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Walk Freely: Kernersville dog park gives pets, owners a new outlet
Journal Photo by Traci White
Dr. Jerry Bennett and one of his sisters, Susan, usher Zoe, a Jack Russell terrier, over the red ribbon to open the Vivian F. Bennett Memorial Dog Park at Fourth of July Park in Kernersville. The Bennetts and their sister Brenda made the largest donation to help create the off-leash exercise park.
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Published: August 29, 2008
Wrangler, a stout English bulldog, trotted up to a golden retriever last night to exchange sniffs and then ambled up to a frisky black lab for a similar canine introduction.
"This is a good-looking group of dogs," Dr. Jerry Bennett told the crowd as he and his sisters, Susan Bennett and Brenda Bennett, presided over the ribbon-cutting of the Vivian F. Bennett Memorial Dog Park at Kernersville's Fourth of July Park.
The $17,000 needed to build the park was raised over two years through donations and a memorial gift in honor of the Bennetts' mother, said Jerri Crews, the director of marketing and communications for the Kernersville Parks and Recreation Department.
The Kernersville dog park is the third to open in Forsyth County in recent years. Others include the 2-acre Horizon Happy Hounds Dog Park in Rural Hall and the dog park at Washington Park in Winston-Salem. In Greensboro, the Bark Park is popular with dog owners.
Dog parks are increasing in popularity as yard sizes decrease and as more condo and apartment dwellers look for places to find off-leash exercise spaces for their pets, Crews said. As the parks department researched the feasibility of building a dog park in Kernersville, officials discovered a large amount of interest among citizens. The Fourth of July Park was already a popular place for people to bring dogs because of the paved walking trails through the shaded park.
"We're really happy to have a dog park close by. We've been driving to Winston-Salem," said Julie Stell, a Kernersville resident and the owner of Luke, a collie-German shepherd mix that she and her husband, Randy, adopted from Stokes County Animal Rescue last year.
The Stells brought Luke to frolic around the new park and become acclimated with his new play space.
"You can tell a lot of these dogs are in a dog park for the first time. Usually dogs that come a lot aren't this hyper. The dogs get to know each other's personalities and even find favorite dogs that they like to hang around," said Randy Stell as he watched Great Danes, golden retrievers, labs and other breeds chase each other around the trees and one another.
Barry Parks, a veterinarian at Hopkins Road Animal Hospital, said he supported building the park because canine socialization can eliminate or reduce aggressive behavior, especially if dogs learn to interact with other dogs at a young age. In addition, playing and "romping around in the fresh air" lead to healthier dogs, he said.
Parks does recommend that pet owners stay up to date with their dogs' immunizations and clean up their dogs' waste.
The dog park is equipped with waste stations and watering stations.
The fenced-in area is divided into one section for small dogs and an adjoining section for large dogs.
Children under the age of 10 are not allowed in the park, which is open from dawn to dusk.
"My golden retriever really loves to be off-leash," said Judy Orchard of Kernersville. "I used to take him to Salem Lake, but it gets crowded. We have a fenced-in yard, but Chance just goes and lays there. Dogs need socialization. I'm so excited this park is opening."
About 75 dogs and 125 people attended the ribbon-cutting. Zoe, an 11-year-old Jack Russell terrier owned by Jerry Bennett, was the first dog to leap over the red ribbon and enter the park.
"This has exceeded our expectations. What I envision so much is how much Mother would have enjoyed this," Brenda Bennett said.
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