Erie Metroparks Bark Park Gets Two Enthusiastic Paws Up
The heavy, iron latch on the first gate clanked open and she felt herself untethered in a small, holding pen. She’d broken the clasp on her leash earlier in her zeal to catch up to one of her humans who chose to run while her other human struggled with her, walking too far behind. For a shepherd/collie mix, the instinct to herd her humans together proved too strong for the leash.
Gracie at Erie Metroparks Dog Park
The second latch slid open the gate to her freedom. Gracie bounded off with unbridled joy towards the other dogs without a backwards glance. We watched with a mixture of pride and trepidation, feeling like parents dropping their child off for the first day of kindergarten.
They say that dogs take on the traits of their human companions. Fortunately, Gracie, our recently-adopted yearling, doesn’t share the shyness in new situations that both my partner and I experienced as adolescents. She joined the running and chasing games without hesitation, although we were happy to see that she was polite about not grabbing any tennis balls that weren’t hers. There were half a dozen dogs of various sizes, ages and lineages in the big dog section for her to play with on Saturday. Most were rescues or as we used to call them, “pound puppies”. All were friendly and welcoming to both dogs and humans.
This was Gracie’s and our introduction to Erie Metroparks Bark Park located just off Hull Road in Huron Township. The Bark Park is part of Osborn Park, home to Erie Metroparks Headquarters. The dog park features an acre-sized, open field of grass, surrounded with fencing. This area provides plenty of space for medium to large dogs to chase each other, their human companions and tennis balls. It includes a flexible tunnel big enough for humans or their dogs to do agility training and an old-style pump with fresh water for thirsty canines.The Bark Park also has an adjoining fenced area for small dogs, as well as a newly-fenced, ungroomed area for hunting dogs.
Erie Metroparks Bark Park
The benches and porta-potty are thoughtful touches added for humans.
As Dog Park newbies, we came to the Erie Metroparks Bark Park with no expectations-except for the hope that there would be other friendly dogs for Gracie to play with so she could expend some of her limitless energy. To Gracie’s obvious delight, she got what we’d hoped for her.
What we found was a group of people who, like their canine companions, were friendly to newcomers, open to new experiences, willing to share their dogs and toys, and who are not afraid to leave the park covered in mud, drool and fur. In short, dog people like us.
We’ll be back.
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