Dog Park

[meepitsmeagan]

So, we have a local dog park that is kind of awesome. They do temperament testing on all dogs that come in, have like, 23 acres of fenced area for dogs to run. Have a dock for dock diving, plus a pond and some other awesome things.

In addition, they have a self-serve grooming station and some other neat things. You have to be a registered member to come in and it is all done by secure key card and such.

They are about, oh, 5 minutes away from my house. I thought that was great. Til I saw that it was going to be close to $500 for two dogs! After the first year, I want to say it goes down like $50...

I'm just blown away.

[AdrianneIsabel]

That sounds reasonable considering the maintenance costs. If you go weekly that's a whoopin 5.20 bucks a visit.

[Julee]

It sounds like a lot up front, but it roughs out to less than a dollar per day per dog.

[Locke]

Sounds amazing!

If you make the commitment to go daily/multiple times a week, it's totally worth it, in my opinion. Plus you'd probably meet a ton of cool people and cool dogs.

[Oko]

That sounds totally worth it for me, if I had that near me I'd definitely shell out the money. Then again, it depends on how much you would use it, but still that sounds like a worthy investment. Maybe it seems a little less 'ouch' to me because it'd only be one dog.

When you think about it, it breaks down into a reasonable amount weekly, as posted.

[milos_mommy]

That doesn't sound like a lot of money to me, especially if after the first year it costs less. Putting your dog in a day care would cost that much.

They have to pay someone to temperament test all the dogs, upkeep the dock, etc.

Honestly, I wouldn't think it was overpriced if it cost almost $500 for one dog if you didn't have to pay as much after the first year.

[Pintage]

I'd definitely do it... and if I lived 5 minutes away from the dog park, I'd be going there every single day! It's really awesome that they do temperament testing too, I can't even tell you how many times I saw an aggressive/reactive dog at a dog park who *clearly* did not want to be there, and their owner's like, "Oh, yeah, she doesn't like other dogs, so I brought her to the dog park to socialize her." And 23 acres is freakin' huuuuuge; back when I lived in Hawaii, guess how big our biggest dog park was? 1/3 of an acre!

TL;DR, I'm super jealous and wish I lived next to such a crazy cool dog park

[spiffy]

The amount is pretty reasonable for me considering the neat facilities. As you said the amount goes down after a year. Another plus factor for you is the distance from your home. Running in the 23 acre area would be heaven for your dog too.

[JacksonsMom]

Wow, that's amazing. I think I might have to shell out the bucks for that honestly!

[meepitsmeagan]

Honestly, I understand where the money is going to and such, but it was just like, major sticker shock for me. I mean, if we were in a major city, I could understand it. But this is rural Michigan... We are poor as hell. Haha. Plus there are so many state parks and such that I take the dogs to, and so much land that I have access to for free, I just can't justify it. Especially with getting Rider into classes. They do have a daily thing where you can go for a day and it is $5. So, I may still go every once in a while. And, if anybody wants to do a meetup, you know that I have a great DP. Haha.