the dog park trail is open

Just a month ago we officially opened the Portsmouth Dog Park Trail, our new fenced-in
woodland path adjacent to the original dog park. The other day I arrived at the park and found ten cars in the parking lot, but I couldn’t see a single dog or human anywhere. Everybody was on the trail!

It turns out there are unintended consequences to building a dog park trail. Anyone who’s ever walked a dog in the woods knows that their nose is put to good use on a trail. So much to smell! So much to explore! Instead of begging their human to throw them a tennis ball, they’re saying, “Out of my way! I’ve got some smelling to do!”

We are deeply grateful to the van Beuren Charitable Foundation and to all the many wonderful organizations and people who made this possible. In alphabetical order
 

· To Aquidneck Land Trust, Merritt Community Grants for granting us money to purchase trees and bushes to enhance the environment

· To Beausoleil Bros., the construction company that built the trail and fenced it in

· To Bunny Miller who spearheaded the original park that opened in 2017

· To all the businesses who put signs on our fence in support of the park

· To all the dogs and their dog parentswho come every day to enjoy the park and now the trail as well…it would be nothing without you!

· To all the donors, both large and small, who have contributed to helping us move forward 

· To Neil Hingorany and Narragansett Engineering who designed the original park and then this expansion

· To all the regular park users who build water bowl containers, fill the holes that the dogs tend to dig, keep the water containers full and help with daily tasks needed to keep the park clean and user friendly

· To Rich Rainer, Portsmouth Town Administrator, Brian Woodhead and Paul Rodrigues, Portsmouth DPW, and the Portsmouth Town Council for all their help and for supporting our efforts

· To Salve Regina University for partnering with us to collect the data we needed to make a case for financing our expansion

· To the University of Rhode Island Department of Landscape Design for helping us with landscape ideas

and last but DEFINITELY NOT LEAST

· To van Beuren Charitable Foundation for being major funders of the original park and then this expansion.

Please make a point of thanking them next time you see them in the neighborhood.  

Our work continues. We still need to raise funds to install solar lighting in the main park, add agility equipment, landscape the memorial garden, and plant more shade trees along the trail. If you want to help, please visit (insert donation page on the PDP website) Every gift counts!

Thank you for giving our furry friends a place to nose around!