Droves of dog lovers explore Bark in the Park's new territory

photo by Deborah Parkhill Mullis/Metrolina Dog Reporter

A freestyle frisbee demonstration delighted the crowd of dog lovers at 2009 Pedigree Bark in the Park event in Charlotte. Above, 7-year-old red and white border collie, Razor, jumps over her trainer's legs to catch a frisbee.

photo by Deborah Parkhill Mullis/Metrolina Dog Reporter

This amazing "feat" was part of a freestyle frisbee demonstration put on by Laura Moretz and Riot, her 5-year-old border collie, at Metrolina Expo during the 2009 Pedigree Bark in the Park event.

By Deborah Parkhill Mullis

dogreporter@hotmail.com

A record crowd of 14,500 dog lovers and some 7,000 dogs attended Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation’s 2009 Pedigree ® Bark in the Park on Saturday, April 25, an increase of 1,500 from last year and more than double the number of people from two years ago.

Bark in the Park began in the early eighties but it wasn’t until 2005 that it really caught on in the community and became a regular annual event to promote the county’s off-leash dog parks. As Bark in the Park increased in popularity, parking spaces decreased in availability forcing a move this year from William R. Davey Park to Metrolina Expo where parking is plentiful.

Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation has five off-leash dog parks. Two of those parks are very convenient for Matthews and Union County residents. The first is Ray's Fetching Meadow, a one acre dog park within McAlpine Creek Park, slightly west of Matthews at 711 Monroe Road in Charlotte. The second is a five acre dog park inside William R. Davey Park. It is the largest dog park in Mecklenburg County and located slightly south of Matthews at 4635 Matthews-Pineville Road. While this dog park does not have a separate name, it does have separate sections for large and small dogs - a good idea according to dog experts.

The county’s newest dog park, Frazier Park, opened in uptown Charlotte in 2008. The other two dog parks are Swaney Pointe K-9 Park which is inside Ramsey Creek Park and Barkingham Park which is inside Reedy Creek Park. These three dog parks also have sections for small and large dogs. All the dog parks are open seven days a week from 7:30 am to sunset. Visit http://www.parkandrec.com/ for more information on Mecklenburg County Parks.

Saying Merry Christmas with a nature walk

From left: Debbie, Blanco, Okami and Christa

Photos by Phillip Mullis/Metrolina Dog Reporter

Our two dogs received an early Christmas present on Tuesday (Dec. 23) – a nature walk at Colonel Francis Beatty Park in Mecklenburg County. (I am so happy our neighboring county preserved so much parkland - more than 17,600 acres - for the public to enjoy. Cane Creek is nice but having more than one option in Union County would be even nicer.)

Blanco loves to travel and gets excited whenever he sees his crate come off the shelf and go into the back of the van. Being part Husky, he's a natural born explorer.

Okami, our Border Collie mix is another story. We weren’t sure if she would appreciate this gift. Okami spent a lot of time traveling to adoption fairs with her rescue group as a pup. After she found her forever home with us, she seemed to prefer staying put. Whether or not the fact that she was returned to the rescue by her first adoptive family created a phobia or not would be a case for an animal communicator but Okami’s anxiety about traveling has always been plain to see.

Okami paces back and forth and drools profusely in the van. Trips to the vet meant a saliva soaked pooch coming and going. We ended up cutting obedience classes for the same reason and home schooled her instead.

To complicate matters, when Okami was 10-months-old we discovered she’d inherited a genetic disability: bilateral hip dysplasia. Traveling with Okami became very limited which meant both dogs didn’t go for walks beyond the streets of our own neighborhood.

As this was Okami’s second Christmas with us, we wanted to see if she was secure enough to take a pleasure trip in the van – no veterinarian or pet store smelling of adoption fairs at the end of the ride – just a walk in the park with her brother and the human pack members.

Although, her hip dysplasia has been well under control for over a year, we gave Okami a dose of Rescue Remedy to put her at ease. She climbed into the van willingly and settled down on a layer of towels in the back seat with our daughter, Christa. Okami managed to stay dry during the 20 minute ride to the park and once out of the van seemed very pleased about her destination. She immediately began investigating the new sights, smells and sounds.

Blanco had not been to Colonel Beatty Park before and was beside himself with joy when he saw so much new territory to sniff, sniff, sniff, mark, mark, mark and claim title to by scratch, scratch, scratching his scent into the ground. Silly alpha dog! (At home Blanco rushes to reclaim every inch of his backyard kingdom that Okami dares to piddle on.) Until he finished publicizing his presence at the park, walking Blanco was stop and go, stop and go. His pace picked up soon enough when worry about his sister walking ahead of him took priority over his attempt to aquire as much public land as possible.

The park was nearly empty two days before Christmas. We did see a cyclist, a jogger, and a family with young children fishing as well as a few other folks walking their dogs but we had the park to ourselves most of the time.

After the dogs checked out the playground area and the geese on the lake, they trekked along the trails for about hour with their ears alert, noses twitching and tails wagging. I imagine the dogs thought those heavily wooded trails were heaven. We thought it was the closest thing to "Peace on Earth" we'd experience this holiday season. The chilly air (mid to upper 30s') was so exhilarating; we probably could have kept going but we decided not to push our luck the first time out with Okami.

The ride home in the van was uneventful. Both dogs slept peacefully - Blanco in his crate and Okami on her towels. (Dog Philosophy 101: A tired dog is a good dog!) All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas present for everyone including our cat, Oreo. She thoroughly enjoyed an afternoon at the house without any annoying canines running about. She can’t wait for us to go again. Now that we know Okami can handle it neither can we!

- End -

January is walk your pet month. Check out this link to Mecklenburg County parks. There are 210 of them, many of which are dog-friendly.

