10/05/2021
CONGRATULATIONS!!
2021 America in Bloom Special Award
Best Dog Park
What better judge of the best dog park can you have than a dog? My name is Barney Fife. I have been to a number of dog parks in my short life. There have been one or two that my owner would not let me enter. Others have been nice, but the Lewes Unleashed Dog Park is the best!
Actually, Lewes is the absolute best place for a dog to reside. Anyone visiting the Lewes area knows that it has gone to us. Any time, day or night, with our owners in tow we can be seen walking the trails, streets, and neighborhoods. But we dogs need a chance to run free, to socialize with other members of our species, and to exercise at a pace that many of our owners can’t manage.
Thus, the Lewes Unleashed Dog Park opened on August 17, 2016, thanks to the efforts of a non-profit group known as the Lewes Unleashed Association (LUA). The property is sub-leased by the City of Lewes to the Dogs Unleashed Association. The park is comprised of over 4.5 acres, so there is plenty of room to roam.
The entire park with the exception of the entrance is surrounded by a tree barrier anywhere from 100 to 500 feet. That way we can bark at each other without our owners saying, ‘Quiet’. It was designed in such a way that many native plants and trees were retained to provide shade and keep the parklike setting. These are facts that my owner tells me, but all I know is that it is one fun place to be.
The park is comprised of three rather large completely fenced areas. There is a training/exhibition area. Although I like to show off my tricks, the word training sounds like work. There is an area for puppies and older dogs. I started going there when I was a puppy. It is big, but I was always looking over the fence at all the dogs in the really big area that is for the general dog population. It is my favorite area, because I love to chase balls. On a nice day you will find as many as 30 or 40 dogs, and one of the most popular activities for our owners is throwing balls. I love racing the other dogs to get a ball, any ball. If I catch it, they don’t seem to mind. They know that I share (most of the time). The area is so big, and the owners use those chuckits to toss the ball that goes very far. I can run and run with the other dogs. It is absolute heaven.
Access is secured and available to members only. There is a double entrance for those of us who are escape artists. I am one of them, but I don’t escape when I know I am going in the park. Membership is not limited to Lewes residents, but a yearly fee is charged to maintain the area and to buy the balls and chuckits. Wow. More info my owner shares. Besides trees for shade, water is available in the areas, both for drinking and for play, thanks to a baby pool. So after I have caught 6 or 7 balls and brought them to a bench by my owner, I can cool off in the shade and grab a couple laps of water before I start my chase again.
I am pretty vocal about what I like and don’t like. Take it from a dog. The Lewes Unleashed Dog Park is the best!
