Unleash the hounds
Photos: LISA JAMES/Press John Friesz lets his chocolate Lab, Ruby, run free as Jen Arrotta watches Friday at the grand opening of Hayden’s first dog park, Pawfoot Park, on Lancaster Road.
LISA JAMES/Press John Friesz throws the ball for his dog Ruby down the massive green of Hayden’s first dog park, Pawfoot Park, on Lancaster Road, following the grand opening ceremony Friday.
LISA JAMES/Press Jen Arrotta, left, helps Suzie Cano wrangle her terriers Felix, left, and Sasha, during the grand opening of Hayden’s first dog park, Pawfoot Park, on Lancaster Road Friday. The smaller dogs soon got chilly as the wet weather turned cold, and headed for the shelter of the car, while bigger dogs played.
From left: Lauren Bierman, Shawn and Bill Langenderfer, and Lisa Troxel keep dry as their dogs greet each other during the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Hayden’s first dog park, Pawfoot Park, on Friday.
HAYDEN — Rolling green grass, wide-open space, new friends to play with. It's a good day to be a dog in Hayden.
Hayden celebrated the grand opening of its first dog park, Pawfoot Park, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday. It was a chilly, gray and windy day, but about six canines and 20 humans, including former Seattle Seahawks quarterback John Friesz and his pal Ruby, were paw-sitively happy to be there.
“We’re absolutely excited about it," said Hayden resident Daniel Moore, who came to the ceremony with his 16-week-old pup, Bandit. "He needs to get to know other dogs. The only exposure he gets right now is the puppy class we take him to at Petco. This will help him see strangers and learn to be friendly with dogs he doesn’t know and people he doesn’t know."
The ruff-ly 45,000-square-foot park features an area for little dogs and an area for big dogs. It is located within the Croffoot Park and Sports Complex at the corner of Lancaster and Ramsey roads, 1500 W. Lancaster.
The dog park has been in the works since about 2014. Members of Hayden's Parks, Recreation and Community Forestry Commission realized city ordinances don't allow dogs in public parks, except McCall Park, so they decided the community's canine citizens deserve their own puppy play place.
“We want to make it so that our furry friends, which are a part of our families, have somewhere to go,” said commissioner Lauren Bierman. "This area was just grass and it was open and it had half the fence already done. We thought, ‘Wow, this will be a nice space for them, and we can utilize the park better.’”
Bierman coined the name "Pawfoot" as a play on "Croffoot" Park, which was named for Hayden's first city administrator, the late Bob Croffoot.
"I like wordplay and corny things like that, and it just happened to work,” Bierman said with a grin.
Parks, Recreation and Community Forestry Commissioner Lisa Troxel attended the opening with her friendly Boston terrier, Mollie.
"This is her first time in a dog park,” Troxel said. "My Mollie is a hiker, but she does very, very well with other dogs."
Bierman and Troxel led the charge in planning Pawfoot and both said it's a paw-sitive addition to their growing community.
"It’s also great for the dogs, which is one of our goals for the park,” said Bierman, who has two rescue boxers at home.
"A happy dog, a tired dog after some good exercise, makes for a good neighbor dog that isn’t aggressive," she said. "It’s good socialization for them, can reduce the barking within the neighborhoods and just create a better bond and responsiveness between dog and companion. That was one of our big things in mind."
The park was installed with the help of Eagle Scout Seth Fransca and city workers. More Eagle Scout projects are expected to embellish the park with more features, such as benches and shade protection, in the future.
“A lot of people in Idaho have dogs,” Troxel said. "We’re just really excited about moving forward."
Pawfoot Dog Park is open from dusk to dawn. Pawfoot pet-iquette (rules and regulations) are posted at the entrance.