Calling All Dog Lovers! Join the City of Duluth Dog Park Task Force

Meet Bauer, my German Short Haired Schnauzer another "love of my life", when he's not chewing my rugs or eating his poop.  He's lucky I have an extreme love for all animals, especially dogs!  The City of Duluth would like to put together a Dog Park Task Force and your input would be greatly appreciated.  Here's the details and a info from a blog I wrote in 2011 of different dog friendly locations.

The first Dog Park Task Force meeting will be Thursday, April 18th beginning at 5:00 PM. It will be held at the Duluth Heights Community Recreation Center, 33 West Mulberry Street.The purpose of the Dog Park Task Force is to examine the possibility of adding additional dog parks in Duluth.

I grew up in Wrenshall, where there was plenty of fields, dirt roads, gravel pits and big yards to walk, run and play with my dogs.  After moving to Duluth, I found that allowable space for those activities was severely limited.  That sent me on a search to find the "best" places to bring your pet for fun, exercise and that were dog friendly.  Here are a couple of suggestions shared by my other beast, Ruemmele, also a German Short Haired Schnauzer:

THE LAKEWALK

"Those seagulls, man they have the life! Mom likes to stop and watch the ships coming in and out of the harbor under the Aerial Lift Bridge, but I don’t let her watch for long!! I keep tugging on my leash until she gets annoyed and off we go exploring again. And there’s so much to explore, my favorite is when I see a potentially new four-legged friend dog tracking their way towards me, I start frothing, get that low growl rolling from deep inside my puffed out chest to look tough, but play it cool, like Danny Zuko on the movie Grease. But most of the time, excitement takes over, my tail starts wagging and then the humans start talking “what kind of dog is that?” “how old is he” “is he purebred?” I hate it when they refer to me as a SHE!!! I mean, I know I’m cute and all, but hey, check the parts before you make the call! Meanwhile, me and the other pup have sniffed each other out and started playing, doesn’t last long though because more exploration of the Lakewalk awaits.Of course, being a dog, when I smell the other dogs that have been there before me, I get the urge and there ARE rules. My leash can be no longer than 6 feet and mom has the job of picking up, well….. my job (which dad refers to as a “stink pickle”). If she forgets plastic baggies, the City of Duluth has a “mutt mitt” dispenser along the Lakewalk. She’s pretty diligent about picking up after me, so I’m not worried, but I hear that rule is strictly enforced.

KEENE CREEK DOG PARK

A park just for US!!! Keene Creek Dog Park at Grand Avenue and I-35. It means another ride in the car too!!! Yippee!!! There’s lots of green grass to run and play on, and if we’re lucky, there are other dogs to play with too (or at least do a little organized sniffing)! I especially like windy days, it’s like one big car window I get to stick my head out of!  It’s FREE to play at the park, but I’m told I have to be licensed, I guess like a car, but I get tags, not plates. Mom had to go to City Hall to license me, but hey, I’m worth every penny of the $8 she spent! Just look at all the exercise she gets because of me! We never go too late, but for you third-shifters, the park is open from 8a-10p. Oh, one last thing, bring water for us, there’s none available at the park and we get thirsty with all that exercise. And, there are no bathrooms for humans, as for me, the world is my bathroom!

Join the Dog Park Task Force and I bet my mom will bring me there TOO!

~Ruemmele