Hello all!
Join DIG for a great time at Boulevard Brewing Company, June 2nd, for our 'Boulevard DIGs Dogparks' fundraiser. In addition to great Blvd beer straight from their brewing vats, we will have tasty food (and plenty- dinner will be covered), a raffle that will include a $50 City Pets gift certificate, a great silent auction, and, of course, lots of fun hanging out with your dogpark friends! 10% of all event proceeds will benefit Halfway Home's Medical Fund, but the rest will go back into our beloved dogpark. DIG funds have been used in the past to plant trees, sponsor events (such as paying for the movies at 'Take Your Dog to a Movie' night), and do big things like pay to construct the new small dog area (which would not have happened if DIG hadn't had several thousand bucks ready to jump on the opportunity).

Tickets are limited to 40 people! This event WILL sell out, so get them ASAP by going to our website (here, right below). Note that no tickets will be issued, your name and address will be checked at the door to confirm your ticket purchases. And absolutely NO tickets will be sold at the door, they MUST be bought in advance.
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sales are now closed- 6/2/2010 12:55PM
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Details-
dig FUNdraiser: "Boulevard DIGs Dogparks"
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Boulevard Brewing Co. 2501 Southwest Boulevard KCMO 64108
Time:6-8ish pm
Beer (of course!), food, raffle prizes, silent auction and FUN!
$20 per person: RSVP and purchase tickets at www.diginthepark.com
Please join us and help support beautifying and improving Penn Valley Dog Park - you're sure to receive lots of wet kisses in return!

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Rather large to do going on about the trashing of PVP by Rockfest (shocker, not like it happens every year... :)- Parks is tracking complaints/areas needing repair. If you have info on areas that need work, specifically ones that may be in out of the way areas, email the list, and we will pass the info on to Parks.

See everybody at the park!
LINKS- Boulevard Brewing CompanyHalfway Homes Medical FundCity Pets

Hello all,
First, we have a Rescue Weekend this Sat. (tomorrow, 5/8) featuring Forever Friends Animal League. See info on these folks below, stop by and say hello if you are out tomorrow. No one signed up for Sunday (Mother's Day, makes sense), btw.

Forever Friends Animal League is a not for profit, all volunteer pet adoption group that operates in and around the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan area. We rescue unwanted or abandoned cats and dogs, house them in foster homes, and offer them for adoption. We are committed to finding animals their lifetime home. We are an all breed rescue and have a large selection of breeds, small to large, puppy to senior, mixed breed and purebred. www.foreverfriendsanimalleague.org contact e-mail is ffalpets@yahoo.com
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We have some exciting news to share- The Nutro Company/Greenies, a great KC founded and based company (Greenies part, at least :), has picked our dog park for their annual 'Room to Run' dog park improvement project! This is a great honor, among other things, as we were chosen among several other quality KC area dog parks to be the recipient of one of these events, which are held in 30 cities around the country yearly. As a result, on 6/19 this year, Nutro/Greenies will come out and put significant dollars toward helping our dp, along with a lot of company volunteers to work on the improvements. As far as what we will be doing, stay tuned, but all the possibilites (a dog watering station IN the dogpark, erosion mitigation measures, landscaping) will make a sizable difference in making our dp better. We need volunteers to come out and help- please respond to the list if you can join us. In addition to helping the park and participating in an event that should be lots of fun, one community volunteer (meaning YOU, if you come out and help!) will win a year's worth of Nutro dog food!

BIG THANKS to Nutro Company/Greenies! And to our friends on the Parks staff who are doing a great job of adding more bang to Greenies bucks. More info will be coming, stay tuned....
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Speaking of other nice dp's, our friends at RUFF, the organization that established and supports the Blue Springs dog park, is holding their annual 'Pooches on the Parkway' event May 16th at Wilbur Young Park in Blue Springs. See the site linked above for more info- they are raising funds to improve their pond. And if you haven't ever been to their dp, it is a great spot to take water loving pups, and also has a nice 'woodsy' feel that is a sniffing bonanza for urban fur balls.
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One other event happening this weekend in our neighborhood is the Main Street Mile, a MAINCOR sponsored run coming up tomorrow (yeah, should have sent out sooner, sorry...). See the link for more info and to sign up!

