Big Changes coming (2008)

The overpass connecting our park to the Schuylkill Banks will bring big changes to the Dog Run.

The yellow line shows the pathway this new structure will take.

Sky High Recommendation for our Dog Run

US Airways magazine, November 2008, says we are a "must-do, perfect for pets and their parents."

See the whole article: http://www.usairwaysmag.com/2008_11/all-over-map-philadelphia-doggone-good-times.php/

Schuylkill River Dog Park named Best Off-Leash Dog Park (2006)

Dear Best of PhillyBlog.com Winner,

My name is Jennifer Kronstain and I'm co-founder of PhillyBlog.com, the leading online community discussing Philadelphia and its surrounding areas.

I'm writing to let you know that Schuylkill River Dog Park has been selected by the PhillyBlog.com online community as the Best Off-Leash Dog Park in Philadelphia for 2006. Congratulations

PhillyBlog.com was founded in 2002 by Wil Reynolds, CEO and founder of Seer Interactive, and myself. We wanted to create a place online where people could have honest discussions about Philadelphia, good and bad, and promote the city. The upshot has been incredible. We have everyone from locals, to future locals, to people who grew up in Philadelphia and now live elsewhere. They come back, in a sense, to come home again, even if it's just for a few minutes in the evening. We've watched the site grow from six people talking amongst ourselves to now nearly 11,000 and around 1.25 million page views per month. We hope you'll join us, and spread the word.

This is the first ever Best of PhillyBlog.com awards. Patterned after the great Philadelphia Magazine "Best of Philly" awards, the Best of PhillyBlog.com reflects the opinions of nearly 11,000 members of the PhillyBlog.com community. "Real people" - your clientele - decided you were the best... and told everyone else!

Enclosed in a certificate commemorating the award for you to display in your location.

Once again, please accept my congratulations! You'll find my contact information below. Please don't hesitate to call at any time.

Best,

Jennifer Kronstain, Co-Founder, PhillyBlog.com

DOA Minutes from 2005-2006

• March 2006
• September 2005
• March 2005

Resurfacing of the dog run (2004)

Resurfacing: In mid-May the entire dog run was resurfaced! Over the Summer months, minor adjustments were made to the original work.

DOA Minutes from 2004

• September 2004

Fundraising started for dog run improvements (2003)

• Resurfacing: Enough money ($15,000) was collected to do the resurfacing project in Spring 2004. .
• Formalization of Association: In September of 2002, we started a more formal Dog Owners Association where we requested a yearly donation of $20 or more to help pay for maintenance of the dog run. The organization really came together in 2003 with new memberships and donations.
• Monthly DOA E-Mail: All DOA members started receiving monthly e-mail updates on the Dog Run, giving us a great way to communicate important issues.
• Fundraising: Was continued in many forms. A letter to PA State Representative Babette Josephs brought generous contributions totaling $3,000 to Friends of Schuylkill River Park and The Dog Run.
• Sale of Dog Socks: We started selling wonderful people socks with Dogs on them and leash bags for carry pick-up bags

DOA Minutes from 2003

• June 2003
• January 2003

New bulletin board, entrance paved and lighting improved. (2002)

• Resurfacing: Over 2002-2003, The Friends of Schuylkill River Park and the Dog Owners Association have successfully raised the $15,000 necessary for resurfacing the entire dog park! There have been problems with wood chips, received from Fairmount Park, migrating from the center of the Run where they are most needed to the edges. As a result, the Run has been very dusty in dry weather, and has quickly turned to mud when it rains. Current plans include removing the top layer of earth and grading the surface to slope toward the river. A base layer of drain pipes with fabric mesh topped by gravel is being considered. The estimated cost for this project is $15,000.
• Better Lighting: In spite of the above mentioned efforts, the run is still not adequately lit at night. One problem is that Fairmount Park says all existing electrical circuits are full. This project may take a long time as installation of new power lines may be required.
• Bricked Entrance:The floor of the new entrance corral was bricked for us by the folks at Fairmount Park Commission in April 2002. Thank you Fran Koehler and Michael DeSantos!
• Bulletin Board: The bulletin board was built by two of the members of the Dog Owners' Association and installed by Fairmount Park on February 28, 2002.
• Deadly Dog Attack At The Park On Monday July 22, 2002, a toy poodle named Tribble was attacked and killed as he entered the small dog area.

