Search for the Perfect Dog Park
Our town has 42 city-maintained parks and 13 designated off-leash dog run areas. Sounds wonderful--but not a single one of them is 100% enclosed! (The private dog park in our town is fully enclosed, but their winter hours are only in the late afternoon, not morning, which is very inconvenient for us.)
Because I still don't feel comfortable with Cabana's recall, I've printed out a list of off-leash dog parks within a ~50-mile radius and circled the ones that are fully enclosed. Dogfriendly.com has a fairly robust catalog of dog parks throughout the US, as well as accommodations, stores and restaurants that allow dogs. Their listing also describes whether the parks are fully enclosed or not--very handy! We keep the list in the car, and when we're near one of them, we try to check them out. 
Just south of our town, we found this fabulous dog park, fully gated, surrounded by towering trees and greenspace. It's quite large, and it has agility equipment set up all around the perimeter! We went a few weeks ago, when it was still QUITE mucky, which is perhaps why Cabana and I were the only ones there (that seems to happen to us quite a bit). 
But I think Cabana still enjoyed herself. I got her to go up on some of the agility ramps, but she wasn't too interested. In Cabana's book, nothing beats sniffing and dashing through the muddiest of puddles. Thank goodness there was also a water spigot and plastic baby pool there, so I could wash off most of the mud before getting into the car.
We'll definitely go back to this park when the weather dries up a bit. And maybe there will even be some other dogs to play with on our next trip!
Hi!
Novato?
GREAT POST!! Yes, not confident with SR's recalls...and such a fast sprinter she is... I've been picking mushrooms out of our backyard daily, and then playing ball with SR and watching closely where her snooter goes, in fear that she may find a shroom that I didn't see! (She ate some of a bloom as a younger puppy, so I am always fearful.)
Hugs and snaggle-tooth kisses,
Sierra Rose AND mom
Sometimes, having a dog park to your self can be a lot of fun. Though, in fairness, we bring our own crowd.
Woo Hoo! We think we know this doggie park! Love that there were not any other doggies there - probably a bit squishy??? (We would LOVE to meet here next Tues heheh!) Will email and keep in touch with Sierra too!
Hugs xo
Sammie
Thanks for the link to that site. Unfortunately we only have one dog park here period but at least it's a nice, fenced one! I'll have to try bringing my guys there again when it's nicer out (and not covered with 3-4 ft of snow).
That park near you is beautiful! Have fun meeting new pals for Cabana as it gets nicer. :-)
Stumbled across your blog via a fellow veteran spouse. My husband (a disabled veteran with PTSD and TBI) has a Psychiatric Service Dog from the New York based charity Puppies Behind Bars. Living with a combat veteran is not the easiest thing to do, but my husband's beautiful yellow lab has made a huge difference in his life. A big shout out to everyone that has a part in raising these wonderful healing companions :)