Jul 182024
Jan 112019
It looks like the latest version of WordPress 5.0.3 has destroyed our individual Chicago dog parks pages (which were using the Multiple Content Blocks plugin). Crap.
We’ll try working on reconstructing them, but so far… oof. This is tough news.
Update: reverting to v4.9.9 has saved us, so far.
Update: looks like there’s a workaround – will deal with this over the weekend.
Sep 042018
Our friends at the McKinley Dog Park Advisory Council (Facebook) have been working on getting a dog park at Pershing and Western in the McKinley Park neighborhood since 2014.
They’re holding their first fundraiser on Saturday 14th, 2018 from 6-9pm at Co-Prosperity Sphere, 3219 S Morgan St.
Get your tickets now and join them at this fun event!
Download the flyer and get the word out! DogParkFlyer
Oct 202016
The Chicago Park District recently tested for lead levels in its water fountains around the city.
Here are the results the Chicago Park District reported for the water fountains in our South Loop Dog Parks. Numbers are in parts per billion. ‘U‘ means “not detected at the laboratory reporting limit and/or method detection limit”
Grant
Fountain 33 High <2.0 U
Fountain 33 Dog <2.0 U
Coliseum
Fountain 1 High <2.0 U
Fountain 1 Low 2.1
Fountain 1 Dog <2.0 U
Anderson (Fred)
Fountain 1 High <2.0 U
Fountain 1 Low <2.0 U
Fountain 2 High <2.0 U
Fountain 2 Low <2.0 U
Fountain 3 High <2.0 U
Fountain 3 Low <2.0 U
There’s no information about d’Angelo Park DFA – that park is still under the control of CDOT.
Source: http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/assets/1/7/Water_Fountain_Testing_Final_Results.pdf
Aug 012015
Introducing the South Loop Dogs of the Week, Blu and Louis!
Blu and Louie’s human, Deborah, says:
Blu and Louie love Fred Anderson Dog Park! Blu is quite the attraction as he is obsessed with the fountain, barking and trying to eat the water, while Louie loves to chase and be chased!
Blu is the newest addition to our family, having adopted him from a rescue in Yorkville in April, Louie and I are very lucky and grateful for Blu!
Louis is the white dog with the black face, in back, and Blu the smaller black dog, in front.
What a great pair!
They sure have a lot of toys!!
Jun 182014
An email from a user of Grant Bark Park brought to our attention the need to talk about park safety! We all want our local dog parks to be a safe, fun space for our dogs and ourselves, but what do you do when the worst happens and another dog attacks you or your dog?
The Short Answer: Call the police.
According to the Chicago Park District website, all owners are legally responsible for their dogs and any injuries caused by their dogs. If your dog is bitten or attacked, exchange information with the owner of the other dog.
Most owners in good faith will offer to pay for your vet bills. If the other owner is unwilling to speak with you, call the police and report the incident.
This comes up more frequently than we would like in Chicago dog parks – we hear it from our colleagues across the city – and we’re still trying to come up with a way to improve the information provided to dog park users and to clueless owners. This is a long term project we’ve been trying to get off the ground; we will update you later in the summer as we make progress.
Things to Look For – From PetBehaviorHelp.com
Understand what to do when corrections, squabbles and fights happen:
- Sudden, quick disagreements with lots of noise that end in a matter of seconds are normal and it is probably safe to allow the dogs to remain in the park if neither shows any inclination to continue the argument.
- Interrupt any situation that seems to be escalating.
- Use your voice in a calm, commanding way to stop the fight. Screaming simply increases the arousal of the dogs involved.
- Do NOT stick your hands into the middle of a dog fight to separate dogs. If physical intervention is needed, try to grab the back legs of your dog and “wheel-barrow” it until it calms down. Fighting dogs will often strike at anything that moves near their face and human hands are far more delicate than most areas where one dog will bite another.
