Dogs, Community, Grass

The Silver Lake Dog Park was the first off-leash dog park created in Los Angeles over a decade ago on a slope leading down from the reservoir to Silver Lake Boulevard. The Small Dog Park is fenced off at the lower end. The Association was formed to bring the park up to the standards of newer dog parks in the city, learning the lessons of the earlier years of putting an infrastructure underground to maintain a lawn, providing a safe, beautiful, and enjoyable meeting place for dogs and their families.

The small dog park is used by well over 100 dog owners coming from a wide area in this part of Los Angeles. People often bring their pets for a romp before or after work and it is not unusual to see 20 to 30 dogs running about in the late afternoon, evenings and on the weekends. Happy as the dogs may be, they are running on rutted, compressed dirt that is frequently turned into mud by rain (when we have it) or water running downhill from the big dog park as owners there change the water in their pool.

Our owners stand about, sit on the three benches in the park, or seek shade in the corners of the park where trees provide a little bit of shade in the summer. Despite the efforts of the Recreation and Parks Department to level the compacted earth several times a year, the ruts are endemic because the area was not created to be a dog park and there is no infrastructure for irrigation. The ruts are a danger to both dogs and people both in the park and on the pathway that passes for a sidewalk along the street outside the fence.

What is needed to solve the park’s problems – both for large and small dogs -- is a re-engineering of the infrastructure to provide proper watering and irrigation, planted grass and trees, and on-going maintenance. The City’s Department of Recreation and Parks has agreed to enter into a partnership with us, whereby we share some of the costs and provide a good part of the on-going maintenance, and the City will undertake much of the rest of the work.

At this point, the Small Dog Park Association has spent about $5,000 on the project. We need another $4,200 for the engineer, and will then be able to present the work plan to the City for its engagement. We have been assured that money has been set aside, but – until we know what the engineer recommends – we cannot be sure how much work there will be, nor how much it will cost.

Other expected improvements will be an extension of the park 60 feet down the hill that will double the size of the current small dog park and take advantage of another table and bench, and the shade of several trees; one fountain inside the park for the dogs and another outside for the use of those who play basketball and other games in the park; and a barbecue available to all park users. The Department of Water and Power is working with us to make sure catch basins for water coming from the hill are sufficient to the need. The Silver Lake Neighborhood Council will also work with the City to add more trees for both dog parks and other beautification improvements.

In the end, we expect the park will be a marked improvement in the neighborhood and a place of peace and comfort for visitors with or without dogs.

June, 2007