20
voices-
On Dog Parks
OCTOBER 21.2011
As I ease the car to the curb, Barney presses
his nose against the passenger window, leaving
a large smudge. He whines, then yips out a
sharp bark. I chuckle; does my 11-month-old
pit hull think 1 don’t know this is the dog park?
I clip a leash to his collar for the 50-yard dash
to the double gate just to be safe. I doubt he’d
run anywhere hut toward the fenced dedicated
off-leash area, hut I don’t take a chance.
Twenty years ago, when I began walking
dogs in Portland, this scenario wasn’t possible.
Portland didn’t have official off-leash areas for
dogs to run and play. Fences did not separate
dogs from playgrounds, joggers or traffic speed
ing by. Not that dog owners and companions
didn’t let dogs off leash, we did. But it wasn’t
sanctioned by the city or even always safe.
On a lovely spring morning in 1994, 1 un
dipped leashes, allowing my two Lab mixes to
romp at Wilshire Park in Northeast Portland.
Hie east portion of the park—today a sanc
tioned area for liberated dog use at certain
times— was an unofficial meet-up area for dogs
and dog owners. My girls raced around, sniffing
butts with other canines and treeing squirrels.
Suddenly, something outside the park caught
the attention of one dog, who raced out of
sight. The other dog followed and soon a loud
metallic clatter cracked the air. I thought per
haps a car had hit a telephone pole or a stop
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sign until I heard the sharp, unmistakable cry
of a wounded dog.
W ith heart in throat, I sprinted toward the
sound. W hen I rounded the corner, my beloved
black Lab, Molly, fell to her right with each at
tempted step, followed by a man whose aban
doned red Honda Civic sat in the street, door
hanging open. Her white-ringed eyes told of
fear and pain. In one crashing moment, I ached
for Molly, felt sympathy for the driver who hit
her, cringed at the medical procedures to come,
the bills, my own culpability in this state of af
fairs, and the daily challenge of trying to let the
dogs I loved have a semblance of a dog’s life in
the midst of a city.
Ihe injury damaged a nerve, causing com
plete and incurable paralysis. Molly eventually
lost her leg. She went on to live another 14
years as a three-legged dog. She lifted me out
of self-pity when I was diagnosed with cancer a
year after her injury, she inspired me to seek
training in animal chiropractic, she demon
strated unconditional forgiveness to adopted
children, and her hobbling about on three legs
with head bobbing made it challenging to
whine about life’s daily annoyances.
Maybe everything really does happen for a
reason.
As much as having a three-legged dog for all
those years taught me everything important
about living, surviving, parenting and not
sweating the small stuff, I swore never to put
another dog at similar risk. I began seeking
places where dog and human companion could
exei’cise fully and enjoy each other’s company
unfettered by the leash. It would be more than
a decade before the city o f Portland determined
the issue o f sufficient importance to designate a
few official areas for off-leash dog exercise and
recreation. In fact, it took the deaths of several
dogs at Laurelhurst Park and the resultant hue
and cry of dog owners and dog haters alike to
stir bureaucratic action. The conversation was
vitriolic for a time, but the outcome a delight.
Today there are seven full-time designated
and fenced recreation areas for dogs in Port
land. More if you add those in Beaverton, T i
gard, Tualatin, Wilsonville, Troutdale, Van
couver and Washougal— more still if you
count areas like Wilshire Park where a portion
o f a park is allotted for off-leash dogs to use at
certain times. The website portlandpooch.com
i-------------------------------------------------------------
lists 55, replete with maps, directions and de
scriptions o f amenities.
The dog parks are imperfect. All within
Portland city limits are smaller than two acres,
making poor hiking for humans. Some have
few or no trees. Galloping canine claws tend to
tear up grass so sand, bark chips and mud often
greet your feet. At times a dog group becomes
unruly, but in my experience that is the excep
tion and not the rule.
Despite their flaws, designated dog parks are
a boon for dog owners, providing a place for
pups to learn doggie manners safe from passing
traffic. Dogs who thrive on games of fetch can
easily be satisfied by a trip to the closest dog
park, where they can race after a frisbee or an
orange ball till their tongue hangs on the
ground. A human companion never has to
worry about an errant squirrel seducing the ca
nine, surrounded by a fence, into harm’s way.
Over the next months, I plan to visit each of
Portland’s dog parks, as well as those in the sur
rounding suburbs. I’ll post a review of each trip
on my “Dead Dog Walking” blog, which you
can find at onedogstory.blogspot.com. J#]
M ary M andf . villf . walks, hikes a n d runs w ith
canine frie n d s all around Portland and its e v i-
rons. She practices a n im a l chiropractic in Port
land. Visit animotionchiro.com.
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