SHEPHERDSTOWN – Dogs gotta run, jump and dig, and doggone it, they need a park for that.
So Shepherdstown Town Council recorder Lori Robertson has unleashed the idea that the town build a park for its four-legged, barking friends.
“Shepherdstown is a dog town. Everybody and their mother has a dog,” Robertson said.
Although the dog park has just staked out a place on the Town Council agenda for discussion, the parks and recreation committee, which will oversee the dog park plan, reconvenes in late March and will be chewing over the idea.
“A lot of friendly dogs need a place to run around and play. They aren’t allowed to run around freely in Rumsey Park. Dogs have to be leashed or have to be in fenced yards, contained,” Robertson, a dog owner herself, said. After her dog Max died at 15, Robertson adopted a year-old chow, Akita mix named Chester.
Even after a location has been found, Robertson said, “there has to be fencing, rules and regulations and more that has to go on behind the scenes.”
Although there are dog parks relatively close by, the closest being Sam Michael’s Park, which is on Job Corps Road near Harpers Ferry, Robertson said she wants to get a location within walking distance of town.
“Whenever I talk to anyone walking dogs on the street, all the other dog walkers say the same thing; they want a dog park,” Robertson said.
Robertson said that her ideal location would be something that’s tucked away a bit, someplace that won’t irritate the neighbors and a shaded area in which dogs and their owners won’t be out in the blazing sun on a hot day.
Shepherdstown dog owners out for a recent stroll with their best friends, agreed.
“It would be awesome to have a park because I live in an apartment without a yard,” Mindy Sizemore, a senior painting major at Shepherd and dog mom to Little Lou, a 2-year-old beagle mix, said. “I would just be interested in whether or not they would charge.”
“There should definitely be a dog park. There are plenty of dogs and not a lot of space,” Andreas, a Shepherdstown resident and dog owner who did not wish to use his last name, said.
“It would be good if it would be in walking distance,” Patty, another Shepherdstown resident who chose to omit her last name and parent to Kiwi and Papaya, 15-year-old schipperke, border collie mixes, said.
While Shepherdstown residents and dog owners approve of the dog park proposal, local business owners like the idea as well.
Laura Rau, the owner of the On the Wings of Dreams shop on German Street, has a policy that well-behaved dogs are allowed in the store as long as their owners are careful of leashes and tails.
“I think it’s a good idea because we’re a really dog-friendly town, more so than just about any small town I’ve ever seen,” Rau, the parent to a 12-year-old border collie, golden retriever mix named Sedona, who regularly frequents the shop, said.
“I think it’s only right that people have a place to walk their dogs,” Carrie Drewry, an employee at Rau’s store, said.
Rau said her only concern is what effects a dog park would have on the town, such as raised taxes.
As far as funding is concerned, Robertson said that fundraisers and donations from fencing contractors are options. “We’ll kind of just have to play it by ear if we can find a spot first,” Robertson said.
“We were looking over by Bain Harris Park where there was a piece of property available, but the person who was going to donate it to the town decided to sell it,” Robertson said.
For now, the search continues, but many Shepherdstown dog owners anticipate the arrival of their very own dog park.