Would You Pay to Use a Dog Park?
More and more dog parks are popping up in communities across the country, many are publicly funded while others are privately owned. My questions is, Would you pay for some type of membership in order to have access to the dog park?
The whole topic of paid memberships for dog parks was originally brought up by a general posting from the Kong Company on their facebook page, and I thought it sparked an interesting debate. Out of the feedback from the post, many people had a hard time justifying paying money for something that they think should be free, while others state that they are currently paying a fee to use these parks.
If you were to pay a membership fee to use a dog park, what types of benefits would you need to experience in order to justify your payment? Would you want increased maintenance or lights? Would you need to see additional features like running water or agility equipment? Would you expect a membership cap to avoid overcrowding or some type of screening process to ensure that the parks are filled with the well balanced and socialized dogs? What are your thoughts?
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My community recently opened a dog park and is for right now, free. I believe there is an expected fee in the future. I have no problem paying a fee for a dog park. I feel that most people that would spend the money for access is more likely to have a more balanced dog. Of course, this won’t always be the case. Since there is an expense for upkeep for the park, including fencing, I don’t see why people wouldn’t object to a fee. I would expect running water so the dogs would have fresh water to drink. A membership cap is very interesting, I haven’t witnessed a park that is so overcrowded that it would be necessary but I am sure there is that potential.
I do not go to dog parks. I do not think dog parks are a good thing because too many dogs are not well supervised and not well educated. There is no dog parks where I live. I would like to go only to train my dog to mind his own business when she is bothered by misbehaving dogs. On the other end, dogs are not allowed to go free here so it is a big problem when you want to let your dog run and burn energy. I do not have a good solution for this. Most dogs owners in my area should not let their dogs free but they unfortunately do and it is a major problem when you are walking your dog on leash. I can let mine free cause I showed her how to behave and she has a solid recall which is not the case for most dog owners.
Here, the community just start building the dog park and soon a beach park too just for dogs and pets, I think this is a good project and maybe, it’s fine if it is has membership fee for maintenance, security and safety of the park, especially on urban areas.