Please look carefully to see who is in either run before entering. Don't go in if you feel it's not safe for you or your dog. Ask when they plan to leave and come back at a later time.

Please don't bring unsocialized or unfriendly dogs into the small dog area.

You need to follow up on incidents so that the offending dogs don't continue to injure other dogs.

Always pay attention to your dog. It's easier to break up a fight before it gets serious. Keep your dog away from the entrance gate when other dogs are trying to come in.

DOA Minutes from 2002

• September 2002
• April 2002

Project Successes (2001)

The Association's second year brought concrete results, even though many fewer people were working on the issues. By February 2001 the group had dwindled down to four of the original members: Adam Braunstein (President), Karoline Wallace (Secretary). Arnie Zacharias (owner of black and white Mutt Buca) and Sharon Blumberg (owner of the white Bichon Sasha). Monthly meetings were held in the Markward building behind the play ground. The smaller group decided to focus their attention on only a few necessary projects: a bulletin board, a water fountain and the continuing wood chip maintenance. They also decided to meet every other month rather than monthly. In spite of the fact that only four people were doing all the work, they have accomplished the following:

• Water Fountain:(click here for photos) After many months of problems, a persistent association worker was instrumental in getting the water fountain installed in the summer of 2001. The total cost of $14,000 was paid by the FSRP with the help generous gift of $5,000 from the Morris Animal Refuge.
• Small Dog Area and Entrance Corral:(click here for photos) In order to address the needs and complaints of dog owners, the Dog Run was divided into two sections in October 2001 forming an area for small dogs. A gate divides the large area from the small one and a new double gated entrance corral was created. The owners of large dogs were understandably unhappy to lose some of the space their dogs used. The availability of a safe area for small dogs and puppies has proven this to be a good decision for all. The small dog area is also used for isolating any dogs according to their owners' needs. The conflict of usage would be relieved if owners of small dogs would make it known that they wanted to use the area and owners isolating their dogs would be considerate to leave when it is obvious that someone else wants to use the space. Please note: someone with an unsocialized dog was irresponsibly using this space and caused the death of a Toy Poodle entering the small dog area. Read more on Tribble.
• Fundraising: This was started with the sale of T-shirts with the Association's logo, leash bags and products donated by Hartz Mountain. Sales have been made through the web For Sale, in person by the Dog Run, and at the Park's Fall Festival. Petco contributed $1,000 but Friends of Schuylkill River Park has remained our primary benefactor.
• Creation of The Rules: After a few meetings and discussions with owners, a set of rules was created in June. There were printed on a large metal sign which now hangs inside the Run (posted in June 2001).
• Better Security: Security is always a concern in a city - especially at night. The FSRP installed one new light for us, and Fairmount Park installed another light fixture and redirected one so that the light illuminates more of the Run. In addition an Association member continually works hard to keep the brush clipped back so that all areas inside and around the Run are clearly visible. This same worker makes sure that new loads of wood chips provided by Fairmount Park are spread around the Run, cutting down on mud and dust. We are planning to create a Dog Patrol, made up of Dog Owner Association members, who will patrol the dog run. Details on that will be coming soon.
• Website Improvements: One pet project for the web site was to try to help dog owners communicate with each other. The Members page was the first attempt at providing information on other dog owners on the web. Since the early winter of 2001, the webmaster has been taking photos of dog owners with their dogs and posting them with names, email address and other contact information on the Gallery page to accomplish this. Photos will continue to be posted. Other Improvements: 1) the Directions page, in response to many e-mails asking where the Park is; 2) Park Pics showing photos of the Dog Run itself; 3) a Donors page to acknowledge the generous gifts sent to the Association; 4) For Sale page for contacting the association to purchase a fundraising item (see Fundraising above); 5) this History page (now in About Us) to let others who may be interested in starting their own neighborhood Dog Run know how this once came about.