See everybody at the park!

Hey all,
First, delayed thanks to MOGS and Missourians for the Protection of Dogs for coming out for our first rescue weekend. And thanks to everyone who took time to visit with them- MOGS mentioned they had a great experience, with lots of donations, some possible new foster families, and plenty of interest. There was a great article on examiner.com (evidently a fairly new site- check out the quantity and quality of the doggie KC related stories), linked below.
http://www.examiner.com/x-11337-Kansas-City-Dogs-Examiner~y2010m4d10-Rescue-Weekends-begin-at-Penn-Valley-Park

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In May, Happy Dogs Rescue will be out on Saturday 5/8 for rescue weekends. We have no orgs signed up for Sunday, 5/9. Please tell any organizations you work with abuut the great free exposure opportunity sitting there to be taken.

Here's the info on Happy Dogs- check them out in a couple of weeks!

We are Happy Dogs Rescue, an all-breed dog rescue based in the KC metro area. We take in stray and other homeless dogs (some from the various city "pound" shelters), rehabilitate them as needed, and place them in loving permanent homes within our area. We are a smaller group, all volunteers, and we are a 501(c)3, licensed in the state of Missouri. We tend to have larger breeds, both pure and mixed.
Our websites:
Main website: http://www.happydogsrescue.com
Petfinder pages: http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/MO269.html
Email: adopt@happydogsrescue.com
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This upcoming Sunday (4/25), the Northland Animal Welfare Society (NAWS) is holding their annual Woofstock event

Hello all,
We are starting to get a few rescues, shelters, and other orgs to sign up for our rescue weekends, but still don't have many organizations taking advantage of this FREE opportunity to get themselves out in front of the many, many folks we get out at Penn Valley on nice weekends. Please spread the word- both that these events are going on, and the fact that 10-4 on nice weather weekends are an extremely busy time at the dog park, and should provide great exposure bang for their few hours committed buck. If small organizations are unsure that they can pull it off alone, let them know they can team up with other small orgs on a table- we don't care. And if you know folks from some of the larger organizations- Wayside, HSGKC, MABBR, etc., let them know. We have emailed everybody we can find contact info for, but are getting minimal responses. We don't have the time to personally call all these orgs- please help us to get the word out. Although we can't guarantee results, it seems there are few better opportunities, despite once a year events like the Pet Expo, to get in front of large numbers of dog lovers with their message. In addition to advertising to our list, the Parks email list, and our websites, we will be purchasing an ad in Pawprints calendar section to spread the word, including information on each attending organization each month. Attached is a copy of our ad- thanks to DIG member Sarah Legg for assembling it for us!

One organization that quickly signed up is MOGS, a german shepard rescue group, which will be at the park April 10th. Here is the lowdown on MOGS-
MOGS Rescue is a relatively new dog rescue organization dedicated to rescuing German Shepherd Dogs and German Shepherd Mixes. We help others dogs as well, whenever possible. We do not have an actual physical shelter, instead relying on foster homes, volunteers and donations to help our furry friends in need.

For a list of dogs currently in our program, please visit our website at:
http://mogsrescue.rescuegroups.org .
The site is also set up to take adoption, foster, and volunteer applications.
Contact MOGS at MOGSEvents@kc.rr.com

Come check out MOGS 4/10 (Saturday) 10-4!

Hello all,
More info on DIG plans for 2010 is forthcoming, including a great fundraiser in April, but one item we have nailed down is our plan to hold a series of 'Rescue Weekends' at the dog park on second Saturdays and Sundays, 10AM to 4PM, April through October this year. These events are intended to allow local dog welfare non-profits to take advantage of our dog park's popularity to spread the word about the great work they are doing. We plan on having at least one shelter/rescue out on each day of these weekend, with the intention that going forward folks looking to adopt can know that coming out to the dog park on a second weekend day will allow them to talk to a group that can connect them to dogs looking for a home. Beyond rescues, other welfare organizations such as spay/neuter groups, or those like the new 'Chain of Hope' non-profit recently mentioned in an email are also welcome. Other doggie groups, such as service dog organizations, activity groups (disc dog, agility), etc. are also welcome.

