Easton Needs a Dog Park

Yesterday morning Maggie (in her lovely blue harness) and I were on an expedition to find dodder and pyrola for our botany intern at Sheep Pasture. Maggie is always on a leash because her belief that she should be the only dog at Sheep Pasture can lead to ugly confrontations, and I don't want to get covered in dog drool prying her out of the mouth of a Pit Bull. As she checked out every large rock along the path to the abandoned Cranberry Bog in order to leave her stay away message, a large black standard poodle or labradoodle flew by out in the field followed by a springer spaniel running as fast as its shorter legs could move it. Nobody was in sight and luckily the dogs were so into the joy of running in the cool fall air they didn't notice Maggie or me. Before I knew it the dogs were out of view up the road to the parking lot.  As I wondered where their owners were and whether I should call the dog officer, I walked past the entrance to the Whale Rock Trail only to hear plaintive whistling in the woods. As I reached the Cranberry Bog, the two dogs returned and ran up the Whale Rock Trail apparently to meet their still invisible owners.

We have a leash rule at Sheep Pasture. Little children and mother's with strollers don't need to have a large dog charging at them despite the inevitable claim by the owner that the dog is a paragon of doggy niceness. Some one told we that about a barking, slobbering Rottweiler that appeared at full run over a hill charging at my little Miss Trouble Maker. Maggie is smart enough to take cover behind me at the last second in circumstances like that-good for her, not for me. If I have time, I usually pick her up. She only barks with four feet on the ground-she hasn't made a decision about whether she controls air rights at Sheep Pasture, but I've often had dogs leap on me to greet her. That's something neither of us actually wants no matter how nice the dog is.

I understand why owners like to let their big dogs run, and Stonehill's Clock Farm has become the de facto place for that. On weekend mornings some of this dribbles over to Sheep Pasture so far with no bad consequences, but yesterday's incident was as an eye opener-two dogs out of sight of their owners for at least five minutes. This is why we've considered putting "All Dogs Must Be Leashed" signs at dog eye level hoping they are smarter than owners like the ones yesterday.

We've only addressed the potential for disaster today. Unfortunately, people are much less likely to pick up after a dog off leash so we end up with dog poop in our hay. Dogs off leash also threaten ground nesting birds and small animals. People dumb enough to let little dogs off leash in the woods risk having them eaten by coyotes. 

I'd love to see a dog park in Easton. I  see  a special place where small dogs could get together off leash without fear. An open area would let all breeds get together on leash, and then there would be a large field where big dogs could run under their owners supervision. Does Easton have the three or four acres of open space for this? Could a piece of the CPA's priority properties by used for this? Undoubtedly yes. Elsewhere the days when dogs run free should be over.