Are there any? I have the dog for the week, and when she stays at home all day while Im at work, she NEEEDS to run free. Or else things get chewed.

...or in any surrounding towns (within 15 minute drive time)

Unfortunately, this area doesn't seem to want to even entertain the idea. I know here in Temple it has come up several times, only to either be dismissed or not occur.

I'm not sure what the problem is, though. Dog Parks work and don't bother "people".

Dog parks are a thing of beauty. Extremely conevnient and they dont seem too costly.

I guess I got spoiled in CS with the selection of off-leash parks available.

I have an active Golden and I take her up to the Lake Air Little League fields. Not the ones along New Road but the ones on the side of Waco High. You can close the gates and He/she can run wild. We chase a tennis ball until she peters out. Oh clean up if you need to.

Go to Cameron Park.

My dogs think Cameron Park is the best place ever...especially when they get an odd whiff from the zoo.

We went to the one in Georgetown this past weekend. It's great. But it's 40 minutes from Temple.

I really don't understand what would be so hard about putting a fence around a couple acres and calling it a dog park. That really needs to happen.

My husband and I actually checked into this a little when we moved back here. We had a terrific dog park down the street from our house in Oregon, and wondered why there was no such accessibility here.

There are insurance issues, land use issues (parks are for pedestrians and children, apparently, and not dogs), lease issues, and problems with maintenance. Vaccinations and such are also a part of this.

I still think it could be done. Our park in Oregon had good rules that were easy to follow. My son's neighborhood in Cy-Fair has a dog park for small dogs and one for larger dogs, and a place to rinse your dog off after romping. It also has a man-made pool where retrievers (I have three retrievers....two flat-coated retrievers and one golden) and other dogs can jump in, retrieve balls, and do it all over again.

I think it's worth checking into, again.

Jan,

I could see how all of the above could be issues....but it just seems to me like someone with the power to make it happen just downright doesnt like dogs.

The reason I say this: look at all the towns that have them! and some places have more than 1!

Anyone know who I could talk to to help motivate a change? (Im new to Waco)

Take them out to the Middle Hike and Bike Trail Parking Lot off Airport Drive across from the HOT Soccer Fields. Take them out into the area between the parking lot and the Dam. They can run until they cann't stand up.

You can take your retreivers to Airport Beach Park near the air port or Twin Bridges Park off Highway 6. Just stay off the beach areas with them and they can swim and chase decoys all day long.