With most public parks closed due to COVID-19, dog owners can find themselves in a bit of a predicament. An Oregon woman named Diane Neffendorf has solved this problem for her neighborhood by opening up her farm for responsible dog walking.
Diane started noticing that many of her Oregon neighbors didn’t have large enough yards for their dogs to play in, so she immediately came up with a good solution. She owns a sizeable farm and decided to dedicate 1/2 an acre to a dog park, for instance. Diane fenced off the area and transformed it into a social-distancing space for people to safely walk and play with their dogs.
For teasing new space Diana invited her neighbor Robin. Robin Brown lives with her three sons and her pet dog named Gunnison. The Brown family was growing tired of staying inside with nowhere to take their dog to play. Neighborhood walks were becoming boring for the three Brown boys, so Diane’s new space was an exciting opportunity.
When Diane saw how excited Gunnison was to have a big open space to run around and play, she knew it was time to open her “park” up to the public. Diane posted on a local Facebook page about her new dog park. Diane is charging $15 per family and an additional $5 for each extra dog joining the family. People who rent from Diane get the park for an hour and have the safety of being alone in a large open space for their dogs to exercise and play.
Only one family rents the park at a time, and after they leave, Diane sanitized everything before the next family visits. Families are encouraged to bring their own toys for their dogs to play with at her dog park. You can watch a video of Diane’s dog park here:
Diane has accumulated 32 park reservations in the first two weeks of her opening. Everyone in Diane’s Oregon neighborhood loved the idea of a safe dog park while a bit of an escape. Diane and her husband have owned their farm for 22 years. Diane has murals painted all over her farm and owns a lot of cows. Families can enjoy Diane’s murals and cows while playing in the park.
Credits: KOIN 6 YouTube