Puppy-friendly parks: communities nationwide are putting paws before feet with the advent of dog parks.

Within the last decade, dog parks have emerged as a leading way for parks and recreation departments to reach out to the community. Whether they are extravagant or just a fenced-in plot of dirt, dog parks are increasingly seen not as luxuries, but necessities.

Ironically, one of the larget problems associated with dog parks is their popularity. When a small piece of land--one acre or less--becomes overwhelmed with foot and paw traffic, the grassy terrain usually turns into a muddy mess. The challenge facing many departments is how to solve the problem without further burdening their budget.

East District Administrator Glenn Dixon, in Tucson, Ariz., solved his traffic problem by installing irrigation systems and on-site water-runoff collection centers, and performing constant maintenance. "You can make them, I guess, be a pain for you, but in our community, we chose to make it low-key," says Dixon.

Tucson's first dog park was created in 2000 using a scrap of land leftover from an adjoining park. The city allocated $14,000 for the fencing and doggie fountains, and appointed a citizen-based association to oversee the park. "In essence, we put up a fence, put up a sign and said we were open for business," Dixon says.

Six months later, dust had become an issue for the primarily dirt-covered area, and the city installed an irrigation system to calm the clouds. Since then, the association raised funds to seed the area with grass and maintains the policing of it to ensure proper clean-up of dog poop. "The only place you don't have to worry about dog droppings is in the dog park," comments Dixon.

What was initially a trial run is now becoming an expected trend for Tucson. Because of the success of its first dog park, which lowered the occurrences of off-leash dogs terrorizing neighborhoods and ball fields, Tucson renovated two more existing parks for dog-only use, and is embarking on two new dog parks next year. "It's become something that people expect," Dixon says.

While the cost for" each new park--$85,000--staggers over the total price of renovating the three existing dog parks, Dixon says the up-front cost is relative compared to the long-term savings once the parks open. After spending the money for fencing, infrastructure and irrigation, the city does not allocate much more money annually for the upkeep, because the maintenance of the dog parks--mowing, watering and grounds keep--are similar to the upkeep of a soccer field.

"We already had the money in the mowing, we already had the water in the budget, there wasn't any significant maintenance," Dixon says. "It's just a little more aggressive watering."

The Urban Dilemma

While much of Tucson's population of 486,000 is contained in cul-de-sac pockets, in other, more urbanized locales, a simple plot of land will not do.

Arlington County, in Northern Virginia, began its affair with dog parks in the mid 1980s with the opening of the Utah Park dog area--a 12,000-square-foot, fenced-in, primarily dirt ground abutting a park. Utah Park's dog area was originally grass, but because of constant wear on the surface, it soon became barren. The county parks department tried to resod the area, but the constant traffic tore up the grass.

"Finding the appropriate surface is the toughest thing," says Howard Hudgins, Arlington County Parks Service Area manager. "It's just not possible with public maintenance funds."

When it came time to decide on a surface for the dog area, the Parks Department gave the surrounding community a choice between stone dust or mulch. The residents chose the former, and the department covered the surface with about four inches of the compacted decomposed granite, which looks like chunky, damp sand, but refuses to absorb rain. (Nor does it retain the smell of dog urine.)

The new surface was successful for the dog area, and Arlington County soon added several more dog parks within its various districts. Now it has seven clog parks, ranging from two and one-half acres in size to its smallest dog area--the Utah Park dog area. Utah Park also happens to be the only one with the decomposed granite surface, because it is the only one that is level enough to spread the stone dust around.

The other parks are composed of mulch, grass and wood chips, because they have too many hills for the gravel-like texture to tie used. "It's cheap, and mulch will stay put on a gentle slope," Hudgins says, adding that if decomposed granite is used, a proper drainage system must be installed prior to topping; otherwise the stone dust might get caught in the drainage basin causing flooding alter a rain. "It's really important to fix your drainage before you put any surface down," he says.

"There's no perfect surface," he adds. On a flat surface, stone dust, wood chips or grass would work, but grass is easily killed from foot traffic, and stone dust and wood chips scatter frequently, Hudgins says. On hilly surfaces, mulch mattes together well on inclines, but it is prone to spilling onto sidewalks and roadways, is not aesthetically pleasing; tends to get caught in drainage systems and absorbs urine.

Ideally, Hudgins would like to see large dog parks of at least one acre in size, with alternating bay systems where one park's grass has time to heal while the other one is being used. In hindsight, Hudgins says he would install irrigation systems in all of the parks prior to creating the dog areas, because grass is more easily maintained with a built-in irrigation system.

Deconstructing Granite

Decomposed granite is a fairly new development for dog parks, but there is one community in California that is almost a veteran user of the surface.

Long Beach, Calif., has been using decomposed granite on its dog park since 1999, says Jim Knutson, president of the Recreation Dog Park Association, a volunteer-run organization that oversees and maintains the dog park for the community.

