Who’s got the best dog park?

Morgan Hill’s dog park has more paws on the ground at any given
time, but a group of loyal Gilroyan dog park regulars say their
town’s puppy playpen is one of the best-kept secrets around.
Morgan Hill’s dog park has more paws on the ground at any given time, but a group of loyal Gilroyan dog park regulars say their town’s puppy playpen is one of the best-kept secrets around.

Over the course of a week, two reporters, one from Morgan Hill and one from Gilroy, spent a half hour a day scoping out the activity at their respective towns’ dog parks with one question in mind: Who has the better dog park – Gilroy or Morgan Hill?

“We’re the best,” said Anna Hirsch as her pups, Kumo and Danica, frolicked in the dirt with their canine companions late one afternoon at the Gilroy Dog Park. Hirsch is one of about a dozen dog park regulars who jokingly refer to themselves as the Gilroy Dog and Poker Society.

But Morgan Hill dog owners’ ears perk up when asked whose park is more desirable – Gilroy’s or theirs. “No comparison,” they say.

“You’re taking your dog to jail (at the Gilroy park),” said Gilroy resident Phil Gonzales, who drives Mellie to the Morgan Hill park on the weekends. No matter Gonzales’ zip code, it’s Morgan Hill’s grassy park that attracts dogs from San Jose and Gilroy, and to the regulars, there is no other dog park around that is as roomy, kempt and friendly as theirs.

The off-leash dog park at Community Park on West Edmundson Avenue in Morgan Hill has quickly became one of the town’s top hangouts. With tireless support and a grassroots movement of sorts by the Morgan Hill Dog Owners Group, the 1.5-acre park opened in January 2007. Nonprofit MHDOG raised $27,000 and the city threw in $20,000 to pay for the upkeep, add a chain-link fence, bulletin board, benches and trees to create both the small and big dog play spaces and waiting area between the two. 

On any given weeknight, a dozen or so big dogs race and chase inside the stretch of grassy hills along West Edmundson. Closer to the parking lot is a cluster of shade trees and often owners lounge in lawn chairs while the small dogs hop around. And while the dogs exercise their paws, owners exercise their jaws. Again and again regulars said the park was “as much for the dogs as it is for us.” 

Users of the Gilroy Dog Park, though fewer in number, say their dogs and the park are what brought them together. Through the park, they’ve created lasting friendships, and a core group gathers almost every weekday after work to catch up on the news of the day and make weekend plans. Nearly every evening, they meet at the park for an hour or so to unwind. From the young to the not-so-young, they sit and chat in the shade as their canine counterparts churn up dust in the sun.

Built by filling the basin that used to be a pond at the center of Las Animas Veterans Park on Mantelli Drive with crushed granite, the Gilroy Dog Park opened in January 2009 and is a work in progress, said Donna Pray, executive director of the Gilroy Foundation and a driving force behind the park’s creation. The dog park, which is just over an acre, was part of a project that included the construction of the adjacent picnic area. The total project cost $171,000 and city staff did not have the exact breakdown of how much went to just the dog park. Additions are still being made with the help of a $50,000 donation from Jacqui and Craig Merriman, a local couple whose son, Sean, loved animals and was killed tragically in an accident on U.S. 101 in 2006. The city planted more trees earlier this year, just completed a small shade structure at the center of the big dog side and installed more benches. A bulletin board and extra signage are on the way and Pray said she sees potential in what started off as a bare-bones dog park. Pray and her husband also raised $10,000 to start an endowment at the Gilroy Foundation that will give an annual payout to help maintain and improve the park.

The days of our dog park lives

Thursday, July 8 at 5 p.m.

• Morgan Hill – On Yelp.com it’s received four out of five stars. On dogparkusa.com: Four-and-a-half out of five stars. The park has even reaped acclaim from a couple who live in Disneyland. “OK, Anaheim,” Walter Johnson said.

For three years he and his wife Donna have made the Morgan Hill dog park a point of interest on their way up the coast to Vancouver, British Columbia.

The corners of Walter’s mouth turn up as he describes the beauty of the town he calls home a few days a year. “So many amenities. I can’t imagine a town this small maintains these kinds of facilities,” he said.

And the Johnsons have traveled all across the world. Though their trips weren’t part of a dog park scavenger hunt – they seemed to know the ins and outs. “This is the most desirable dog park we’ve ever been too. And you can quote me on that,” Walter said.

