Monroe off-leash dog park opens

Published 11:01 pm Sunday, July 20, 2008

MONROE — Harley was a quick study.

He raced up and down the 10-foot-high staircase, trotted over the balance beam-like bridge and zipped through the corrugated pipe with nary a pant.

The 5-year-old black Lab mix completed the regimen efficiently Sunday afternoon at Wiggly Field, a new addition within Skykomish River Park on the south edge of Monroe along the Skykomish River.

Everett resident Jennette Sutton, Harley’s owner, liked the new digs for dogs. It’s a place for canines to cavort off-leash.

“We knew there was a park here and we knew it was dog-friendly, which was great,” Sutton said. “It is so nice to be able to get them out of the house.”

The three-acre dog playground opened Saturday.

The city of Monroe raised about $5,000 in donations from the community to prepare the site. Volunteers also pitched in, creating the off-leash area, the first such designated spot for dogs in city limits.

Twenty-five volunteers worked on a recent Saturday, putting up fences, preparing the agility equipment and spreading wood chips.

The project didn’t cost the city any money, said Denise Jacobsen, administrative assistant for the city’s parks and recreation department. The city is still seeking additional donations to create a water fountain for dogs and to build a message board.

Paco, a German shepherd mix, was less impressed with the agility equipment than Harley on Sunday but seemed pleased with the grass to roam on, the patches of shade and a friendly belly scratch.

“It’s so great to have an off-leash park in this area,” said Paco’s owner, Renee Macwatters of Lake Stevens.

The park received a visit from dog park expert Val Mallinson and her “Wonder Wieners” Isis and Cooper on Sunday afternoon.

Mallinson, author of “The Dog Lover’s Companion to the Pacific Northwest” guidebook, has visited more than 100 dog-friendly parks from Northern California to Canada over the years. She evaluates each park on a one- to four-paw ranking system.

She was impressed with Wiggly Field on several levels. She liked the spacious grounds and agility equipment and would likely give the park three out of four paws. Ideally, as donations come in, the park will have water for the dogs, fences to prevent wanderers and a designated space for small and timid dogs, she said.

“I like how it was specially designed for the dogs,” she said. “It’s very nice.”

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara contributed to this story.