Anyone who knows me will know my dog. And anyone who knows my dog will know that he is super hyperactive. He gets the zoomies like four times a day, minimum. That’s just who he is. But no one in my family has the time to be playing ball with him 24/7. So he sits on the floor, this sad look on his face, ball lying in wait right next to him, puppy dog eyes on full blast, trying to make me pity him. And it works. I feel terrible.
“I know,” I think, naively. “Let’s take him to the dog park!”
Dog parks are extremely beneficial, especially for people with small yards, because they give dogs a large, free space to run off-leash, letting them tire themselves out. Long dog runs help your dog exhaust themselves without the restraints of a leash. Playing well with other dogs more quickly and effectively tires them out than going for a walk, too.
But I have a lot of problems with San Ramon’s dog parks. Because for a city that puts so much effort into its human parks, there’s surprisingly few accommodations for our furry companions.
The issue lies in one main thing: dirt. There are a couple of small dog parks in San Ramon, off the sides of roads and similar areas, but they’re all this reddish-brown dirt. It’s disgusting, especially when it gets wet. Your dog rolling around or falling at the park is a surefire way to set yourself up for a muddy, rancid-smelling dog and a bath. Plus, the dirt and feces trap germs and bacteria from dogs with all sorts of colorful diseases, which in turn are transferred among dogs who visit.
Moreover, these parks are far away from the Windemere area. The closest dog park to me, the Bark and Ride, is in Gale Ranch, a 40-minute walk from my house. As one of probably many teen dog owners who can’t drive, this is an issue, and it closes off a whole legion of dogs from being able to meet with one another. Dogs are inherently social creatures and have friends and complex relationships just like humans do. And time with other dogs teaches them valuable behavioral lessons. If a poorly behaving dog gets its behavior checked by its peers, it’s less likely to continue that behavior. So they need to be regularly socialized from a young age, not just for their own well-being, but also to make sure that they are friendly and well-behaved.
I remember just after the pandemic, when many Windemere dog owners would go to regular parks or school fields to let their dogs play. However, this poses even more issues, because these parks just aren’t meant for dogs to play off-leash. Small children, elderly people and other on-leash dogs are all at risk of being catapulted into by a 50-pound ball of fur flying at them at 30 miles an hour. Not to mention the fact that these parks are not fenced in, so the dogs have the chance to run into the street, which is a huge danger. But people often use these parks because there’s just nowhere to go.
But change isn’t impossible. Two years ago, a group of local dog owners petitioned the local government to introduce grass to the Bark and Ride. They proposed the petition to the city council, which started construction in March of 2023. The large dog park now sports fresh grass that is maintained once a week. It’s certainly not perfect, and the small dog area still doesn’t have any grass. Still, it’s an improvement, and insurance that it could be possible to have more dog parks locally. Even sanctioned parts of existing parks where people can let their dogs off-leash to play fetch would be super beneficial.
If you’re looking for a good, close-ish dog park, the Hap Magee Ranch Park in Danville is a really nice place that has all the stipulations of a good dog park. This park has a huge, well-enclosed area and the people and dogs there are super friendly. One of the things I love most about local dog parks is the community built around it. The people my family met when socializing our dog are people we are still friends with to this day.
It is so vital that we give our dogs a happy, healthy environment to play and live and thrive; but what can we do? The answer lies in what has worked in the past: petitions. By working together with the local government to advocate for dogs and dog owners all across San Ramon, we can create more parks for the benefit of not just our furry friends, but us too.
