County gets third off-leash dog park

Kathleen Hansen of Battle Ground stands in the new Brush Prairie Off-Leash Area with her keeshond Sidney and other dogs. Before Clark County’s third dog park opened in November, Hansen had to drive 30 minutes each way to get to either Ross Off-Leash Park or the Dakota Memorial Off-Leash Area at Pacific Community Park (Norm Neely/ for The Columbian)

The number of dog parks in Clark County has tripled in the past year, thanks largely to the efforts of local off-leash advocates. Their latest success? The construction of a 7.5-acre dog park in Brush Prairie.

Since an off-leash area opened in Brush Prairie in November, the third in Clark County, dog owners such as Kathleen Hansen are spending less time driving to dog parks and more time enjoying them.

Until recently, taking 6-year-old rescue keeshond Sidney to a dog park meant about an hour round-trip drive for Battle Ground resident Hansen and her dog. The Brush Prairie option brings her total commute closer to 20 minutes.

Ultimately, that means less time, money and hassle for Hansen and more chances for Sidney to run and socialize with other dogs free from the confines of a leash.

“It’s a lot easier now that this one is open. No more excuses,” said Hansen, site manager for the Brush Prairie Off-Leash Area and member of the board for Dog Owners Group for Park Access in Washington (DOGPAW), the group responsible for building the Brush Prairie park.

About 30 DOGPAW volunteers put in many 10-12 hour days this fall building the dog park near the Center for Agriculture, Science and Environmental Education, Hansen said.

“It’s pretty unbelievable,” said DOGPAW board chairwoman and founding member Pam Goe, a Vancouver resident. “It does go to show that when you get a group of dedicated people together committed to making something happen, you can get some amazing results.”

The park is enclosed by a 4-foot fence and features double-gated entrances to help prevent escapes and a separate 1-acre area for small and shy dogs. DOGPAW members hope to add an agility area, trees, benches and a trail around the perimeter as money and volunteer manpower allow.

DOGPAW membership fees and donations covered most of the approximately $12,000 construction costs; a $4,000 grant from Purina helped defray expenses and left more in DOGPAW’s budget for future projects and to maintain the Brush Prairie Off-Leash Area, which Goe estimates will take $4,000 to $5,000 annually.

DOGPAW now has nearly 1,300 members, but it started as a much smaller group of animal lovers advocating for dog parks.

The nonprofit organization began in 2005 with about 10 members at a time when Clark County didn’t have any official off-leash spaces. By that summer, DOGPAW members had created and paid for the first park, Ross Off-Leash Park. This 8-acre, fully fenced site, part of the Bonneville Power Administration’s Ross Complex, is located just south of Hazel Dell.

Local options for dogs and their owners expanded this summer, when the Dakota Memorial Off-Leash Area at Pacific Community Park opened near east Vancouver. The area had served as an unofficial dog park before the land was developed.

Pacific Community Park’s 8-acre off-leash area is maintained by DOGPAW volunteers, but was constructed with taxpayer money. It’s the county’s only publicly funded dog park. In other communities, it’s common for parks departments to handle construction and maintenance of off-leash spaces. Across the river, the majority of the Rose City’s 30-plus dog parks fall under Portland Parks & Recreation Department’s purview.

But although DOGPAW paid for the construction of the Brush Prairie park, the group does rely on support from the county. Clark County owns the land the park sits on, and is letting DOGPAW use it for free. The county also donated gravel for the park’s parking lot.

Dog parks in Portland far outnumber those in Clark County, but DOGPAW hopes to change that. The group and the county are working together to identify other areas for future parks, said Clark County Public Works Director Pete Capell.

Goe said the next dog park likely will be in the Vancouver Lake area, and she hopes construction will begin in the spring.

As DOGPAW membership grows, the group would like to build more parks throughout Clark County. Goe said support for the two most recent parks is a good indication of local demand for accessible off-leash areas.

“I think what it says is we really do care about dogs in the community and a lifestyle where people are being active with their dogs,” she said.

It’s an observation seconded by Capell.

Within the county’s parks system, the off-leash areas are some of the best utilized facilities, he said.

“The parks are to serve the people, and if that’s what people want, then that’s what we need to be providing,” Capell said.


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The new Brush Prairie Off-Leash Area is near the intersection of Northeast 149th Street and 101st Place in Brush Prairie. For more information, see DOGPAW's Web site.