We get a chance to tell the city what we want at the new dog park. Think about choices such as large/small dog areas or one big area; agility equipment; fence or no fence. Contact us at odogparks@comcast.net for meeting details
ODOG East Bay Dog-Friendly Mapping Project
Map of East Bay off-leash parks and trails, and dog-friendly bars and restaurants. Click to expand.
Last weekend at the Oakland CatVidFest, a very nice couple came up to the ODOG table. They just moved to Oakland from the East Coast, and suggested that we pull together a map of dog parks for our website. We thought that was a great idea! In addition to the few fenced dog parks in Oakland, we added in the great unfenced options. We also included a few of the dog-friendly bars and restaurants that we knew of. We’re pretty sure we missed some of each of those categories, so please let us know! Drop us a line if you know of any other off-leash parks or trails, or dog-friendly bars and restaurants.
Snow Park Supporters Needed April 10
Snow Park Brainstorm
The City is moving ahead with plans for a dog run at Snow Park near Lake Merritt. Join ODOG for an informal brainstorm to give them ideas for the best features for the new downtown dog park.
Saturday February 23
Noon-2pm
Snow Park at 19th & Harrison
Please contact odogparks@comcast.net for more information
New Dog Park Possibility for Lakeview
The city is proposing a portion of Snow Park at 19th and Harrison as a possible location for a new dog park (instead of Lakeview/Astro). The dog area would be about half an acre, have an architectural fence and all the usual features. There will be a special meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission (PRAC) to get public input on the site and show some very general plans about how the dog park could be included as part of a total revitalization and expansion plan for park. The plan looks good to the ODOG members who have seen it.
There will be a public hearing on the site:
Mon., Jan. 28th, 4:30-6:30 pm
Lakeside Garden Center ($2.00 parking fee)
666 Bellevue
Mon., Jan. 28th, 4:30-6:30 pm
Lakeside Garden Center ($2.00 parking fee)
666 Bellevue
Dog Park Cliffhanger
The Lake Merritt Dog Park got the majority of votes on City Council last night but…….we need a “super majority” . Four votes in our favor and three against. Five votes are needed to decide the issue Council Member Jane Brunner wasn’t at the meeting so we couldn’t get the conclusive fifth vote from her. That will happen next time ! The council will hear the issue again Tuesday December 18 so mark your calendar now. Contact Jane Brunner at jbrunner@oaklandnet.com and let her know how much this dog park means to you. 
Lakeview Hearing Date Set: 12/4/12
The Oakland City Council will hear our appeal on Tuesday, December 4th at 5:30 pm. It’s very important that we have a large number of our supporters there. Please join us! City Hall is at One Frank Ogawa Plaza (14th & Broadway). There is a parking lot one block away at 14th & Clay, and 12th Street/City Center BART is one block away. If you need a ride to the meeting, email us and we will hook you up.
This will be our last chance to get a small slice of off-leash space in central Oakland. All of the parkland in the Lake Merritt area is completely off-limits to people with dogs, even on leash. All we are asking for is half an acre. Help us end this inequity.
WAYS YOU CAN HELP OUR CAUSE:
- Come to the meeting on December 4th. If you want to speak, let us know. We’d be happy to help you with speaking points if you’d like.
- Write to City Council, and tell them to approve this park. You can email council@oaklandnet.com, use our handy form, send a handwritten letter to Council, Oakland City Hall, One Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA 94612, Call your City Council member.
- Watch our videos, and spread the word to your friends.
- If you haven’t already, please join our Facebook page. We will keep you posted on next steps.
- Share our post on Facebook about this meeting, and tell your friends to come.
- If you’d like to volunteer to help, send us an email.
Pizza & Pooches: Space available: Join us!
We’re having an event to discuss the proposed Lakeview dog park, and get letters to City Council. Meet your fellow dog-lovers in a beautiful, sunny private garden. We will provide all the supplies, and pizza and snacks, too.
LOCATION: 373 Hanover Street, Oakland [map]
Date: Sunday, October 7th, 1 pm – 4 pm
What: Pizza, snacks, and other refreshments. Bring your laptop or iPad if you want to send a letter electronically.
Dogs: Very well-behaved dogs are invited to come, too. As this is a private garden, dogs who love to dig may want to stay home.
City Council candidate Sean Sullivan, a strong supporter of ODOG will be available to take your questions. Mary Scott and Susan Snyder, who collaborated on a beautiful book of historical photos of dogs will be signing their book as a fundraiser for ODOG ($15 for a copy).
LAST CHANCE TO SPEAK UP FOR DOG WALKING IN PARK DISTRICT MASTER PLAN
The East Bay Regional Park District is updating its Master Plan and will hold public hearings in September and October. Dog advocates need to turn out in LARGE NUMBERS at every single meeting.
You may have completed the park district’s online survey last year that included several questions about dogs. That was to gather info for the Master Plan. The 10,000 signatures we dog advocates gathered last year was in response to the survey and Master Plan update.
The new Master Plan will guide park district policies for the next 10 years or more. As it reads today, the new Master Plan will support building out new trails for “hikers, equestrians, and bike riders” – but not for people walking dogs.
