GAMBIER — The village’s new dog park is drawing people from in and outside of Gambier, but it’s probably the dogs that enjoy it the most.
Usually found in larger cities, more and more smaller communities are adding dog parks, which usually consist of fenced in areas of varying size where dogs can run free.
Gambier Councilwoman Betsy Heer, one of the village officials who pushed hard to make the park a reality, said the 1.5-acre park near the village community center seems to be popular among residents.
“At least, three dogs in the village have to spend their lives on a leash and they can be free of the leash in the dog park,” she said.
The dog park, which is open to anyone, is between the Kokosing Gap Trail and the ball parks behind the Gambier Community Center on Meadow Lane. Parking is at the eastern edge of the ball parks. The entrance into the dog park is on the northeast corner of the fence, which was put in by Mohican Valley Fencing of Butler shortly after Christmas. The cost of the fence was about $7,400, of which about 46 percent came in the form of donations. The village contributed the remainder of the funds.
Liz Forman, village resident and councilwoman, said the dog park has already become a community gathering place and a nice addition to the village, as council had hoped. She said she is one of a number of dog owners who run there dogs there, particularly in the late afternoon. Many are village residents who know one another.
“I think the community is still learning how to use a park where the dogs are free to run,” she said.
Forman said the winter weather hasn’t kept people from visiting the park. In fact, she said, during the long winter months, it has been nice to have a place where dog owners can walk their dogs without having to worry about salt trucks going by. She said more amenities should be added to the park in the near future.
Jessica Roberts, owner of Pet Vacations, a local company that provides boarding, grooming and recreational visits for dogs, said she is very excited that the county now has a dog park. She said she just learned about it and has visited it several times since, and has donated park benches for dog owners.
“There are many wonderful dogs in Knox County who will be able to get the exercise and continued socialization they may not have been able to get otherwise,” she said. “I'm sure many dog owners will benefit from the efforts made by Betsy Heer and others to raise money to open the Gambier dog park.”
She said there are a few things to consider being bringing a dog to an off-leash dog park. Owners need to make sure they have a friendly, outgoing, previously socialized dog, and practice basic commands such as sit, stay, come to help maintain control if a situation arises. Roberts added that a dog park is not necessarily for every dog.
Len Kain is the spokesman for DogFriendly.com, a company that helps owners arrange dog-friendly vacations and lists the location of dog parks across the country. He said dog parks first began to become popular in the mid 1990s, but in recent years they have begun to spring up in smaller communities, such as towns with 2,000 to 4,000 people. Dog parks arose in cities because of overcrowding and conflicts relating to the use of regular parks.
“The concept is with a dog park, make a safe area,” Kain said. “They can vary anywhere from half an acre to 50 acres.”
He said there are over 50 dog parks in New York City alone. Some are specifically for either large dogs and small dogs, since these two groups of canines don’t always get along well. Some parks are more suitable for shy or older dogs.
Thanks in part to an Ohio Department of Natural Resource grant and the help of local groups such as the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, the county’s first dog park will soon be followed by the second. The Knox County Park District plans to build about a two-acre park at Wolf Run Regional Park on Yauger Road this spring, according to parks director Kim Marshall.
