Indoor Dog Arena

[Sube Ru's mom]

Pat and I have been talking for a while now about starting a indoor dog park, cafe, agility ring, and obeidence training.
What we were thinking about is buying/renting a warehouse- huge one.
putting an indoor dog park inside with fake grass or fiquring out a way to clean up where the dogs mess (any ideas),
having a cafe inside so the owners and dogs can chill when they need a rest,
have agility for the more sporty dogs and something they can do year round
obeidence training (still iffy on that one).
I dont know how many times i wanted to go to the dog park and couldnt because it was raining, too cold or too hot and if it was inside you could monitor the air and you can do it year round. also we end up staying at the dog park for only a few hours because either pat and i get hungry or the girls do and if their was an inside cafe for both dogs and humans people could stay longer. More and more people are getting into agility and i think it would be neat to have an agility ring and you can hold competitions and stuff like once a month or something. obedience training- can never have to many places for this
what do you think???

 

[shannonmac]

i put i don't know... just because during the summer i would want to be outside...however... definately during the winter i'd love to be able to bring my pooch indoors...plus the fact that it would be a whole cafe thingy where you could sit and eat and actually have the pup with you would be cool.... i think you should do it... it'll definately catch on and now that im typing i wish i had voted yes! hehe....

 

[Capone's Mama]

I voted yes good idea. In vermont we do not have dog parks so we have no place to go to play with other dogs. Just having a place to go to with your dog and have something to drink or eat is nice but adding dog sports make it even more fun. Instead of fake grass what about sand it would make cleanup easy. just a thought.

 

[Sube Ru's mom]

Well pat and i are definitly considering it, but it wouldn't be for a few more years unfortunantly, but in the mean time we can do planning stuff for it and research. the have opened 2 dog parks in annapolis in the last 6 months and they are BIG hits and i keep thinking about how to expand on the idea. another reason for the indoor dog arena is because most parks close at dusk, come winter that is going to be like 5 here in MD and i dont get home till 6:15, so atleast if it was inside then we could keep it open till like 8 ish. a lot of the people i have spoken with at the dog park dont know what they will do come winter because they are in the same situation i am and the parks will be closed by the time we get off.

can anyone think of cons to doing this?? all input would be great

 

[Sube Ru's mom]

Originally posted by Capone's Mama
I voted yes good idea. In vermont we do not have dog parks so we have no place to go to play with other dogs. Just having a place to go to with your dog and have something to drink or eat is nice but adding dog sports make it even more fun. Instead of fake grass what about sand it would make cleanup easy. just a thought.

Sand??? hum i wonder how messy that would be, i know at the dog beach i take subi and bailey to they are LOADED with sand, but usually after the beach i take them to the actual dog park where they can run, shake and get rid of the sand. thats not a bad idea though, would it clump like litter does??
anyone else got any ideas on how to dispose of waste or put in the place of grass?

 

[Loke]

It sounds nice! I would like to go to one of those!! As for cleanup, maybe just have a designated spot filled with sand or something. But that I guess would only work for dogs that didn't go on the spur of the moment.:D I really don't know how to work that!! Have plenty of bushes planted for the males.:p It sounds great, and you definitely have plenty of time to work out the kinks!

 

[HubbyManiago]

Sounds like a great Idea. specially the cafe for the owners. would you sell homemade treats for the dogs also?

 

[Muttluvr]

Sounds like a great idea to me. Of course during the summer it's generally so nice out here we'd still go to the outdoor dog park (especially considering it's free... you'd have to charge, right?).

But in the winter when it's raining or gets dark early I think that would be a great idea. Especially the cafe! I've always thought it would be nice if someone had a traveling cafe that came to my dog park!

Regarding clean-up, if the warehouse has drainage, you could just spray down the astro-turf every night. That's what they do at my astro-turfy dog park .

One more suggestion... at my dog park there is a section for big dogs and a seperate one for little dogs. This works out SOOO great! I don't have to worry about Foster trampling Chi's or other tiny dogs!

 

[vasha]

Heather -

Awesome idea!! You could also have adopt-a-pets there on weekends as well.

Couldn't you have a designated potty area and then baggies and what not for when the poochies do decide to go spor of the moment?

This is a great idea and I would def be out there to participate if i lived near you!

VaSHa

 

[Eric J]

Here in Wisconsin, where we have 2 days of summer per year, I would be all for it during the winter month and bad weather days.