When the dog park opened in 1994, it originally bad grass on its less than two-acre area. "The grass was a big problem because the dogs do trample it down," Knutson recalls. The group tried wood chips next, but the surface "catches fire occasionally," Knutson says. Plus, "it was more difficult to identify the dog poop."

Then the group discovered decomposed granite. It purchased the materials, and the Long Beach Parks and Recreation Department provided its staff" to spread the dust on the area.

The group spends about $3,000 a year to replenish the stone dust, and in 2000, spent $5,000 on an irrigation system to calm the dust problems caused from the granite. To pay for the maintenance and upkeep of the dog park, which receives about 300 dogs per day, the group holds an annual pet fair, has membership dues and various yard sales that bring in a total of more than $11,000 a year. The money is used to mend the fence, purchase the surface material, maintain the on-site restrooms, picnic tables, doggie fountains and doggie bags, and update the park's fencing, plumbing and irrigation systems.

Knutson is working with the city on creating a long-term plan to build more dog parks in the area that would be similar in dimensions and make-up to the Long Beach dog park. In 2002, the city adopted an ordinance, which Knutson and his group helped word, creating a standard for future dog parks. Knutson believes there should be a partnership between residents and their governments if dog parks will be successful. "It takes a group to oversee everything," he says.

Standardizing Dog Parks

The city of San Diego has also adopted regulation standards for its dog parks. By next year, a total of 15 dog parks will exist in the 331-square-mile city.

With so many dog parks, the city has been able to create regional standards. Almost all of its parks are a mixture of grass and dirt. No parks have decomposed granite, mulch or gravel. All of the parks have proper infrastructure, including irrigation systems, and they are all large enough (about one acre to six acres) that if areas have to be sectioned off to be re-seeded, doing so does not interrupt the daily use of the park, says Carol Drummond, senior public information officer of the administrative services division of San Diego Park and Recreation.

While the city provides the majority of the start-up costs and maintenance fees, there are groups that oversee the policing and daily upkeep of the parks. "Each site has its own informal group of people that 'patrol' the park," says Drummond. "These are self-governing groups who make sure that everyone who rises the park follows the rules."

The success of the program has prompted San Diego to start updating dog parks to make them Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible, with walkways fountains and benches. These improvements will cost about $10,000 per park Drummond says. But the money does not completely come out of the annual operating budget of the parks department--volunteers have started fund-raising efforts to help off-set the added costs.

Going to the Dogs

While some communities opt out of the mere suggestion of grass surfaces, there are ways around the turf dilemma. There is grass that is urine-resistant and hardy enough to withstand even the roughest foot and paw abuse.

According to Texas A&M University's agricultural research department, the most urine-resistant grasses tend to be Perennial Ryegrasses and Fescues. The worst urine-resistant grasses tend to be Kentucky Bluegrass and Bermuda.

Anne Arundel County, in Maryland, found a Kennel mix grass that resists absorption of urine, says Tom Donlin, parks administrator for Anne Arundel Parks Department. The county recently opened its fourth clog park within the last two years. All the dog areas have grass and pockets of dirt, which Donlin says is perfectly okay for.

"Dogs love dirt. Who are we putting the surface in for--the dogs or the humans?" Donlin asks.

According to the dogpark.com Web site, which has a comprehensive list of dog parks nationwide, there are almost 700 dog parks in the country. And with the numbers growing annually, it is evident that dog parks will start to face region-specific standards. While some communities are beginning research on their first dog park, others are facing the challenge of updating their parks to reflect the change in trends and to adopt new products that have entered the market.

Whether the dog parks have grassy terrain or sandblasted pebbles, dogs have definitely found their place in the sun.

Surface Solutions

Depending on the surface, dog parks can cost a department between dozens and thousands of dollars, depending on how much infrastructure needs to be built, and what type of terrain the dog park is using.

On average, the initial construction of a dog park can cost between $5,000 and $85,000, depending on how complex the model.

The definition of a dog park can be anything from a fenced-in plot of grass to a multi-acre, multi-bay system with partitions for small and large dogs, doggie fountains and other amenities.

Surface Type           Cost                        Ideal terrain

Grass                  Varies depending on type;   Can adapt to any
                       based on retail prices,     terrain, but an
                       grass costs range from      irrigation system
                       $380-$500 per acre.         is highly desirable
                                                   to maintain
                                                   seedlings.

Stone Dust             $6-$7 per ton; two-acre     Flat surface,
(decomposed granite)   park requires 1,5000        otherwise the
                       tons.                       pebbles scatter.
                                                   Also make sure
                                                   proper drainage is
                                                   installed, otherwise
                                                   pebbles will clog
                                                   drains and cause
                                                   flooding.

Mulch                  Usually free unless it is   Works best on hilly
                       commercial mulch; then it   surfaces.
                       is $20/cubic yard.

Wood Chips             Usually free.               Works best on hilly
                                                   surfaces.

Maya Avrasin is Parks & Recreation's editorial assistant. She can be reached at [e-mail].