River Park Calgary

Approaching a Messy Situation

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We’ve all observed someone who hasn’t noticed their dog pooping. Most times it’s unintentional but the fact is, there’s a missed opportunity to keep the park clean.

Many people struggle with this situation. What to do?

  1. Do you ignore it and walk on by?
  2. Do you grumble and pick it up?
  3. Do you call the person, point it out and hope they pick it up?

If you choose to approach the person, what are some polite, non-confrontational things to say? Maybe a little humour could be helpful. How about the following suggestions?

  1. “Oh my, your dog is leaving a messy situation behind.”

  2. “I just observed your dog scratching around. He seems quite impressed with his output today.”

  3. “Oh dear… that’s a crappy situation.”

  4. “Oh look… Your dog’s end result is over there.”

  5. “Hi there. Looks like you’re on clean-up doo-ty.”

  6. “I spy with my little eye something that is brown.”

  7. “Attention please… Clean up on trail two!”

  8. “Wow, your dog would easily win the prize for biggest output!”

  9. “Whoa, that one would sure make a mess of someone’s shoes.”

  10. “Yikes! That one’s gotta be a two-bagger. Let me know if you need an extra bag.”

  11. “Too bad there’s no prize for largest park deposit but your dog would certainly win!”

  12. “Goodness! How much does your dog eat to have output like that?” 

  13. “Your dog just dropped a load big enough to bury a small child.”

Depending on the situation, you could follow up with one of these comments:

  1. “May I offer you a bag?”
  2. “Thanks for helping us keep the park clean.”

There are so many ways to approach the subject but we feel these are a few gentle and effective ways to gain compliance. Best wishes with your chosen approach and thanks for your help!

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Off-leash Advocacy

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River Park is an extremely valuable recreational area for local residents as well as people from other areas of the city. All users of the park agree that people want a healthy, clean, safe environment that everyone can enjoy. In order to achieve this goal, everyone needs to share and be respectful, reasonable, responsible and considerate. Green spaces in Calgary are here for all residents and we appreciate the challenges the City faces related to developing and managing appropriate use of space. We applaud the City in their efforts to maintain the health of the park for all users.

Dog Owner Support for the Wellbeing of River Park

  • Dog owners want to work toward a solution to help sustain the wellbeing of parks.
  • Dog owners do not object to the City’s plans to re-establish worn areas. May the City be reminded that heavy use is indicative of the vital role the park plays in the healthy lifestyles of dog owners.
  • Dog owners need to respectfully share space.
  • Dog owners need to be responsible and clean up after their dogs.
  • Many dog owners contribute to the park’s wellbeing when they participate in clean-up days of River Park, organized by volunteers and held bi-monthly throughout the year. As well, there are many dog owners who, on a daily basis, pick up garbage and faeces left behind by others.

Dog Owners’ Opposition to changes/Support for off-leash access

Upon hearing proposals and council-approved plans for two pathways, dog owners are concerned about losing their off-leash status in River Park.

