Thanks for the notes. I had the best of intentions to attend the
meeting but got sidetracked by illness. I will be there for the
cleanup day if possible. I would like to ask you, or someone who may
know, why we can't have or some kind of barriers at both of the wide
gaps in the fence along the creek? While my dog loves to swim, I am
not always in the mood for climbing up and down the rocks. He
recently followed another dog not only into the creek, which is not
that much of a problem, but over and up the other side, which scared
the hell out of me. It took quite a few terrifying minutes to round
him up before he ran into the traffic!

I hate to quit bringing him to the park because he loves being off
lead, but I also am worried that he will get to the water when I
don't want him to. Are there any plans to fill in the fence gaps in
the near future?

Ginny Stubbs

--- In theshirlingtondogsII@yahoogroups.com, "Keith Fred"
<flamingophoto@...> wrote:
>
> Thank you to all those who attended the Shirlington CCA (dog
park) meeting last
> week. Here are some notes from the meeting and information on the
clean up day.
> Thanks to Bob Upton from the County Parks Dept, who was kind enough
to arrange the
> meeting space for us.
> Several attendees indicated they would help with day-to-day upkeep
of the park including
> putting out bags, moving the trash receptacle from inside the park
to the entrance area in
> the evening so the county can empty it and moving it back to inside
the park once it has
> been emptied in the morning, and maintaining the bulletin board.
> Each Community Canine Area (CCA) must have an active sponsoring
group. For the
> Shirlington CCA it is "Shirlington Dogs II". It is our
responsibility to keep the park clean
> and adhere to the rules for CCAs. Copies of the rules were handed
out to everyone. They
> are located on our group site under "Files" on the left. They are
also posted on the
> bulletin board in the park with copies to take as well.
> Highlighted most critical ones:
> • Everyone is responsible for picking up their dog's waste using
plastic bags and
> disposing properly in the large black receptacles. DO NOT place in
the green mailboxes.
> Those are for clean bags only.
> • Keep your dogs in sight at all times. A lot of dog waste is not
being picked up because
> handlers are not watching their dogs. It is okay and encouraged to
point out to someone
> who has not picked up after their dog.
> • Aggressive dogs are not allowed in the CCAs. If a dog is posing
a threat to humans or
> other animals it must be removed from the park.
> • Report any dog bites as soon as possible to Animal Control, 703-
931-9241.
> This and other important phone numbers are posted on the bulletin
board.
> A few months ago a number of dogs coming in contact with the stream
were getting sick
> from a parasite called Giardia. This occurs naturally in streams
and the County
> Environmental Services does not test for it. It is usually spread
by fecal matter so another
> important reason to pick up after your dog.
> I had applied for a county Park Enhancement Grant to have a
drainage trench put in were
> the water spigot is to prevent standing water and muddy conditions
in that area of the
> park and to fix the low area of the path where water collects after
it rains and turns to
> mud. This was approved by the county and hopefully work will get
started by end of
> summer.
> The spigot is there to provide drinking water for the dogs. Please
turn spigot off
> immediately so as not to cause flooding in the area and to not
waste water. Bathing and
> grooming dogs is not allowed in the park
> We will be having a Clean Up Day on Saturday May 19 starting at
11:00. We will pick up
> any trash in the park, sweep the path, clean the area around the
bulletin board and spigot.
> Please bring work gloves and if you can, some strong trash bags.
If you have a heavy duty
> push broom you can bring that would helpful as well. Hope to see
you there.
> But you don't have to wait until the 19th, if you see any trash
when you're at the park with
> Fido, please feel free to pick it up.
> Keith Fred
>