If you are associated with an organization that would be interested, or know of such an organization, please read / forward the attached instructions (click on 'Read More' below, or email digannouncements@gmail.com). We would like to spread the word as far as possible, as quickly as possible, and be able to present a full roster of what organizations will be out what days this spring. Although we have 14 days to schedule slots, it is likely they will fill up quickly, please forward on / reply promptly!

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Clean up dates have been set- first Saturday each month. We will do 9AM to Noon as the standard time. So the first will be this weekend, Saturday 3/6, let us know if you can help. We will be gathering at 9AM with the expectation that the mud will be frozen at that time.

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FYI- the park is very muddy. If you haven't been out, be aware. The combination of a wet winter and limited sun/heat to evaporate moisture has resulted in a mud pit for now. It is likely the park will be very muddy, except when frozen, for quite a while until we have a considerable dry / warm spell.

See everybody at the park!

The DIG annual meeting will be held Tuesday, 1/26 at 7PM at a board member's house at 4025 Holmes, KCMO.

We will have a short presentation on DIG accomplishments in 2009 and discuss plans for 2010. All members (essentially persons on our email list) are welcome!

Sent to the list 9/4-

Hey all,
A number of folks are trying hard to get the Park Board to revise or rescind some of the flawed decisions contained in their response to the Dog Park Task Force's report, and we could use your help. Although several other very questionable decisions were included (picking locations the TF thought were poor, changing basic DP requirements to remove having a water source, etc.), as the rule changes directly impact Penn Valley, that has been my focus.

If you need to be brought up to speed, last Tuesday the Board delivered their recommendations in response the dog park task force report. The most shocking changes, at least from my point of view as a task force member, were the rule changes. The task force took a lot of time figuring out whether changes to the Penn Valley rules were needed- you may remember a few emails that went to this list on the subject, looking for feedback. There was some discussion on new rules for children, but the overwhelming consensus was that no significant changes were needed- that folks bringing kids to the park should be trusted to do so responsibly- like any other city park. I have seen lots of families with small children enjoying the dog park, and am aware of no real issues regarding kids in the dog park. As a result of these discussions with PVP DP users and among the task force, along with internet research, the task force concluded new rules on kids were not necessary, and explained our reasoning in detail in the Appendix of the report. Unfortunately, the Board either didn't read or didn't agree with our recommendations, and unanimously approved two rule changes- one limiting users to two dogs per person (which bans me- I have three) and another banning children under 8. The following letter (at bottom of email) will hopefully make the Star, but regardless, if you don't agree (and if you don't bring kids under 8 or more than 2 dogs, please consider the many reponsible users that do, as well as the fact that these situations may fit you someday), please contact the Board, political officials, and the media (see contact info below- thanks Ali!) --Click on'Read More' below--. I don't like having to beat the Board over the head to get these changed, but they don't seem to respond to much else- for instance, an email sent to the Board before these changes were approved pointing out our concerns did not generate a reply. Please see the text of the letter to the editor below for points, if necessary. If we don't fight these, don't be surprised if other arbitrary dog park rule changes come out of nowhere in the future. Thanks for helping!
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Couple of quick notes:
Be aware there is a small hole at the top of the expansion area under the fence from erosion- smaller dogs (20lbs or less, probably) can fit through it. We will try to relocate some rocks to deal with it, but FYI- good reason to use the small dog area!
The small area at the end of the new parking lot is not for parking, it is to make it easier for folks trying to back out of the last spaces. If there aren't lines denoting parking spaces, it isn't a parking spot. Not a huge deal, at least until somebody backs into a car parked there...
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There are a bunch of cool events coming up-
Parks is doing their second annual 'Dippin' Dogs' swim party next Wed. at the Springs Aquatic Center up north. Should be really cool this year, as the Springs is an actual mini-water park and there may be more fun things to get in other than a pool. Also supports doggie charities, and Hallmark is supposedly going to be out there looking for doggie talent. See link- advance registration required.
Later in Sept. (26th), the Royals are

Hey all,
Last Tuesday, the dogpark task force, which included DIG members Paul Randall, Suzanne Niemeyer, and Holly Miller, presented our report to the Park Board. If you don't know the background, the task force was created in late 2007 in the aftermath of the Board's sudden passage of a restrictive, dog-park hostile ordinance which attempted to stop a strong grassroots effort which had emerged to place a dog park in Sunnyside Park in Waldo. Not only did this ordinance (linked below) condemn any future dog parks to the dark corners of the KCMO park system, but it will be of interest to Penn Valley users that it provided several mechanisms, to be judged by the board on vague criteria, to close or alter the Penn Valley dog park. Thanks to great public outcry, the mayor appointed our task force to make recommendations to the Board on the proper implementation of future dog parks, and the ordinance was suspended.