At 5 p.m., the couple was leaving the small dog area with their miniature Schnauzers Macy and Mandy – it was the second time that day they visited. Closer to 6 p.m. draws the largest crowd second to Saturday mornings. The after-work circle are oftentimes dressed in flip-flops unmatched to their slacks and button-down blouses.

The Johnsons shuffled toward the small manmade duck pond just down the hill from the fence. “We’ll be here tomorrow,” Donna turned her head to say.

• Gilroy – After a long day cooped up inside, Max, a spunky 2-year-old Jack Russell terrier, turned up his nose at the small dog side of the Gilroy dog park and trotted over to play with the big boys, his owner, Steve Bozzo, in tow. Bozzo and Max head to the Gilroy dog park five or six nights a week, and while Max plays with his friends, Bozzo catches up with their owners.

This particular Thursday afternoon, Bozzo and Max joined half a dozen other dogs who all but ignored their owners as they wrestled and rolled in a pile of dirt waiting to be leveled out.

The park’s human occupants – a group of friends who met through the park and jokingly refer to themselves as the Gilroy Dog and Poker Society after the two hobbies that band them together – watched from the shade.

“This park brought us together. None of us knew each other before,” said Bob Goldman, a Gilroy resident who retired from the financial services industry and estimated that he’s only missed a handful of days in the past year.

Like their dogs, the owners have formed a bond and they credit it to the lazy afternoons spent watching their dogs play together. These days, they dog-sit for each other, meet up for dinner or the occasional movie and, of course, play poker together.

“That it’s closer is a good enough reason to come here,” Goldman said. “And I have friends here.”

Friday, July 9 at 9 a.m.

• Morgan Hill – Before the folks at MHDOG pushed for an off-leash park, the city’s strict law about licensing and keeping dogs on leashes were a boon to dog lovers.

Animal control officer Dan Pina said in the last six months his office hasn’t had any calls about fights or problems at the park. Only a few about dogs running loose nearby – likely not dogs that frequent the park, he said.

“It’s been awesome, the best actually,” Pina said, who checks on the dog park twice a day. This month, animal control is bolstering its leash and licensing laws. Every dog needs to be licensed with the city to keep a record that vaccinations are current (also, lost dogs can be easily identified and returned) and if a dog isn’t within the fence it must be on a leash. Licensing is $19 a year, or $14 if your dog is spayed or neutered.

Zuko and Bella, a boxer and mixed-breed respectively, wrestled while their owners and new park friends, Christy Samarel and Tijana Martinovic chatted. To block the cool breeze, both young woman wore their hoods up and shoved their hands deep into their pockets.

“You learn to have dog-park clothes,” Martinovic said, laughing at the thought of wearing work attire to the park. And consider taking Bella to Gilroy’s dusty, all-gravel park? Never.

“I’ve heard really bad things about it,” she said. “The dogs are aggressive. The owners here are respectful and the dogs play well together.”

• Gilroy – Mornings are quiet at the park and Nate Levardi wished his 6-year-old pit bull, Chopper, had more company.

“I wish more dogs were here,” said Levardi, looking around the otherwise empty park. Chopper’s ears perked up as another woman on a cell phone and her Labrador approached. Though the dogs made fast friends, the woman kept to herself.

The parks only other occupant was a city worker putting the finishing touches on a shade structure. With the Merrimans’ $50,000 donation, the city was able to plant 11 trees and install the awning for shade and five additional benches, said Donna Pray, executive director of the Gilroy Foundation.

Their donation will also pay for a bulletin board and a large sign on Mantelli Drive directing people toward the park, which is tucked away in the heart of Las Animas Veterans Park. Another sign at Christmas Hill Park, a busy park for dog walkers, will remind owners of Gilroy’s leash law and that their dogs can run free at the dog park, Pray said.

Saturday, July 10 at 10 a.m.

• Morgan Hill – Chris White and Janis Truelseu never want the dog park closed – even if it’s to refresh the grass. “We will pay for the sod! Just don’t close our dog park!” the women said. The two were hanging out with their regular Saturday morning crowd, talking and pointing at the almost one dozen short-legged pooches racing around the small dog enclosure. 

After building a friendship at the park, White and Truelseu now meet Wednesdays with other dog park friends for Yappy Hour at Truelseu’s home to kick back and laugh at their Chihuahua-mix dogs Chopper and Edgar. 

“We don’t know every person’s name but we know every dog’s name,” White said. “There’s Sophie’s mom” White pointed, “and Cooper’s parents.” They took turns talking in baby – well, doggie – voices to any dog. 