  • There are several groups with competing interests in green spaces. The interests are not necessarily incompatible, but some are certainly less compatible than others.
  • Although River Park is a multi-use area, the majority of people go there for exercise with their dog. Regardless of weather conditions, off-leash walking rates as one of the highest engaged outdoor activities in any area of the city, throughout the year. Dog owners are equally passionate about off-leash dog walking as their form of recreation as others feel about their chosen types of activities.
  • Off-leash walking is a community building activity that facilitates socializing of humans and dogs and in fact, creates a better-socialized dog. The latter concept is supported by dog behaviourists and the City of Calgary’s Chief Bylaw Officer.
  • Facilities and access for other recreational users are abundant throughout the city. These opportunities far out-weigh the off-leash access choices for dog owners. People without dogs can go anywhere in the city. Children have playgrounds and schoolyards on which dogs aren’t allowed. Cyclists and runners have designated pathways that dogs aren’t allowed to use. Calgary boasts one of the best established pathway systems in Canada. Calgary also has some of the finest off-leash areas.
  • The City lists several off-leash access sites, but many dog owners report they are not suitable for various reasons (i.e. too close to traffic, slopes are too steep, no lights etc). People come from all over the city to use River Park. Dogs and owners – many with children and the small amount of runners and slow cyclists harmoniously share the space with few negative encounters. Reducing recreational space in any way increases usage in the remaining spaces or creates more usage in other areas. As with any situation where usage increases, it is likely that negative encounters will also increase. Considering the amount of usage, the percentage of negative encounters is very low. If anything, a potential solution to address the issue of over-use in city owned parks is to consider creating more designated off-leash areas.
  • The nature of off-leash walking doesn’t lend itself well to small spaces.
  • Creating on-leash rules may decrease dog walking in the park, but many people will still choose River Park to walk their dog. It is highly unlikely runners and cyclists would want to weave their way through owners with dogs on leash, so usage will still overwhelmingly be dog walking.

To summarize, dog owners wish to maintain their off-leash status, but want to be respectful of initiatives to maintain the health of River Park and considerate of all other users.

To be successful, we suggest to keep things simple. Enforce the rules we have and don’t create a bunch more.

Best practices include consultation, education and cooperation. In other words: meet with users, inform them of issues and work together toward solutions and common objectives.

Poop Bags Supplies in River Park

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Did you know… Our group periodically fundraises to supply ALL of the poop bags located in the green metal dispensers in River Park. Yes that’s right… bags are not organized or supplied by The City of Calgary!

Candice Lee from the Friends of River Park Leadership Team organizes fundraising, arranges the bag order, stores them at her house and fills the bag dispensers each day. If you find the bag dispenser is empty it means bag use was high that day or Candice is on holidays and couldn’t find anyone to fill in.

During the warm weather months (typically May through October) bag use increases to 9000 bags each month. It’s hard to believe that many people forget to bring a bag. The fact of the matter is some people rely on the bags as their personal supply.

Please help us reduce bag use in the park. Bags are not free. Fundraising is hard work and let’s be honest, not everyone contributes. Although the result is a clean park, the bags provided in the green metal dispensers are a BACK UP SYSTEM.

The Leadership Team’s Efforts

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Off-leash walking is similar to other forms of recreation, people just happen to do it with a dog. We believe that people support off-leash initiatives by volunteering or conducting themselves in an ethical manner, much like people do for other recreational activities. The biggest difference is off-leash recreation is not organized like other activities and often dog people are quite oblivious that there are any issues or that there are people with competing interests in park spaces.

These are the primary reasons for creating an off-leash advocacy group with a leadership team.

Most people have no idea that meetings, a consultation process and surveys occurred from 2006 to 2009. It resulted in passing of a design and development plan for River Park, Sandy Beach and the Britannia Slope in 2011.

Our group tried our best to represent dog people with off-leash interests. We were disappointed to lose 1/3 of the total off-leash access in River Park and approximately 50% of off-leash access in Sandy Beach and the Britannia Slope.

Much of the plans posted on The City of Calgary’s website are on hold, likely because they stated $8 million would be needed to proceed with and complete development.

We have everyone’s best interests at heart but we are most passionate about off-leash walking and we’re willing to work to maintain access in the park. Our leadership team continues to keep abreast of park developments and works daily to educate fellow dog people about the importance of supporting and maintaining cleanliness in the park and modelling good behaviour. The intention is to ensure we maintain off-leash privileges in the amount of space we have.

For the Love of Our Dogs

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group pic

We are so fortunate to have access to a multi-use space that allows off-leash dogs. There are many off-leash parks in Calgary but there’s something really special about River Park. Maybe it’s the view of downtown Calgary and the Elbow River that delights you. Or perhaps you like the variety of trees, gentle grade of the terrain, multitude of benches and access to a port-a-potty. Others love the Cat Margetts memorial area that houses the fountain for dogs and people.

