BARKING UP RIGHT, FREE; POOCHES GETTING TO DO WHAT COMES NATURALLY AT PARK IN CALABASAS.

Byline: Don Holland Staff Writer

Like any 6-year-old, Ollie reveled in a morning trip to the park.

After perfunctory greetings, he and his new-found pals scampered off to explore and play, always staying within sight of the adults.

Just as children have a need to socialize with their peers, so do dogs like Ollie, a Dalmatian who made his first trip Sunday to the new Calabasas Bark Park.

``It's interesting to watch them,'' said Ollie's owner, Dee Johnson of Agoura Hills. ``They behave much as people do. The ones who arrive late to the party are a little standoffish at first.''

Within a minute or two, newcomers are welcomed into the pack. Frisky little beagles dash off to play with demure cocker spaniels and energetic boxers - all getting along famously.

``It's like going to Disneyland for dogs,'' said Valerie DeWitt of Agoura Hills, who treated her boxer, Rocky, to a morning romp in the park. ``We like this because it's small and he doesn't interact with too many dogs all at once.''

Before the city opened the park last month, DeWitt took her pooch to a dog park in Van Nuys. But that park is too far, attracts too many dogs and is simply too big, she said.

The new Bark Park is enclosed by a 5-foot chain-link fence, allowing dogs to run unleashed on an acre of land at 4232 Las Virgenes Road, next to the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District headquarters. Aggressive dogs are not allowed, and owners are required to clean up after their pets with scoopers that are provided. A similar park in Thousand Oaks is in the works.

Joe Ross of Calabasas has brought his two dogs to Bark Park almost daily since it opened. Just as it provides a place for dogs to congregate, it's also a place for dog owners to socialize. There usually is an immediate affinity among dog owners, and the dogs themselves seem eager to be petted and admired by strangers.

``Everybody has something in common: We're all dog lovers,'' Ross said. ``But there may be some cat people we don't know about.''

His dogs, a cocker spaniel and an Old English sheep dog, get excited when they head off for the park. When it's time to leave, they sometimes try to elude their master.

Ross and others said they were somewhat concerned, however, about rattlesnakes in underbrush where dogs can roam. Their concern grew when Johnson reported killing an adult rattlesnake after he was unable to toss it over the fence using a pooper-scooper.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) The new Bark Park in Calabasas is a hit with dogs that get to run free on a fenced acre.

(2--Color in Conejo Edition only) A pooch makes a catch in Bark Park, where dog owners enjoy playing with legally unleashed pets.

Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News