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TRUTH UNCOVERED: Is Coronado A Dog-Friendly Island?

We have a dog, named Zanzibar (Zanzi). He is our child. As new parents to this canine child, we love to take him EVERYWHERE we go (for full disclosure, he is featured heavily in this article).

SIDEWALKS:
Coronado is extremely friendly to dogs on the sidewalk. Orange Avenue is filled with dog-lovers and dog-indifferentists, who still share the sidewalk with these canine companions. Dog bowls riddle each dining or commercial establishment, inviting those with dogs to take a seat outside OR inside!

Coronado has dog-friendly sidewalks.

Places Dogs are allowed Into Along Orange Ave:
(1) ACE Hardware
(2) Wag ‘n Tails (of course)
(3) Holland’s Bicycles
(4) Coronado Crown Vet (of course)
(5) Dan McGeorge Photo gallery (approval from Fran pending)
(6) St. Paul’s Methodist Church (can bring your dog into services)
(7) List of restaurants that are dog-friendly
(8) …

Basically in MOST places that don’t have food being served, clothes being sold, or hair is being cut. Any other surprising places you can think of in Coronado where dogs are ‘In’vited?

DOG PARKS:
Since we moved to Coronado, we’ve been frequenting one particular dog park: Vetter Park. Of course, we also take Zanzi to the Dog Beach but then we have to bathe the complex haired poodle at Wag ‘n Tails, and that itself can be a serious project. By the way, I’ve just mentioned 2 of 3 dog ‘parks’ in Coronado. The third is the Coronado Cays Dog Park situated next to the large open soccer fields.

Dogs can play leash-less at Dog Beach.

But WAIT! Outside of dog beach, there are NO parks where dogs are allowed to be leash-less.

The sign at Vetter Park, and ALL dog parks in Coronado (except for Dog Beach).

I interviewed Suzanne Popp, a long time Coronado resident, and parent of both human and canine offspring. “For 17 years I have been going to Vetter Park every morning, every evening, and sometimes at lunch with four different dogs,” she said.

“My children had the wonderful opportunity of talking to other dog owners at the park. For children not living close to their grandparents, this was ideal. They talked about dogs, travel, life experiences and school. Recently one of my dogs became anxious around another dog, we, the owners worked with our dogs to try to get them to get along...we shared the park.”

Do You Allow Your Dog(s) to be Off-Leash at Vetter?
“Why else would one take their dog to a park? It's a happy place with dogs running and playing and being free. Most everyone picks up after their dog and many times dog owners will pick up an extra "pile" or tow because sometimes we are busy conversing with the other dog owners that we might miss the event.”

Dogs off-leash at Vetter Park. The black dogs in the video are Portuguese Water Dogs from a local Coronado breeder.

Suzanne Popp also talked about Vetter’s history:

“The park was originally deeded to the city by the Vetter family and there was never a mention of leashes. A few years back a sign that said no golfing was taken down and the dog must be leashed at all time was put up… My son put up a petition at the park to allow us to legally have the dogs off leash. We had a lot of people sign it, but the city stopped coming by and so we dropped the matter. I still have the petitions.”

Your Turn To Comment:
Do YOU think Vetter should be deemed an OFF-LEASH park? Do YOU have other experiences to share that shed light on Coronado’s dog-friendliness?

Akshay facilitates workshops on leadership, communication, and teamwork for adults and children with Ziksana Consulting. Read his Behavior Blotter for more on his work and his observations. If you have any ideas for stories, please contact Akshay at akshaysateesh@gmail.com

Tags: animals, community, lifestyle

2 members like this

Comment by Brian on October 10, 2011 at 1:39pm: I have no problem with Vetter park being a no-leash park however the Cays dog park needs to have the police start to enforce it's leash policy. Many of our children are playing soccer and other sports there and constantly dogs are running into the playing fields disrupting play and often pooping or urinating on the fields where our kids play on. The thought of my son or daughter rolling around in grass that a dog has just done their business on really creeps me out. The dogs off leashes don't realize that the sidewalk is the delineation of the dog-park and playing field and often they do their business before their owners realize it or often the owners don't seem to even care.

Comment by Dave Wilson on October 10, 2011 at 1:57pm: We lived on D Avenue 100 block and lots of people did not clean up after their dogs.Lots of people did.It got to be really annoying to find a pile of stuff in the yard.

