Urban lifestyle: dog parks

Self-tutoring about living in a city: the tutor brings up dog parks.

When I was a kid, I mostly lived in small towns, where everyone had a yard, etc. If people walked their dogs as much as here and now, I was unaware. Dogs spent their time in their yards, or on the farm, so far as I knew.

Nowadays, a lot of urbanites have dogs. Yet, dogs need exercise, they need to do their bodily functions, and they need to visit other dogs (apparently). How does that work in a city?

The answer seems to be that dog care is facilitated by a new fixture: the dog park. There is one near where I live, and I walk by it sometimes, or around it on my runs. It’s a busy place.

Fenced in, the dogs can visit each other, as can their owners. Since it’s their hangout, the owners are motivated to clean up after their pets. The dog park near me is fairly large – maybe about 50m by 30m – so the dogs have room to chase balls their owners throw.

As an observer, I can state that said dog park is everything a community park is meant to be – a happy, social place to spend time outdoors. A recent morning while I was out running, about seven dogs were there; numerous came and left during my run.

That dog park is so popular, and so functional, that I have to celebrate it, even though I don’t have a dog:)