- Do not allow additional dogs to jump into the fight. If you see or hear a squabble between other dogs, get your dog immediately and take it away from the area.
- Do not panic. It will not help the dogs. Remember that as a general rule, the louder the fight, the more bluff and bluster is involved and the less damage. Most dog fights between similar size dogs do not result in serious injury.
- Once a fight occurs, the adrenaline levels of the dogs involved, and many of those who witnessed the fight, will be raised for several hours. It is wise to take these dogs out of the park and exercise them elsewhere to avoid the potential of another fight.
If you have any advice or opinions, please feel free to leave a comment for discussion.
This is an update of Dog Park Safety: What to do when your dog is attacked posted 8.13.12 on the 16thWabashDogPark blog.
Jun 162014
When the weather gets warmer…more dogs come out to play! So now is a good time to review the rules and etiquette for taking Fido to the park. Most important of course is to make sure your dog is properly vaccinated and socialized. Puppies under 4 months, dogs without all their shots, and aggressive or extremely timid dogs are best to avoid the dog park.
The best way to insure a good time for all, be respectful of your park (clean up after your dog) and always watch your dog. Make sure your pooch isn’t playing too rough or cowering in fear under the park bench. Always be there to protect your dog.
That said, here are the official rules for Chicago’s dog parks – click on the link for more information from the MonDog Website:
- Owners are legally responsible for their dogs and any injuries caused by their dogs.
- Owners must remain with and watch their dogs at all times.
- Dogs must be leashed prior to and upon leaving the DFA.
- Owners must immediately clean up after their dogs.
- Dogs with a known history of, or who exhibit, dangerous behavior are prohibited.
- Dogs must be healthy, fully immunized, dewormed, and licensed.
- No dog will be allowed in a DFA unless it has a current rabies vaccination.
- Dog owners are responsible for the monitoring and maintenance of the DFA.
- Owners or other responsible persons must have a DFA permit with them for each dog visiting the DFA.
- Each dog visiting a DFA must display a current Chicago Park District DFA tag.
- DFA permits expire on December 31 of the year that it is issued.
- Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult; younger children must be closely supervised.
- Only three dogs per person allowed.
- Puppies under four months old and female dogs in heat are prohibited.
- Failure to comply with the Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control Regulation for Chicago Park District DFAs can result in a fine.
Onto Etiquette…our dog parks will only continue to thrive if we are compassionate and considerate of our dog park neighbors.
- Clean up after your dog
- Don’t bring people food into the park
- Always ask before feeding another dog a treat
- Don’t discipline another person’s dog, but do remove your dog from an aggressive or inappropriate situation.
- Play with your dog and pay attention to him, but don’t forget to let him socialize with the other dogs.
- If you see another dog and their parent about to leave, call your dog over so they can leave easily.
- Always shut the gate behind you.
- Talk to people – chat about your puppies and give other dog parents a heads up if you’ve been there for a while and noticed anything unusual or a dog that could be potentially aggressive.
- Fill the water bowl, take the time to rinse out the bowl and fill it with fresh water if it’s been sitting there for a while.
Did we forget anything? What other tips can you think of for making our dog parks a better place?
This is an updated version of Dog Parks Rules & Etiquette posted 5/7/12 on the 16thWabashDogPark blog.
May 192014
[Archived from Proposed Fred Anderson Dog Park 16thwabashdogpark.blogspot.com]
Looking for the latest?
To keep up to date, please follow us on Facebook @FredAnderson Dog Park (and follow our sister organization, the South Loop Dog Park Action Cooperative (SLDogPAC)), and be sure to follow the South Loop Dog PAC blog for up-to-date information, analysis and updates!
Apr 302014
Check out our Page on Facebook if you like! @SouthLoopDogPAC
Mar 292014
Introducing South Loop Dog of the Week, Bijvoet!
