that was the commissioners then heard that and said, ‘Let’s put dog parks in both the central area and northern area,’” said Shepherd, who added the dog park at Dorsey Park in Hollywood should be be ready any day now.
Mechanicsville’s Fifth District dog park, which should be ready shortly as well, will have the same paw print as that at Seventh District park.
Shepherd added that Lancaster Park has lighting for its dog park and the other three “would be candidates for lights because lighting is already in place and staff is already there.”
Shepherd said about 60% of St. Mary’s County homeowners currently have a dog.
“This is just another way of leisure activity with citizens and individuals to be outdoors with their dogs off leash, so we’re delighted we can be part of that leisure opportunity as well,” he said. “We had pretty much had our learning curve with Lancaster Park, [so] we were aware of some of the challenges, issues and input from the citizens. So when the citizens heard [more dog parks] were coming, they were delighted and said they couldn’t wait.”
Garner said the park was a welcome addition as there is a road and big hill near her home as well as another dog in the vicinity, making conditions not ideal for Mabel the dog.
She said the fencing was the “best feature” and said she was “absolutely impressed” with the park.
When asked, Shepherd smiled and said there were “no plans at this time” for a cat park.
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