Yesterday Alana and I visited what’s probably the nicest dog park in Northeast Ohio, Bow Wow Beach. Bow Wow Beach is a well fenced dog area within Silver Springs park in Stow. It has a small lake surrounded by grass and a little beach. It’s large enough to accommodate a hundred dogs on a good day. They have plenty of parking, and a dog rinse station so you don’t have to bring all the mud with you when you leave. They have several picnic tables and benches available, but a blanket under a shady tree would be quite comfortable as well.
Harper and Rowan’s only real experiences with water have been limited to our friends’ pool, and wading puppy-knee deep into Rocky River after ducks. So we were pretty surprised when the moment we unhooked her leash harper darted out into the water and swam halfway across the lake and back! We had no idea she’d love it so much, especially if bath time is to be used as any indication of her feelings towards water. Even more surprising, she’s almost two and we had no idea she even played fetch. She certainly has no interest in playing it with us at home, but she plunged into the lake after tennis balls and was dropping them at our feet all afternoon. She also thought she’d be able to dry her face off by rubbing it vigorously into the mud.
Rowan wasn’t too interested in the water, she’d wade out no further than belly deep before a shadow in the water would spook her and she’d run back. But she was just as exhausted when we left, and slept on my lap for the whole ride home.
I noticed the overall vibe of the dogs at this park was more chill, which I’d attribute to all of them having plenty of their own space, and the more natural atmosphere. In a smaller park, like the Lakewood dog park, it’s easy for one anxious dog to spread their vibe to all the other dogs. But here most of the dogs were so occupied with the water, they weren’t really interested in fighting. Rowan didn’t so much as make a peep at another dog once she was inside, and even made a few friends.
It looked like they possibly have some kind of staff on week days. It would’ve been nice yesterday, because a lot of the people there weren’t picking up after their dogs, and also weren’t closing the gate behind them, or were entering the gate area while another dog was inside. (The whole point of a gate area with two doors is so that dogs can’t get out.) They could probably also benefit from a water fountain outside of the gate area, I didn’t really care to drink from something in the dog rinse back-spray line of fire. (Covered in mud.) Overall it was a really nice, well-cared for park, and was a great way to spend the afternoon. Next time though I’ll be sure to bring towels, and wear flip flops.
Here’s an article from the Plain Dealer about the park.