Australian Shepherd Bijvoet (‘bye-foot’) is a bossy, fun, happy dog who loves to play agility, but loves her frisbee and soccer ball even more. This week she’s at the AKC National Agility Championship, appearing for the second time, and she’s doing great! She’s not the fastest dog, but she’s very consistent over the jumps, weaves and obstacles, and she’s now in 71st place out of over 400 dogs!
Bijvoet is named after a famous Dutch chemist, Johannes Martin Bijvoet, who worked on the foundations of X-ray Crystallography in the mid-20th Century. Her dog mom Pam is an X-ray Crystallographer!
What a good dog!
Mar 012014
Introducing Lucky and Rita, South Loop Dogs of the Week!
Give Me A Cookie, Mom!
Nicole writes:
Lucky likes to visit her brick in the Grant Bark Park and play racquet ball chase, and Rita loves to torment her big sister and play chase, too! Both girls live to cuddle and generally clown around.
You can find these girls playing in Coliseum Dog Park on a regular basis!
Love that smile!
Feb 222014
Introducing Tequila, South Loop Dog of the Week!
Kelsey writes –
Meet Tequila! Our two year old, fun, loving, snuggle monster!
We got Tequila from PAWS about a year and a half ago. She came into PAWS as a stray from another shelter, as she was next on their list to be euthanized. Thank God PAWS got to her just in time, because this amazing pup has changed our lives!
When my boyfriend, Patrick, and I first met Tequila, she was a confused, sad-faced, underweight pup. She was hesitant to trust anyone or anything she came into contact with. As for Patrick and I, we had just moved to Chicago and we are both huge animal lovers. Not to mention our new neighborhood in the south loop was ideal for dogs with the numerous dog parks, playgroups, and pups everywhere!
After having been through so much in her past, Tequila made a drastic transformation into the happiest, most perfect dog. She brings smiles to our faces each and every day and we absolutely love coming home to our loyal family member. Tequila has such an amazing personality. We often refer to her as being half human but, she loves to go to the dog park and socialize with the other neighborhood pups, too!
Tequila made our new surroundings in this city, home. We cannot imagine life without her peppy, uplifting, loving personality.
Wow, what a good (and photogenic!) girl!
Feb 152014
Introducing Ada, South Loop Dog of the Week!
Ada’s a shepherd mix originally from Oklahoma. She’s almost one year old and she is super energetic. Ada loves all kinds of chewy toys, especially antlers! She can run super fast and loves to do laps around the dog park with all the dogs chasing her! She tumbles and plays and keeps up with all the dogs, even the big ones. Her owner, Hilary, also takes her running around the South Loop and along the lake.
Ada is a regular at the D’Angelo DFA.
What a great pup!
Feb 082014
Introducing Dupree, South Loop Dog of the Week!
Dupree is an American Bulldog. He’s almost 12 years old and has lived in the South Loop all his life. Dupree’s a favorite at many South Loop parks, and a favorite in his building!
He is definitely a gentle giant!
Feb 012014
Introducing Merlin, South Loop Dog of the Week!
Merlin is a 9 year old Great Dane.
His pet parent Suzanne writes “he’s getting ready to do minutes on the underwater treadmill at Integrative Pet Care!”
What a good dog!
Jan 252014
Introducing Daisy, South Loop Dog of the Week!
Daisy was adopted from PAWS Chicago almost a year ago, and she brings her pet parents nothing but joy!
Lisa and Justin write “Daisy enjoys long walks through the streets of Bridgeport, (we really need a dog park in Bridgeport), playing in the South Loop dog parks, lovingly chasing our cat, endless games of indoor fetch, and hiding her favorite bones in our couch! Daisy has never met a siren that she hasn’t stopped to howl at, is a world class cuddler, and her favorite place in our neighborhood is Bark N Bite, where she can stop to get treats from Laura and Kim.”
“We are so lucky to have had Daisy come into our lives!!”
What a good girl!
Jan 182014
Is your pup a star? Of course she is!
We want to see your dog star as the South Loop Dog of the Week!
