A DOG walker has actually required a “degraded” play location at Riverside Park to be changed with a dog dexterity space.
Miriam Finn, 56, a dog walker, fitness instructor and behaviourist has actually resided in Woodmill for over a years.
She typically takes her Jack Russell, Brady, and German Shepherd, Gus, for strolls at neighboring Riverside Park.
Having very first gotten in touch with the council a year ago about opening a dog dexterity space in the park, Miriam was informed the council was not “prepared to provide top priority over any space”.
However, after drifting the concept on social networks of changing the “degraded” play location, Miriam was overwhelmed with the positive reactions she received, triggering the dog enthusiast to appeal for action to be taken.
She informed the Echo: “I’ve been thinking about setting something up for about a year or so now. At the moment there’s nothing for dogs at Riverside Park.
“There’s such a big and wide-open space and there’s always plenty of dog walkers around, so it would be nice if we could have our own designated space – not only for an agility space but also for an off-lead area, that’s not near the traffic and behind the trees, so it’s a little sheltered.
“Agility is a great way to train your dogs to be spatially aware and build confidence with the owners.”
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Miriam included: “Support for the idea has just snowballed. I think it would be a much better use of space than the current play area as there’s only one baby swing left. Even the seating area is gone, the area is completely degraded.
“I think there’s talk of residents wanting to set up a dog agility space at the sports centre, so it would be great to start a trend that the council might follow, but it seems to be a bit of an afterthought.
“I know there’s a specific area in the city centre in one of the parks that’s dedicated to dogs but it’s in a caged area where there’s not a lot of space, so it doesn’t accommodate many people.
“I do appreciate it’s quite an undertaking and if I’m honest it’s more than I imagined but I’ll be down Riverside Park on Sunday, July 16, between 12pm and 2pm – near the play area – to gauge how many people support the idea in person and hopefully get some signatures that I can show the council, and it might help us get some fundraising.”
