Dogs happy to run free at new off-leash park in Portsmouth

We’ve been waiting a long time to come in here, to get some time to run around.”

Amy Connelly

PORTSMOUTH — You’d swear that Koji and Gus were smiling as they chased each other around the spacious new Portsmouth Dog Park on Saturday.

Koji, a 2-year-old Shiba Inu, and Gus, a 1-year-old French bulldog, couldn’t stay away from each other during their first visit to the park during a special preview day in anticipation of its official opening next spring. Another preview day is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 17 (rain date on Sunday).

“We’ve been waiting a long time to come in here, to get some time to run around,” said Amy Connelly, Gus’ owner, as she watched her dog scamper around the fenced-in area located inside town-owned Melville Park. “It’s fabulous and great for the community.”

The volunteer-run Dog Park Planning Committee was originally planning to open the park this fall, but decided to wait until spring to give the grass more time to take root. 

“There are some areas that are getting a little muddy because the grass hasn’t fully grown in, but we’ll be re-seeding fully in March,” said Mary Brakenhoff of the committee, who was there with her dog, Milo.

“So far, so good. We’ve had at least 20, 25, dogs since I’ve been here and everyone’s very well-behaved. All the owners are really happy,” she said.

The park has a separate section for smaller dogs in case their owners prefer to separate them from larger canines. However, all dogs big and small were playing together in the main, larger area when a reporter visited Saturday morning.

In any event, it isn’t necessarily the smaller dogs that get a little nervous around other hounds. Biscuit, a 3-year-old golden retriever, was making her first visit to a dog park and was understandably a little nervous when she first came in.

“Once she gets used to it, I think she’ll really enjoy running around,” said Debbie Champagne, Biscuit’s owner, who came with her 8-year-old daughter, Sophia. 

Biscuit, she said, “is essentially an only child,” so she’s not used to being among such a large group of dogs. “She’s cautious but she’s better off leash; I’m glad she has this opportunity. If we come more frequently in the spring and summer, she’ll meet other dogs and meet new friends,” said Ms. Champagne.

Socialization skills

Just like children, dogs need to play with other canines to learn how to get along, which is a big benefit of off-leash dog parks, pet owners say.

“They get a different kind of play with the other dogs, so the socialization of it is good,” said Ms. Connelly, noting that Gus was also hanging out with another Gus — a much larger Landseer Newfoundland breed owned by Bob Barton — and getting along famously.

“They police themselves,” added Koji’s owner. “They figure it all out. They do a better job of policing it than we do. It gives them good socialization skills, which makes them happier.”

Another visitor brought along Luna, a 2-year-old mixed-breed rescue dog that was dressed in holiday garb because her next stop was at Agway for a photo with Santa. 

“We’ve been taking her to doggie day care for socialization because there wasn’t another place for her to meet other dogs and play with, other than the beach where they have to be leased,” she said. “But it’s great because I have an 8-month-old and she doesn’t get out as much, so this will be really nice because we can have our kid here while the dog’s playing.”

Great exercise

The dog park also provides their pets with a safe place for them to run wild, owners said.

“They get better exercise than walking them on a leash,” said Ms. Connelly. “A tired dog is a happy dog.” 

Koji’s owner agreed.

“It’s the best,” he said. “This is exactly what a dog needs on a daily basis. It’s more exercise than I can possibly give him walking. You can’t duplicate this in your backyard.”

Most people who visited the park Saturday said they were surprised at how large it was, but the Dog Park Planning Committee isn’t even through yet. 

“We’re planning to do agility in the back park here for the large dogs. It would be a future edition,” said committee member Jane Reise.

Ms. Brakenhoff agreed. “We have all that acreage in the back, so in phase two we may be opening the whole thing,” she said. “I think there’s four acres more that we have acreage to. We’re going to have benches and tables, chairs.” 

Mr. Barton said he was excited to finally see the park, which was spearheaded by Committee Chairperson Bunny Miller, come to fruition. “It’s great. I’ve been helping out the committee and doing all the fund-raising events since its inception, so I’m really happy to be here today,” he said.

As for Ms. Connelly, the park is already a notch above the only other off-leash park on Aquidneck Island. 

“I’ve been to the Newport one, but it’s not as nice as this one. The real grass here is really nice; they have mulch there,” she said while looking at little Gus run through her legs to meet up once again with big Gus. 

“He likes playing with the big dogs and having a good time.”