Some of the comments we consistently hear is that it’s so clean and that people who walk dogs at River Park tend to be quite responsible. We also hear that dogs are well behaved and people are super friendly.

Yes, it’s all true. There’s a culture at River Park that’s been nurtured by dog people since acquiring off-leash status in 1987. Dog people love River Park and as a whole, we’re willing to work to maintain our off-leash access. Walking with our dogs is a healthy activity, for dogs and people. The result is a better behaved and well socialized dog – maybe this goes for people too!

On any given day, during any kind of weather, people and dogs can be found walking and playing in River Park. And we want to keep it this way.

If you plan on visiting River Park for the first time or on a regular basis, we hope you’ll join the pack and adopt the culture we’ve worked so hard to maintain. It’s all for the love of our dogs, fellow park users – and of course, the park.

All For One and One for All

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CandiceSince 1989 Candice Lee and her husband have enjoyed River Park with their dogs. She is the founder and team lead for the Friends of River Park Society.

Candice manages the email list, writes the off-leash newsletter and is the creator and manager of our website. She also fills the bag dispensers, coordinates fundraisers, organizes off-leash events and helps manage social media for our group. She and her husband regularly help with maintenance projects and contribute funds toward dog waste bags and various items for the park.

Candice sits on various off-leash committees and was involved in the direction and creation of FRPS’ review of Calgary off-leash spaces. She was a City of Calgary Dog Ambassador for River Park until the program ended in 2010 and was a City of Calgary volunteer with parks until the program ended in 2015.

Candice works as a communications professional specializing in graphic design, digital and social media, advertising, event planning, writing and website management.

ColleenAfter many hours of voluntering for our group, Colleen H accepted a public education role with FRPS in September 2009.

Colleen strongly believes in keeping the park clean and can be seen doing her part and more each day. At every one of our clean-up events, she promotes off-leash advocacy by talking to dog owners about the importance of maintaining the park and having well-behaved dogs. Colleen has helped with all of our dog waste bag fundraising events, and spends many hours each week doing her own park clean-up efforts. Colleen leads by example through supporting the park with her own monetary donation to supply dog waste bags for River Park. And by the way, she is the alternate person who fills River Park’s green metal dog waste bag dispensers.

Colleen and her family are neighbourhood residents, and she and her dog, Rosey are fixtures at River Park. Countless times while walking Rosey, she is recognized by many children and their parents as a former schoolteacher.

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_61dSteve S has been walking dogs at River Park since the 80’s. He kindly pitched in for countless poop clean-ups before he officially joined The Friends of River Park leadership team in 2013 to help us with various projects. Although he prefers to do behind-the-scenes tasks, Steve is instrumental to the success of our group’s efforts. He helps with set-up/take-down and representation at every event and celebration throughout the year.

Steve’s awesome handyman skills are always appreciated when we have issues with the bulletin board or dog bag dispensers. He helps with caring for the water fountain (cleaning it in spring and covering it for fall and winter). Steve also built all of our display/event supplies. 

Although he doesn’t like any attention, without him, we couldn’t do the scope of work at the park.

LindaLong before owning a dog, Linda S became an Off-leash Calgary member because of her strong beliefs about off-leash advocacy. After acquiring her first dog in 2003, Linda began walking in River Park and joined the Friends of River Park leadership team in 2007.

Linda was instrumental in developing FRPS’ Off-leash Parks presentation. The purpose of this project was to learn about off-leash parks in Calgary and to determine their suitability as off-leash areas from a user perspective. We wanted to have hard evidence that several of the parks were not suitable for any kind of use by people or dogs. Over a period of six months, Linda visited all the 141 parks listed on the City of Calgary’s website and evaluated them, listing their suitability as off-leash areas. Through this project we learned River Park was indeed one of the best off-leash parks in Calgary. Linda’s  sharp memory makes her the perfect go-to person for questions related to off-leash parks.