• Gilroy – Except for a couple just leaving, Gilroy’s dog park was deserted.

“Most of the time, we don’t see that many people,” said Olivier Dabrowski as he and his wife, Aurelia, headed toward the parking lot. Their dogs, a golden retriever named Goldie and a Siberian husky mix who answers to Angel, moved into the shade at their feet. “I think a lot of people may not know about the dog park.”

During the few minutes the Dabrowskis paused to critique the park, a couple of dog owners and their pets approached the park, then kept walking.

The Dabrowskis, who moved to Gilroy seven months ago from France, stumbled upon the park by accident. Before that, they had been taking Goldie and Angel to Morgan Hill’s park. Between the two parks, they said they noticed a “big difference.”

“There are more dogs there and more trees and grass,” Olivier said of the Morgan Hill park. “But they keep it clean here so we like it and it seems to keep improving. It’s really very handy if you have a small backyard.”

Monday, July 12, 5:30 p.m.

• Morgan Hill – Every other day at the park, an owner name-drops “Linda Cunningham” – chairperson of MHDOG and to the regulars, she might just be the master.

South San Jose resident Elizabeth Turley said she would move to Morgan Hill if the small dog park’s fence moved to the West Edmundson sidewalk so the owners could traipse the perimeter for exercise. Cunningham and MHDOG’s contributors are theorizing an extension of the small dog area.

Turley and her “Tzuchon,” a Shih Tzu and bichon frises mix called Cassidy, travels to play with fellow South San Jose resident Mike Heley’s terrier-mix Milo and local Rosanne Seybold’s Shih Tzu poodle Sparky.

“It’s the best thing Morgan Hill has ever done,” Seybold said from her lawn chair parked near the fence.

They attend one another’s Super Bowl parties and often get together outside of the park. Once a month, MHDOG holds a Yap, Lap and Dine for dog lovers to stroll downtown and enjoy dinner on a restaurant’s patio.

“We have a family here. It’s not only a good place for the dog, but it’s good for the people,” Seybold said.

• Gilroy – About eight dogs and as many owners of the usual weekday evening crowd gathered to enjoy the sunshine. But as their dogs playfully chased after each other inside the big dog section of the park, an unleashed pit bull without an owner approached from the east side of Las Animas Veterans Park. Though this particular pit bull seemed friendly, responsible dog owners admitted that the park does have a “pit bull problem” from time to time.

“Things occasionally get out of hand,” said Rick Rasmussen. Though the usual dogs churned up dust as they rolled around with each other, it was obvious that they were just enjoying the company of other canine friends.

Dog park regulars recommend that new visitors to the park introduce themselves and their dogs in order to foster friendly play.

Tuesday, July 13, noon

• Morgan Hill – In the wavering heat and soft wind of Tuesday at noon, just three owners and their dogs inhabit the park. Beau, a young black Labrador, flops onto the grass to recoup after a Frisbee soiree.

A little less shade covers the park today. The city had a large tree cut down because there were concerns it would interfere with the power lines overhead. The stump is marked by an A-frame sign for now; MHDOG is planning to construct a shade structure with donated funds from its loyal members.

Three years worth of paw prints and thousands of dollars later the dog park continues to thrive. As noon turned into 1 p.m. a mother and her toddler stopped at the fence across the park to watch Beau run.

At a drive-by glance the park is just a fence surrounding grass and trees. But perhaps the draw of people and their dogs from around South County and San Jose certifies that the park is everyone’s best friend.

• Gilroy – The patch of crushed granite that comes alive in the early evenings as pet owners get off work stood empty Tuesday afternoon. One of the biggest differences between the Gilroy and Morgan Hill dog park is an oft-discussed topic: grass.

“I’m on the fence,” Pray said. After scouting out dog parks all over the Bay Area and on the East Coast, she and her 11-year-old yellow Labrador, Reggie, have tested out grassy and grassless parks. The upsides of grass are its aesthetic appeal and that it’s cooler, but when the rain comes, grassy parks are often closed until their puddles dry up, she said.

Parks paved with dirt in place of grass also make it easier to clean up after dogs, users pointed out.

Bozzo, who has visited both the Gilroy and Morgan Hill parks said he’s partial to the grass as he watched his dog’s white coat take on the dusty gray color of the gravel.

Grass would be nice but the proximity of the park and the friends he’s made in Gilroy keep him coming five or six nights a week.

“They really did do a good job here,” he said.