Just tell us about your pup and email a pic to ‘dotw@southloopdogpac.org‘.
South Loop Dog of the Week appears every Saturday at 11AM.
Who’ll be the next DOTW!
Jan 112014
Introducing South Loop Dog of the Week: Bruno!
Bruno is one year old. His favorite toys are his stuffed fox and any and all Nylabones and chewy ropes.
His favorite dog park is the d’Angelo DFA.
What a good boy!
Aug 162013
[Archived from Proposed Fred Anderson Dog Park 16thwabashdogpark.blogspot.com]
From dnainfo.com:
Dog-Friendly Area, Jazz Coming to South Loop’s Fred Anderson Park
Proposed Fred Anderson Park – an update!
News
Comments Off on Proposed Fred Anderson Park – an update!
Apr 102013
[Archived from Proposed Fred Anderson Dog Park 16thwabashdogpark.blogspot.com]
We’ve gotten an update about the design of Fred Anderson Park from Michael Lange, the project manager at the Chicago Park District.
The design drawings are almost complete, and we are privileged to be able share the latest with you. The overall design is very similar to what we’ve presented previously. But as they say, the devil is in the details! Here are some highlights:
- The small dog area has been expanded a bit. Good news for all the ‘small fluffies’ in the neighborhood! (a.)
- There is now one entrance gate, at the southwest corner, shared between the small- and large-dog parks. (b.)
- A bulletin board will be installed at the entrance area. (c.)
- There will be mounting posts for informational signs at the overlook in the center of the park. South Loop Dog PAC will be assembling material to post there in order to educate kids about dogs and about how to approach them. (d.)
- An expanded area is now to be covered by dog-friendly artificial grass! This is great news for fetch-driven dogs that might want to play here. The perimeter of the park remains concrete. (e.)
- There will be an access gate at the east of the park for maintenance, and a second double entry to the dog area. (f.)
- A space has been designed for a lockbox to store park maintenance materials. (g.)
- Shade sails will be place throughout the park (light blue triangles in the picture above), including over the performance stage! There will be benches and tables distributed throughout. (h.)
- In order to unify the whole area, even the sidewalk along S. Wabash will be integrated as part of the design into the rest of the park. (i.)
- The water runnels have been reconfigured somewhat; there will be two separate features, one in the small dog area, and one in the large dog area. (j.)
Construction is expected to start by summer, but we don’t really have hard information about the schedule. The park presumably will be completed early next year (2014). It’s going to be a substantial project, involving some remediation of the lot, and the construction of berms and other topological features will take some time.
We have raised one issue with the CPD: According to current plans the dog park will be surrounded by a 6′ high ‘Omega‘ fence. This is the type of fencing used at the Bartelme Park DFA. We think that a fence this high in a park this small will create the feeling of being in a cage or a prison, and have suggested that the fence height be 5′ – still a substantial barrier. It’s important to us to maintain a relationship between the dog owners in the DFA and the non-dog owning community that may be on the surrounding path or in adjacent park areas.
The board of the South Loop Dog PAC has been in ongoing communication with the CPD about this park since March of 2010. We thank Michael Lange for being willing to listen to us and to incorporate ideas from our dog-friendly perspective. We have to admit – it’s pretty gratifying to see many of our suggestions now implemented. We hope that this experience bodes well for future collaboration between the dog community and the CPD as new Chicago dog parks are designed and built.
As an aside, we’ll also be updating you soon about two other dog friendly area projects in the South Loop that we’re involved with:
- d’Angelo Park DFA – The story of our efforts to remediate problems introduced from the beginning by the design of this ersatz dog park.
- Coliseum Park Dog Run – An update on plans for improvements of the playground and DFA that were recently announced. SLDogPAC will be meeting with CPD representatives next week.
Finally, we invite any reader to please join South Loop Dog PAC – not just as a contributing ‘member’ but as an involved dog owner. We welcome your ideas, and your thoughts about and support for these projects!