Barks and Recreation : Owners Unleash Dogs at Valley’s First Park Designed for Canines

In a blink of an eye after they were released from their leashes, dozens of dogs bounded across the five acres of wet, green grass, leaping at each other, rolling in the mud and ignoring the chorus of cries from their masters trying to bring order to the frolic.

The romping pooches were enjoying the dedication Thursday morning of the San Fernando Valley’s first park designed specifically for the area’s canine inhabitants, complete with water stations, pooper-scoopers and nonworking fire hydrants.

“You can see how much fun it is for them to play and run free,” said Irv Lander, whose dog Cheyenne Ashley Whippet was straining against his leash following his long-distance Frisbee catch demonstration.

“He’s so unhappy on this leash. When you have a dog that likes to run that much and that far, and you don’t let him, it’s sad.”

Cheyenne, who holds a world canine Frisbee-catching distance record at 133 yards, also will have an opportunity to socialize at the park, said Lander, a Van Nuys resident.

The Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park at White Oak Avenue and Victory Boulevard is the largest in Los Angeles County and will be open from dawn to dusk. Two others, including one in Studio City, are open to off-leash use only a few hours a day.

City officials have grappled with the issue of whether the $250,000 spent on this park would be better spent building or upgrading recreation areas for humans, and whether the city should take sponsorship funds from a private corporation--in this case a donation of $50,000 from the Friskies PetCare Co.

But some said the park fills a special need felt throughout the city, especially by apartment dwellers.

“With this park, we are responding to the changing requests and the changing needs of our citizens,” said Jackie Tatum, general manager of the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks. “We have so many wonderful people who like to have their recreational activities include dogs.”

And on corporate sponsors, Tatum said the company is aiding its customers while helping the cash-strapped city.

City Councilwoman Laura Chick, who has worked to establish the park for two of the five years it has been planned, said the park is for dog owners as well as for their pets.

“There are so many people in this city that want a place to go during the day and after work with their pets.”

There were only a few minor scuffles among the dogs as they and their owners stood around waiting for the leash-cutting to conclude and for the gates to open. Koa, a German shepherd mix, was nose-to-nose with Koehl, a sweet 15-month-old Rottweiler, exchanging cautious growls.

“They will get along,” said Van Nuys resident Dominique Kupiec, as her son Sebastien bent down to soothe both dogs, “because dogs off leash will get along very well.

“To them [a leash] means they have to fight, they have to protect you. They are on the job. But off leash, they relax and are able to be friendly.”

Robert Johns, Koehl’s owner, said the park will now be a destination for their daily walks from his Reseda home a few blocks away.

“Usually the only exercise he gets is walking, and that’s always on a leash,” Johns said. “He doesn’t get to run unless I’m in the mood to run. Sometimes you just want to sit back and let him go. They need to run, they need that exercise.”