Olympic trials at Mecklenburg Whitewater Center draws dogs, duck

by Deborah Parkhill Mullis

Bark in the Park (2008) may seem like the obvious place for a dog lover but because I have 'been there, done that', the Whitewater Center's Olympic trials won my attention on Saturday, April 26. I have nothing against Bark in the Park - a wonderful event that I would have gladly attended again this year - but forced to pick between two dog-friendly events on the same weekend, many dog lovers made the same decision as me and took their pets to a world-class sporting event. A bit pricey for people - it cost me $55 to park my van and gain admission for two adults and one child - pets were actually a better bargain as companions to the Whitewater Center this weekend as they were admitted for free! (Sorry, Blanco and Okami, I should have brought both of you with me and left the human pack members at home.)

Springer spaniels, Olive (front) and Tillie, live close to each other in Charlotte and visit the Whitewater Center about once a month, according to Olive's owner, Amy Zimmerman. Olive didn't have a favorite competitor in the slalom on Saturday, said Zimmerman, but she did have a favorite event: taking a quick splash in the "river" before the race began. Tillie, however, was pulling for all the women in the kayak competition as stated by her owner, Leah Smith. (In addition, to world class sporting events, I'm told these two sophisticated pooches also frequent the Mint Museum of Charlotte but that's another photo-op.)

Dobermans, Charlie Brown and Lucy (front), lead their owner Madeline around the Whitewater Center on Saturday.

Rachel and Austin Laminack of Charlotte took three-month-old, Shadow, a Rat Terrier/Yorkie mix to watch her first world-class sporting event on Saturday.

Doug Gailor of Weddington and his nine-year-old terrier mix, Stillwell, stand by the Dragon Boat Association display at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in western Mecklenburg County. Gailor's daughter, Rachel, works at the center. Doug and Stillwell were rooting for Rachel's friend, Pablo McCandless, to win a spot on the Chilean Olympic team for the Beijing Games.

Where are your pink "I love Pablo" t-shirts, guys?

Five-year-old German Shepherd/Lab mix, McAlister had his hair cut for his first visit to the Whitewater Center, said his owner Courtney Adams, a Cabarrus College student.


While eating dinner at the Whitewater Center's restaurant/bar, I noticed Nora, a shepherd mix just under two-years-old at a nearby table with her guardians from Project Halo.

The group's volunteer coordinator, Heather Stickney, said Nora was rescued three months ago from a home where she and eight other dogs spent all their time tied to trees and surrounded by broken beer bottles. Nora was so severely neglected by her owner that she had heartworms and such a bad case of mange that she'd lost fifty percent of hair, explained Stickney. Young Nora was not spayed and had had at least two litters of puppies, she said.

Thanks to a concerned citizen who convinced the owner to give up some of the dogs, Project Halo has been able to provide Nora with foster care and medical care. Nora is now heartworm-free, mange-free, spayed, vaccinated and well-socialized enough to attend world class sporting events. If you are interested in giving this well-behaved girl a permanent home, contact Rhonda Thomas at projhalo@bellsouthnet or call 704-562-8939.

Okay, okay ... I'm a dog reporter and I thought I was done for the day but then I saw these people walking their ... er ... duck.

Chris Osborne (left) of Spartanburg, SC and Marisa Serrat of Cleveland, Ohio met at Clemson University and fell in love. Naturally, the next step was to adopt a duckling!
Kuhsie, a magpie duck, goes everywhere with the couple - including kayaking. Kuhsie will weigh four pounds when she is full grown and have black and white spots. (Kuhsie is German for she cow. ) Check out this couple's travel blog.

JULY PERFECT FOR HOT DOGS IN THE PARK, Charlotte Dachshund Meetup Group trades "Doxie" tales and tips

Hot dogs in the park present a different picture if you are a member of The Charlotte Dachshund Meetup Group. "Doxie" owners and their dogs meet regularly. The group has 135 members. For more information go to :www.dachshund.meetup.com/334/

Pretty long-haired dachshunds, Ginger and Holly, attracted lots of attention during a recent outing to the park. Their owners are Anne and John - no last names please - both girls have done some modeling and need to protect their privacy!

Crash, an 11-year-old dachshund, proves he still has digging skills.

Sporting stylish bandannas, 11-year-old brothers, Peanut and Crash, are enthusiastic about their owner, Taffy Tyler, bringing them to Park Road Park for The Charlotte Dachshund Meetup Group's July event.

Deborah is a freelance writer/photographer living in Indian Trail, NC with her husband, two children, two dogs and one cat. Send your dog-related news to dogreporter@hotmail.com or add your comments about the above story by clicking on the link below.

Bark in the Park 2007

The Ultimate Air Dogs Show was an entertainment highlight for the crowd at Davie Dog Park during Bark in the Park on Saturday, April 28th. In this event known as "Ultimate Vertical" dogs jump 8 feet out over the pool to grab or release a training bumper.

An estimated 7,000 people accompanied by hundreds of dogs attended this year's event, said Candy Bridges, recreation coordinator for the south district of Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation. Bark in the Park began in the early eighties but only recently 2005 - 2007 has it become a regular annual event for the county, she noted.

Located within William R. Davie District Park at 4635 Pineville-Matthews Road, Davie Dog Park has five fenced acres for dogs to play off-leash. There are secure separated sections for large dogs (over 20 lbs) and small dogs (under 20 lbs).

Deborah Parkhill Mullis writes about dogs for area magazines and newspapers and her blog: Metrolina Dog Reporter. Contact her at dogreporter@hotmail.com (This photograph was published by Union County Weekly, Volume 2, Number 19 * May 11-17, 2007)