Although the report provides, in my admittedly biased point of view, excellent tools to help the Park Board make additional dog parks in the city happen quickly, whether that happens will likely depend on a large amount of visible public, political, and eventually financial support for more dog parks. Our presentation didn't seem to generate much enthusiasm from the board, likely in part due to the difficult financial situation they are in at the moment. However, dog parks are a hugely successful means to increase park usage, are in obvious demand, and the city is woefully behind already in comparison to other similar sized cities, most of which have had multiple dog parks for many years now. Plus it seems clear that considerable private money can be raised for dog parks, if sites will only be approved by the Board. The task force was disappointed that the Board said that no final recommendations will be made without more public meetings, which is to a degree re-doing our work, as the task force had five public meetings over the last two years to discuss the matter.

The Board stated they will share their plans regarding dog parks in 30 days. If you want more dog parks, be ready and willing to show up at a public meeting to show your support, contact your council members, or write letters. Each recommended site will likely generate opposition from 'not in my backyard' types, so it is essential that folks that support dog parks in the locations identified speak up, or they won't have a chance. There is clearly at least one Park Board member adamantly opposed to dog parks, and there was no strong statement of support for the concept from any other Board members, so it may take continual, sustained public pressure to get decent sites recommended. At least some of the Board seems to have a somewhat backward view of dog parks, being greatly concerned about the amount of people these facilities will attract to parks, while seemingly missing that their main mandate at appointment was to get more people using city parks.

Here are the task force's primary recommended sites in bold along with other recommended sites, grouped by the geographic areas we used to distribute parks around the city. Note that each refers to a SITE in each park, they do not mean the whole park would become a dogpark. We placed sites carefully to not overwhelm any park, and to not interfere with other park programming.

North of the River- Frank Vaydik (formerly Line Creek) Park, Englewood Park, Hidden Valley Park, Hodge Park, Lakewood Greenway
Downtown to 31st St.- Case and Mulkey Square Parks (ideally developed concurrently)
Northeast- Maple Park
31st St. to I-435: Sunnyside Park, Daniel Morgan Boone Park, Gillham Park, Swope Park, Westwood Park
South of I-435: Minor Park

Attached is the report- it is worth a look just for Holly's excellent photos and pretty design. You can also get a copy on the Park's website (linked below).

See everybody at the park! http://www.kcmo.org/parks/parks/DogParkGuidelines.pdfhttp://www.kcmo.org/parks.nsf/web/DogParkTaskForce

Hey all,
We will be doing a park clean up this Saturday, 7/18 from 10 to Noon. We have specific items that need to be addressed in addition to the usual poop/trash/rock pickup, namely try to remove the dirt/mud around the bottom bench, clean up the trash that has accumulated in the water jug bins near the bottom gate (they are not recycle bins!), and try to fill in the ruts between the new lot and the main area to assist wheelchair-bound park users. Please come out and help if you can- even 15 minutes of help is appreciated. If you can't make it out at that time, consider picking up a couple of extra piles next time you are out to contribute. Being tidy is also always appreciated- don't leave trash laying around (cigarette butts count!- they are quite toxic and could make a goofy dog that decides to eat them very sick), and throw away chewed up jugs and other random trash you see around. Thanks all, see you Saturday!
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Our small dog fundraiser at the Brookside Barkery and Bath was a big success, raising over $300 toward the effort. Big thanks to the Barkery (and Jason specifically), and especially volunteers Ali and Gina, who single-handedly made it work! The new small dog area should be done by this weekend, judging from the progress already made as of Wednesday (may be done now, haven't been out since). If you are excited about it, and want to help us recover the $3000 we (DIG) are contributing to pay for the work, please consider throwing us a few bucks through the small dog area fundraising page or through our pay pal 'Donate' link on diginthepark.com.

