They gathered in small and large circles for “conversation.” They ran up and down the beach, exchanging greetings with old and new friends. Often, at Saturday”s opening of the new off-leash dog area at Noyo Beach, the 50-odd unleashed pooches seemed to forget about the 75 or so humans they came with.
The event began with Johanna Jensen and Gail Brodkey, the two women who launched an effort to establish a dog park one year ago, explaining the rules at the new off-leash area.
“Aggressive dogs need to be put under control and leashed immediately. It”s for everybody”s sake, and of course, pick up your doggie poop,” said Brodkey.
Jensen explained that MCDOG (Mendocino Coast Dog Owners Group) is raising funds for the second half of the dog park effort — building a fenced area.
“Our next project is to find a spot for a fenced dog park. If you”d like to help us with the effort, send me an email and I will add your name to the MCDOG email list, so you”ll know when we need your help,” Jensen said.
Fort Bragg City Councilman Jere Melo, whom the group credited with helping them a lot with the process of dealing with government, participated in the ceremonial release of the leash — after encouraging everyone to follow the rules.
“There are rules for everybody. When Gail and Johanna came to me and asked about a dog park, I said dog park, dogs bite, yeah, yeah.” Gail said, Look buster there are five of you on the city council, and you go all over town without a leash and can do a lot more damage,”” a jovial Melo said, to the laughs of the crowd.
As the crowd moved from the parking lot area to the beach, the mood stayed ebullient, buoyed by large amounts of tail wagging. Several barrels of dog toys were taken to the water”s edge for communal play. Mother nature complied with gentle surf and sunny skies. There were no dog fights or incidents as the dogs and people quickly separated into groups in true party fashion. Dog owners who thought their dogs would not be able to behave off leash were amazed when their dog behaved better than usual. There were no pit bulls on hand during the first hour. Some dogs gathered with groups of other dogs. The two dozen youngsters on hand, ranging from toddlers to teens were soon at the water”s edge, playing large scale games of fetch, although many dogs chose to avoid the light surf. Parents were cautioned to keep smaller children from interacting with large groups of dogs.
Noyo Beach was chosen because it is under the control of the city and because it isn”t considered a scenic beach by locals or tourists.
That means that very few, if any, people use the rocky beach to sunbathe. Dog owners are helping clean up the substantial amount of garbage deposited by the ocean on the beach, along with tons of driftwood.
There was a group of fishermen on the beach during Saturday”s event, who seemed perplexed by the mob of dogs and dog owners.
Walt Puffer came with his dog, who won the ugly dog contest at last year”s Paul Bunyan Festival. He adopted his dog through Second Chance Small Dog Rescue, a Hayward group run by Mendocino Coast residents.
“This is one of the greatest things for the dogs. We come here a couple times a week and no problems so far. It”s great,” said Puffer.
Puffer said the key to good behavior is the owner, not the dogs.
“Dogs get along great when the owners treat their dogs like they should, with kindness, that is the key. The dogs know they are part of something and what is expected of them.”
Anna Marie Stenberg brought her dogs, Sky and Diana, to the event.
“It”s wonderful. Dogs really need to be with other dogs and with other people. Finally we have a place on the coast where you can do it legally,” she said.
One problem with the new dog park is that there is no garbage pickup. Jensen and Brodkey encouraged the crowd to not only carry bags for dog feces but to carry the bags and feces away until there is garbage pickup.
For those interested in donating or joining a mailing list for dog owners, Jensen can be reached at johanna@mcn.org or at Cowlick”s Ice Cream.
