Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Off Leash Dog Park Closer than West Crest Park?
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May 21, 2009 at 4:50 pm #667206
maplesyrupParticipantI heard that before the OLA was established, those hills were known as a place for homosexuals to congregate. Probably just some guys looking for action.
May 21, 2009 at 4:59 pm #667207
nuniMemberWe drove by West Crest yesterday to check it out and there were signs posted stating “High Car Prowl Area”. Why don’t you feel safe??
May 21, 2009 at 5:06 pm #667208
datamuseParticipantIs there a park in Seattle that ISN’T “High Car Prowl Area”? I’ve seen the same signs at the Arboretum.
May 21, 2009 at 5:11 pm #667209
maplesyrupParticipantLincoln Park has those signs too.
May 21, 2009 at 5:20 pm #667210
WSMomParticipantMy hesitance about going to West Crest with my dogs is the dirty stinky dog mess I have to deal with in my car after they have played in the dirt/mud. Fifteen minutes driving is far away for many of us, especially with the summertime cost of gasoline. My wish is that every park in the city have a fenced dog run corner (maybe just large enough for 4-5 dogs at a time) that way I can WALK my leashed dog to the closest park and wait for our turn to play in the offleash area, then walk back home. No gas, no smelly car, no more empty parks that parents are uncomfortable to let their kids play in. Why does it have to be all or nothing??
May 21, 2009 at 5:26 pm #667211
Dalamar437MemberI like that idea WSMom!
May 21, 2009 at 11:16 pm #667212
BayouMemberFor those interested in making Westcrest a safer place to play:
Westcrest Park Summit will be held on June 22, 7 p.m. at the Highland Park Improvement Club, 1116 S.W. Holden Street. All are invited to attend.
May 22, 2009 at 12:47 am #667213
SemeleParticipantKimberley asked earlier if anyone used Super Fun Happy Dog.
We do and absolutely love them (and so does our dog). She only goes to daycare once a week but that’s enough as she goes to WestCrest after we get home form work most other nights of the week. We also use them for boarding as well. They are affordable, really care about the dogs and they even pickup and drop off! They are definitely worth checking out.
May 22, 2009 at 2:32 am #667214
chefMemberI know this might sound a little far-fetched, but I would like to see fenced off areas on the edges of OLAs where you can take dog-aggressive dogs to run. They need exercise too and often they cannot tolerate the presence of other animals, even with a muzzle.
It seems like these types of dogs, and there are many, are victims all the way around right now – they can’t be in OLA’s and they can’t be off leash anywhere else (like a wooded area or empty playfield) where other dogs are not.
Someone above mentioned having smaller OLA’s attached to every park and you would have to wait your turn for your dogs to run & play – like 20 min. time limits? Seems reasonable and that would work well for people who want to play fetch and run their dog-aggressive dogs.
Just a thought……
May 22, 2009 at 2:35 am #667215
chefMemberSemele – have you ever seen the “gang” of dogs that Super Fun Happy Dog brings to the dog park? There’s not a lot of control of them once they’re in the park and not a lot of individual attention.
I think the idea of their company is great (cute bus too!) but I think they bring too many dogs at once, which creates chaos and intimidates other people who only bring 1-2 dogs to the park at a time. (That’s definitely a problem with Westcrest – too manylarge “gangs” of unrelated dogs brought by a few pet walkers)
May 22, 2009 at 5:37 am #667216
SemeleParticipantChef, I am surprised to hear you say that as SFHD (Super Fun Happy Dog) is located on 5 acres out in Ravensdale (I think it is, somewhere out past Kent) about 45 minutes away from West Seattle. They don’t take dogs to West Crest or any dog park around here that I know of. They pick up dogs here and take them to their property out in Ravensdale. At least that is what is advertised on their website and we had to go through an interview with our dog on their property to make sure she was a good candidate (ie well behaved etc). And again, she is taken out to their property, not anywhere local.
Are you sure you are thinking of the right dog place?
May 22, 2009 at 5:44 am #667217
SemeleParticipantChef, I was thinking maybe you misunderstood my post a bit. our dog goes to WestCrest most days because we take her there. She goes to SFHD once a week as that’s what we budget. Again, their property is no where near WS :) you can check out their website that shows where they take the dogs to (their property) at superfunhappydog.com I just don;t want people to get the wrong idea about them as they are awesome!
May 22, 2009 at 3:29 pm #667218
sam-cParticipantthat is good to know. I always see the SFHD van around WS- I always thought they were local. thanks for the link.
Semele- can you recommend if they are good at recognizing which dogs don’t get a long and separating them ?
May 22, 2009 at 4:17 pm #667219
KimberleyParticipantSFHD used to be local, the owners were based in West Seattle when they started the business. It’s my understanding that they found property and relocated some time ago. They’re always around West Seattle because they have a ton of clients here, they also have a drop off spot near Amazon and pick-up around Burien/Sea-Tac. I wondered if anyone else used them because my dog goes there and apparently always plays with the same dogs – so I figured it’d be nice to schedule play dates at Westcrest (or my house or another’s house) since then you can know what kind of dog your dog is playing with.