Note that the small dog area is limited to dogs 40 lbs and under, although elderly and handicapped pups can also use it if they can get along with the small fry and truly don't do well in the larger dog area. All dog park rules apply to the small dog area, too- last thing we need is a small aggressive dog driving other small dogs into the large dog area or making people not want to use it. Of course, the lightweights will always be welcome in the main dog park, but do so at their own risk (very small dogs- under 10 lbs- should likely not be in the main area at any time for safety reasons).
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Our dog park task force will be presenting our report (finally!) to

Hey all,
Have some exciting info to share! As you may have noticed, the expansion area plans included a small dog area (the reason for the second gate in the new entry area), but the work couldn't be done with the money Parks had available. HOWEVER, our contractor has offered to complete the small dog area for a very reasonable amount (around $3500). DIG has launched a effort to raise this very doable amount in a short timeframe so we don't miss this opportunity. It is unlikely building the small dog area will ever be as simple (we can avoid much of the paperwork by doing it right behind the other project) or as cheap. The area is truly needed, as there are many, many small dogs who aren't comfortable (or are their owners) playing with the bigger boys and girls, and therefore can't enjoy the dog park experience. It is also of benefit to larger dog owners, as it reduces the number of dogs in the general area.

DIG board member Ali Kelley is leading this effort, with a goal of raising $1000 by July 15th (enough to lock up the opportunity before it is too late) and the full amount by the end of the summer. To do so, she has created a DIG facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=90636031444) as well as a First Giving page (http://www.firstgiving.com/alikelley) dedicated to the small dog fundraising effort. Below is her excellent spiel on her effort- please go donate NOW so we can get this done! Any amount will help, thank you!!! (DIG is a 501(c)3 non-profit, so donations ARE tax deductible.)

Dear Friends and Fans of Penn Valley Off Leash Dog Park:
A small dog area is included in the current expansion plan for the Penn Valley Off Leash Dog Park, however, due to the current economic climate, The Parks & Rec dept. does not have a budget to build it this year. The good news is that the contractor working on the current off leash park and parking lot expansion has generously offered to build the small dog area at a VERY reasonable cost, as he will be able to reuse some of the materials from the current expansion. If funds are not raised to build the small area NOW, we run the risk of either waiting years to see it to completion, or worse, never seeing it completed at all.
Small dogs (and dog owners) deserve the same opportunity to enjoy playing and socializing with their pals as the larger dogs do currently - in a safe, non-intimidating enviornment. We know you are out there, so PLEASE, help DIG seize this short window of opportunity!! If we build it, they WILL come!
Join the cause, please visit http://www.firstgiving.com/alikelley to donate today.
A big Thank You from DIG and all the Little Pals yapping (loudly!) to go to the park!
Please forward any questions or concerns to Ali Kelley, DIG Board Member, at alicia.kelley@sanofipasteur.com
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As mentioned, thanks to Ali, DIG is now on Facebook! Check out the new site and become a friend! DIG's Facebook page will include emails sent to the list just like diginthepark.com, but Facebook also gives us many features that diginthepark.com can't provide (or doesn't provide easily), and should be a great addition/compliment to the 'official' site. The page will be heavily used going forward- it isn't just for the small dog area fundraising.
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10AM-Noon this Saturday (6/20) is clean up day! DIG will be bringing out cold drinks for anyone who will help. Please let us know if you can come by responding to the list- we will vary what we take on based on how many folks will be coming out. THANK YOU for helping!!!
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As you probably know from my constant harping, Halfway Home (http://www.petshalfwayhome.com/) has been fighting hard to overcome recent high owner surrender numbers to avoid euthanizing good dogs, but they need help. If you want to help them, either by adopting another furry kid or just throwing a few bucks their way, you can do both and have a great time at Lollapawlooza (http://www.waldodogpark.com/), a fundraiser being put on by WOOF and Dog's World of Fun to benefit Halfway this Saturday, 6/20, in Waldo. And if you can't help with $ or by taking on a new furry kid, they DESPERATELY need volunteers. Even a few hours a week will help immensely, for instance by allowing shelter dogs to get out of their cages for a walk. See the site's volunteer link.

Donate to the small dog effort, see everybody at the park!