Comment by Lisa Strong on October 10, 2011 at 2:23pm: I believe in all dogs being on leash unless in a gated dog park or on dog beach. Some dogs "don't play well with others" or they might run up to a big dog and growl and they might get bit. They might also run off to "potty" in the middle of a children's game or into the street in front of cars and get hurt. When they are on leash, their owner can keep them safe and out of harm's way and it is for their own safety to be on leash at all times unless on dog beach or in a dog park which is gated, like the on Silver Strand at MWR RV Park.

Comment by brookers on October 10, 2011 at 5:01pm: As a dog owner, it is very important to me to live in a dog friendly environment.

I want my dog to be able to have a place where he can run around leash free to exert energy and also to play with other dogs. This was especially important when he was a puppy, as it allowed my dog to learn how to safely play and interact with other dogs.

I certainly understand others concerns about dogs running into soccer games, interfering with childrens activities. I think there are two reasonable options. Either a divider or time frames where dogs are allowed off leash. Perhaps, on sat and sun when soccer games are going at the Cays it would be best to keep dogs leashed. But given that 90% of the time the fields are empty/unused, it seems silly not to allow the dogs to roam free. When I was at the Coronado Cays park on a sat am during soccer season, there actually was a divider up that kept the dogs from going into the fields. Perhaps keeping the divider up permanently would be a good option.

As for concern about dogs not playing well with others. First, I think that speaks to exactly why its important to allow dogs the opportunity to learn how to interact with others. But of course, dog owners obviously have to be very aware of their dogs behaviors and only take people and dog friendly dogs out to the parks. While at the dog park, the owners have to watch their dogs like a hawk. Our dog would never hurt another dog or person, and is very good with boundaries. I don't see why he should be punished and not allowed to live the most fulfilled live because others are concerned that he may get bit or run into the street. As his owner, its my responsibility to monitor these activities.

As for Vetter, it is clearly a dog park. It would be wonderful if they would take the leash sign down. But again, if there is opposition to dogs roaming free all hours, then having certain time frames where dogs are allowed leashless would be a great compromise.

P.S. I am all for fining people who don't pick up after their dogs. And we certainly respect neighbor's signs that request dogs avoid spoiling their grass.

Comment by polly coleman on October 10, 2011 at 6:45pm

Comment by Peter L. Fagan on October 10, 2011 at 10:47pm: Great article. One request of dog owners. When picking up after your dog, don't place the plastic bag with dog waste in a random trash can belonging to a resident. If placed in a recycle or "green" yard waste trash can, EDCO rejects the entire can and the resident's trash is not collected by EDCO.

Thank you

Comment by Margaret Everett on October 11, 2011 at 7:30am: My daughter and I were driving down the road and watched a young girl walking her dog, stop and let him do his business on a beauitful patch of new grass in front of a new house. She started to walk away and my daughter and I looked at each other and said, "oh no, she's not." We pulled up and my daughter (I figured it would be less threatening coming from another young girl) asked her very sweetly to pick up after her dog. Her response was, "I didn't want to have to carry it all the way home."(My daughter recognized her as a girl who lived a whole block away). She did come back and pick it up, but strangely the next day a baggy of dog poop ended up in our driveway. Parents, make sure your kids are doing the right thing.

Comment by Lynnda Shepherd on October 13, 2011 at 7:02am: We have a dog who is always on her leash unless she is in our yard or dog beach. I am always finding piles of dog poop on the little stretch of grass by the street in front of our house. My office window looks over our front yard and I have been known to call people out who allow their dogs to go and then start to walk off. The worst is when it is in the middle of the sidewalk. I have watched people step in piles of the stuff on Orange Avenue before I can shout out a warning. It is just so irresponsible. I am glad that Coronado is so dog/pet friendly - but there are a lot of owners out there that leave a lot to be desired when it comes to their responsibilities.

Comment by Nancy McKenna Hall on October 17, 2011 at 12:36pm: Wonder what the Vetter family says about this since they deeded the park. Seems intent of the deed should be addressed with them.

Comment by Kathy McCoy Schadewald on October 23, 2011 at 6:31pm: Now Look all this talk about poop. I grew up in Coronado and dogs have been doing their bizzness there forever. If you as a resident get fed up with other peoples (dogs) poop do like I did make a cute sign on a stick that says"PLEASE LEAVE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS SO WE CAN RETURN THE FAVOR" next to a poop. It will work most always. They will watch their dog closer when passing by your yard

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