Westcrest is great, but after going to Magnuson for the first time yesterday, I’d love to see another park with water access. I always see a guy at Lincoln Park in the water with his chocolate lab on Sunday morning, however I don’t want to take my dog off leash and I believe dogs aren’t allowed in the water, not to mention they’re supposed to be leashed.
May 22, 2009 at 4:24 pm #667220
SemeleParticipantSam-c – part of what they do at the initial meeting is to see how your dog acts, reacts around the other dogs to see if they will be a good fit. So, I think that the answer to your question would be yes.
Kimberley, that’s funny as our dog has a “boyfriend” that she always plays, wrestles with at SFHD (at least according to the reports we always get back. All I know is that dogs name is Shankley :) It would be fun to have a play date with some of the dogs ours are used to romping around with :)
May 22, 2009 at 4:27 pm #667221
chefMemberSemele – I didn’t realize they had moved since I still see their bus around the Westcrest Area. Like I said – I think their business is a cute idea but I don’t want my dogs thrown in with a “gang” of other dogs and little individual attention like I see with other pet services at Westcrest. That’s why we use the pet sitter/walker that we do – she’s great at the individual attention.
In any event, didn’t mean to hijack the thread – I still would like to hear some ideas on my post #34 for OLA’s for problem dogs.
May 22, 2009 at 4:44 pm #667222
RainyDay1235MemberChef: I had the same issue when I rescued my dog. She’d been abused and hoarded, so had issues early on with people AND other dogs. We used to go to WestCrest’s small/shy dog area (separately fenced) when it was empty (most of the time) – and then SLOWLY worked our way up to the big area…Put them in situations where they can succeed my dog trainer always says!
May 22, 2009 at 5:02 pm #667223
JoBParticipantDalamar 437 said…
“I just want to be able to walk her in peace. “
me too!
Chef…
services for dogs who have behavioral issues are sadly lacking. I am hoping that as the demand increases the services will as well…
>>>
I was reading Val Mallison’s The Dog Lover’s Companion to the Pacific Northwest (i bought the Seattle area version too to keep in the car)and she mentions a warm dog pool.. i think in Issaquah.. where you can take your dog swimming…
I think there is a lot of opportunity out there for someone who wanted to create businesses of that sort.
May 22, 2009 at 5:24 pm #667224
sam-cParticipantMy vet once gave me a brochure for bark busters. and gave them high recommendation. I went to their website to see if they had recommendations for services for dogs who have behavioral issues.
(in response to post # 42)
while on their site, I saw a link that they also
“Provide Free Workshops to Community and Civic Organizations as Public Service throughout the U.S. ” – that article was from 2007, but I don’t know – would that be useful. we need to come up with a ‘community organization’
re: Off leash areas
I’d like to repeat myself, and echo Kimberley- I think a OLA in West Seattle with water access would be so wonderful!! Magnuson always get so crowded in the summer.
May 22, 2009 at 5:25 pm #667225
sam-cParticipant(I meant, in response to post # 43)
May 22, 2009 at 5:43 pm #667226
hopeyParticipantiirc, Bark Busters uses shock collars as their training method. I just spent 20 minutes trying to find information about what their “innovative training method” really entails, and could find nothing but glowing reviews that are also, oddly, extremely vague about their methods.
I don’t have time to research this further, and would be happy to be proven wrong, but I seem to recall that the last time I researched this company I discovered they were using shock collars.
Again, I’d be happy to be proven wrong by anyone who knows otherwise.
May 22, 2009 at 5:47 pm #667227
hopeyParticipantAlso, for info about dog parks in the region — and which ones have water access — check this out:
May 23, 2009 at 12:39 am #667228
KimberleyParticipantSemele – check your PMs (I sent you one this morning). My dog is indeed Shankly – yours isn’t Daisy Cakes is it? I know there are a few other names I see on the reports regularly.
May 23, 2009 at 3:00 am #667229
SemeleParticipantKimberley, our dog is indeed Miss Daisy Cakes! OMG how funny!! Ok, I need to figure out how to check my PMs :)
May 24, 2009 at 5:08 pm #667230
jMemberJust to add a little note about Super Fun Happy Dog….
Our dog goes weekly and we couldn’t be more happier. They have many staff members who are watching the dogs and making sure they are behaving appropriately. Our dog was also abused and is very leary of other dogs. Since going to SFHD, she has become even more socialized and truly learned about appropiate play. Not only that, she acts completely different when we are not around and it’s quite noticable when she is out at their property. Before one can start speculating that a dog is just a number out there, you need meet the owners of SFHD. Robert and Tiffany are AWESOME and I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone who loves dogs more. Each dog gets love, attention, and activity. Know that there is a waitlist and then you must have a consultation before they allow your dog to come out. They have to make sure your dog can “hang” in the pack, kind of like Ceasar Milan.
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