DOA Minutes from 2001

• May 2001
• February 20001

Formation of the Dog Owners' Association (2000)

The new millennium brought a new organization. As they had done in the past with the community gardens, the FSRP Board was looking to create a special group to handle all the issues related to dogs in the Park. A special Board meeting was called, specifically inviting dog owners and all those interested in participating in a new association. Those who showed up and agreed became the Dog Owners' Association. So the first Association meeting took place in January of 2000. A president (Adam Braunstein, owner of the chocolate Lab Max) and secretary (Susan Neuman, owner of the Weimaraner Dash) were named and others volunteered to work with the group.

By March the Association's web site was up and running. It was created, paid for and maintained by Karoline Wallace (owner of the black Shepherd Steve and the beige Cockapoo Amber) until the end of 2003. The monthly meetings in 2000 were well attended. They were hosted by Maryanne Conheim (owner of the Belgian Shepherd Rajah) at her Gallery at 23rd & Pine Streets. For details on those meetings, see Meeting Minutes.

DOA Minutes from 2000

• December 2000
• November 2000
• October 2000
• May 2000
• February 2000
• January 2000

Birth of the Dog Run (1997-1999)

In January 1997 a petition was sent to the Mayor requesting a fenced-in Dog Run. This petition was forwarded to the Fairmount Park Commission.

Fairmount Park gave their permission in May of 1998. An allocation of $10,000 was then created by the FSRP to provide for fencing, benches, trash cans and new signs. The current perimeter fence was erected two months later in June at a cost of $5,600. The official opening was on July 9, 1998.

The Points of Consensus (1993 - 1997)

In November of 1993 the following Points of Consensus were formulated and distributed by volunteers to dog owners (it could not be posted due to conflict with the law):

• All members of the group (dog owners and non-dog owners) acknowledge that the Park's primary purpose is the enjoyment of people.
• Unrestricted off-leash usage of the Park by dogs conflicts with the Park's primary purpose.
• The law prohibits running dogs off leash. Consequently, the dog owners acknowledge that if dogs are to be run off leash, this practice should not be abused.
• The best regulation for off-leash dog usage would be a combination of hour and location restrictions in the Park.
• The recreation area (southern portion of the Park) should at all times be off limits to off-leash dogs.
• Dog owners should be prepared to keep their dogs leashed during periods of heavy rains to help preserve the grass.
• During Daylight Savings time (from the first Sunday in April through the last Sunday in October) off-leash dog activities should be prohibited between 9:00am and 7:00pm. During Eastern Standard Time off leash dog activities should be prohibited between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm.

In spite of the release of the Points, dogs still ran off leash and attempts at reseeding the Park failed. Dog owners were given leaflets asking them not to let their dogs loose in the Park and some were ticketed for non compliance. These problems continued until 1997.

Getting A Handle on the Problem (through 1992)

Discussions regarding the need for a Dog Run go back a number of years. The Schuylkill River Park was receiving complaints from neighbors about dogs illegally running off-leash. The central area was referred to as 'The Bowl' because dog use had wiped out the grass and it looked like a dust bowl. Park users were bothered by the dogs and by the waste that some owners did not pick up. There was a conflict of usage problem.

In February of 1993 an ad hoc committee was formed from members of the board of the Friends of Schuylkill River Park (FSRP) to try to solve this problem. By March they had drafted a questionnaire to be sent to FSRP members and to be handed out to users of the park asking about park usage.

In September the questionnaire results were tabulated from the 93 responses and the general consensus was: Running and walking were the preferred use of the park. The Park was used 2-5 times per day, mostly in the afternoon. Most park users lived within 3 blocks of the park. The majority favored prohibition of off-leash dogs Off-leash dogs should be restricted to certain hours

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