Many popular trails have already closed to dogs (or now require dogs to be on leash), including Stream, Serpentine, and Dunn. Over time, trail closures and this new policy will gradually transform much of the park district into a place off-limits to people with dogs.
There will be six public meetings about the proposed policy changes in September and October. The first is in Redwood Regional Park, Oakland, on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The complete schedule and locations are below.
It is CRITICAL that dog advocates turn out in large numbers at every meeting. Some very vocal groups are opposed to dogs (off leash or even on leash). THIS IS OUR LAST CHANCE TO BE HEARD before the updated policies go to the Board of Directors for approval. Don’t give anyone the chance to say that “most people we heard from at
these community meetings were opposed to dogs.”
Even if you hate speaking in public – be there as a warm body in support of furry ones. NUMBERS COUNT. Bring your friends and family along, too.
We need to make it clear that people with dogs – who are 35% or more of the EBRPD’s park users today, and probably 40 percent of the East Bay taxpayer base – expect to continue to enjoy the parks with our dogs.
The changes to the existing park district policies can be viewedhere:
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?ALDOG/e24d897c3a/1f4fa0a9bc/d7a65e8b06
We need two important corrections.
RFA2 says: “The District will provide a diverse system of trails to accommodate a variety of recreational users including hikers and joggers, dog owners, bicyclists and equestrians. Both wide and narrow trails will be designed and individually designated to accommodate either single- or multiple uses, as appropriate, based on location,
recreational intensity, environmental and safety considerations.”
This essentially lists the major park user groups. We would like “dog owners” changed to “people with dogs.” Park users often walk another family member’s or a friend’s or a client’s dog.
RFA3 says: “The District will continue to add both designated and shared use narrow trails for hikers, equestrians and bike riders throughout the system of regional parklands.”
As written, this means that AS A MATTER OF POLICY the park district will be able to exclude people with dogs from all new trails. (And if they don’t – people who oppose dogs can challenge that by saying that it’s “not in the Master Plan.”)
This MUST be changed. The park district should not implement a blanket policy that excludes a major group of park users/supporters.
Please note that these policies were extensively vetted over the past 18 months by staff, the Board, the Park Advisory Committee, and many others. Logically, all the user groups in RFA2 should have been repeated in RFA3 — so we can’t just assume that leaving people with dogs off the list was an oversight. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t.
But if we don’t speak out it won’t change.
PLEASE ATTEND AS MANY OF THESE MEETINGS AS YOU CAN:
September 11, 2012
7 – 8:30 p.m. – Oakland
Richard Trudeau Training Center
Redwood Regional Park
11500 Skyline Blvd
Oakland, CA 94619
September 19, 2012
7 – 8:30 p.m. – Concord
Concord Senior Center
2727 Parkside Circle
Concord, CA 94519
September 22, 2012
10 – 11:30 a.m. – Oakley
Big Break Visitor Center at the Delta
Big Break Regional Shoreline
69 Big Break Road
Oakley, CA 94561
September 29, 2012
10 – 11:30 a.m. – Fremont
Fremont Community Center
40000 Paseo Padre Pkwy.
Fremont, CA 94538
October 3, 2012
7 – 8:30 p.m. – Dublin
Dublin Unified School District
Board Room
7471 Larkdale Ave.
Dublin, CA 94568
October 9, 2012
7 – 8:30 p.m. – Richmond
Richmond Memorial Auditorium
Bermuda Room
403 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, CA 94804
Want to Keep Joaquin Miller Open More Days?
Come to the conversation with the park supervisor to discuss options for managing our opening/closing routines so that we have more days to use the dog park. What are YOUR thoughts?——different gates? more volunteers? other ideas we haven’t thought of? Of course, full time use or another location would be ideal but those options are not on the table. The meeting had to be scheduled during park staff hours instead of the evening so spread the word .
Wednesday August 22 2pm at the dog park.
Have a great weekend everyone and please consider a visit to Redwood Bowl while our park is closed. The Bowl is up Skyline Blvd, with parking just before the Chabot Science Center . The bowl is a five minute walk from the parking lot. It is in the shade and very dog friendly, Nice picnic tables too.
CLOSING SCHEDULE for Joaquin Miller
* Friday-Sunday, August 10 – 12 – Producer Associates Performances (Close August 9 @ 6 pm, Reopen August 13 @ 10 am)
* Thursday-Sunday, August 16 – 19 – Producer Associates Performances (Close August 15 @ 6 pm, Reopen August 20 @ 10 am)
* Friday-Sunday, September 7 – 9 – Producer Associates Performances (Close September 6 @ 6 pm, Reopen September 10 @ 10 am)
* Thursday-Sunday, September 13 – 16 – Producer Associates Performances (Close September 12 @ 6 pm, Reopen September 17 @ 10 am)
* Sunday, September 23 – Sundays in the Redwoods (Close September @ 6 pm, Reopen September 24 @ 10 am)
* Sunday, September 30 – Sundays in the Redwoods (Close September 29 @ 6 pm, Reopen October 1 @ 10 am)
* Sunday, October 7 – Sundays in the Redwoods (Close October 6 @ 6 pm, Reopen October 8 @ 10 am)
* Sunday, October 14 – Sundays in the Redwoods (Close October 13 @ 6 pm, Reopen October 15 @ 10 am)
