Are they serious?!?

[FlyAway]

There's a dog park near me that charges $15 per day, $65 for one month. If you buy a 20 visit pass it comes to $7.50 per day.

If you are a member and join for a year, then the price drops to $25 a month. There is a one time $5 dog assessment fee.

Now the perks, a swimming pool with a dock for dock jumping, a fountain, a dog wash, a pet drinking fountain (though I would guess they'd run for the pool), a playset with ramps bridges and different levels, "speed and agility courses", lights for night time, and special events.

They also offer obedience classes and have a dog wash and grooming facility.

Of course, I don't go there.

http://www.wagspark.com/photos/?album=1&gallery=1

[martemchik]

I don't know...tough business IMO. $60 a month is ridiculous. That's at best $2 a visit if you go every day. We have a bunch of dog parks and regular parks in the county (all run by the county parks system). The dog parks cost $25 a year and are pretty well maintained, there are no tests but in theory if your dog is vaccinated then it doesn't really matter what the other dogs bring in...also the people in my area that care enough to exercise their dog and take them to dog parks don't seem like the type that skimp out on vaccinations. There are also plenty of people that I'm sure don't purchase a tag...there isn't anyone at the gates and I've only seen a park employee once asking to see tags in the last 2 years.

Sure there are run ins between dogs, but people are usually quick to react and lets be serious, you can do all the temperament testing you want, dogs will still butt heads. I just can't imagine there are enough people out there willing to pay $60 a month to use a dog park to make any kind of profit. I know we have some very very small ones that are right next to doggy day cares (used as an outdoor run for the day care) and connected to a training facility and usually boarding and grooming that charge like $3-$5 a use, but they're so small that its almost guaranteed you're going to run into issues.

[TxFig]

I don't know about Canada - but I almost never use a defined "dog park". I take my dogs to the softball fields, soccer fields, (pretty much any place where people congregate for recreation). There are always tons of people and other dogs to socialize with...