Linda is a retired lawyer who sits on various off-leash committees and donates a great deal of time to River Park. She volunteered as a City of Calgary park ranger until the program ended in 2010. Linda also generously donates many give-away items for our clean-up efforts and social events and donates money for River Park’s dog waste bags.

NadinaNadina S began walking at River Park in 1990 when the River Park escarpment, Sandy Beach and all of the Britannia Slope were designated off-leash areas.

Nadina was quick to sign up as one of the original members of the FRPS leadership team advising on animal behaviour. She taught dog training courses, and owned and operated a dog daycare until 2012.

She feels many current spaces are inadequate or unsafe and off-leash space has been significantly reduced over the years. Nadina is concerned that designated space is not keeping pace with the city’s growing dog population. She hopes
a decent and fair share of spaces will be designated as dog-only “Bark Parks”.

Continuing with her passion for all animals Nadina started taking courses in animal homeopathy. At first it was for personal interests but she has decided to pursue it with the intention of teaching in the future.

Nadina lends her keen business sense to our group and also supports River Park by donating funds for dog waste bags.

KateMeet Kate C, a long-time Altadore resident and long-time off-leash advocate who has enjoyed River Park with her dogs since 1972.

Kate was awarded by the City of Calgary for initiating annual River Park clean-ups and educating others about maintenance and care of the park back in the late 1980s. This effort morphed into the annual citywide clean-up campaign each spring. The Friends of River Park leadership team is grateful to have her experience and expertise.

Kate is also the past president for the Pet Loss Support Group and was instrumental in the erection of a pet memorial wall at the Calgary Humane Society. She was a City of Calgary dog ambassador for River Park until the program ended in 2010 and sat as a committee member to review off-leash spaces.

Kate continues to volunteer with the Friends of River Park leadership committee in the role of public education. She and her husband also donate funds toward dog waste bags for the park.

Kathleen Molly_revisedBefore joining the leadership team recently in 2015, Kathleen H has been helping at River Park clean-ups since adopting her dog Molly two years ago. She is an avid runner who can be seen jogging with Molly through various nearby neighbourhoods as well as through River Park.

Kathleen picks up more than her share each time she’s in the park, partly because it’s the right thing to do, but also because Molly is a poop eater. In an odd way that means Molly is doing her part to keep the park clean too.

As a communications professional by day, we are fortunate to have Kathleen  provide strategic direction and contribute content for the off-leash newsletter. She has also kindly offered to help manage our Facebook page.

Representation, Goals, Affiliations and More

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Representation
Leadership team members meet regularly to discuss strategy and tactics. In the early days of meetings for the park (2006 to 2011) it was decided the best tactic was to educate and inform fellow dog owners about respectful and responsible park use.

Goal
Ultimately FRPS’ goal is to preserve off-leash access in this multi-use park. FRPS continues to conduct bi-monthly clean-ups and its members do their own efforts on a daily basis.

Affiliations
The leadership team has affiliations with The Southland Natural Park Society, The Friends of Nosehill, The Friends of Bowmont and The Varsity Off-leash Group.

Other Efforts
In 2008-2009, Linda and Candice from the leadership team created an off-leash presentation after visiting and researching each of the 141 off-leash areas listed on The City of Calgary’s website. The purpose was to learn about off-leash parks in Calgary and log pros and cons with each one. We were surprised to discover that many parks were near busy roads, were very small or were unusable and undesirable areas.

It was sent to aldermen and Bill Bruce,The City of Calgary Bylaw Director as well as several radio and television stations. The presentation along with an off-leash advocacy speech was presented by Linda and Candice to the Standing Policy Committee at City Hall early in 2009.

Signage

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For dog owners, use throughout River Park is designated by signs to indicate off-leash and on-leash areas. Pedestrians and cyclists also frequent the park. Because a gravel trail is conveniently located in the middle of the park, many cyclists use it as a commuter route to access downtown, however, the designated cycling route is 14A Street which also is clearly marked with signs.