Dog Park in Teaneck

When I first started my dog park project in 2008, Teaneck was one of the first dog parks I contacted as they were beginning to have the discussion as to whether a dog park in their town could be feasible or not.

Fairly recently, their dog park opened and I saw an article on northjersey.com about it:

http://www.northjersey.com/community/Teaneck_dog_park_almost_ready.html?page=all



What I found interesting from the article was that:


1)      The dog park only cost them about $20,000, which is less than what I have estimated, although the situation and the overall plan will most likely cost more


2)      A company donated several days of time and labor to help build the park


3)      The dog park was built on an area where an above-ground pool once stood.


While that does not fall exactly under the same circumstances as this project, I did find that ironic, given that one of the concerns for the dog park project, and the proposed park as a whole, was what was going to happen given the remains of history of Pleasureland and Muller's Park.


4)      Teaneck's dog park rules state several concepts and ideas that I have floated for our park including:

• "dogs using the park must be licensed, inoculated and healthy"
• “[dogs] must wear a collar and ID tag while in the park”
• “[dogs] cannot be left unattended, and the owners must also clean up after them”
• “dogs younger than four months will be barred, along with those the township determines to be aggressive, according to the ordinance”
• “Owners will also be legally responsible for any damage or injuries caused by their animals.”

As it is fairly likely that the final plan for the park as a whole will be presented at the next council meeting, I'd like to hear your ideas, thoughts, experiences, etc. about what rules should be put in place for a dog park in Oakland. The Borough Council and the Board of Health will most likely have the final say, but I'd like to hear from all of you since you are the ones most likely to use the park. We still have several months ahead of us, but I'm hoping for the town's stamp of approval before I leave for college...check back often though to see the latest.


Thanks,
Ryan Schwertfeger