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Purchasing Park Permits
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You can purchase 2013 park permits from Animal Care & Control during their normal business hours (Monday-Saturday noon-5:00 p.m.) beginning December 1. Bring a current copy of your dog's vaccination records. You can find details at the K9COLA website. The annual off-leash permits will be good for both Cheyenne Off-Leash Park (immediately) and K9 Acres Off-Leash Park (once it opens in 2013). Email questions to the K9COLA board or to Animal Control.
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Animal Care & Control
2109 N Towne Lane NE
Phone: (319) 286-5993
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Annual Volunteer Dinner
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On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in September, the K9COLA Board of Directors hosted a Volunteer Appreciation dinner and dog walk. We had a good turnout with close to 30 people and their dogs attending. Ken Ennis grilled delicious hamburgers and brats for us, and Kelly Ennis provided beans. And of course, there were the games: K9COLA Bingo, where we got to learn about each other; and dog trivia had everyone laughing. Steve Sandstrom led everyone on a nice tour of Bever Park with their dogs.
Thank you to the board members for hosting this event and thank you volunteers for attending and for donating your time throughout the year. K9COLA is an all volunteer non-profit organization and we depend upon everyone's efforts. Everything in which we are involved is because someone coordinates the efforts. We put out the call for help and you answer.
We had several people win prizes throughout the event (and of course everyone was a winner for donating their time to K9COLA!), but our big winner of the day was Kathie M., who won a 2013 off-leash area park permit. Although Kathie agreed this was an amazing prize, she decided to give even more and donated it back to K9COLA. After considering this generous donation, I decided a group that would deserve this kindness was our board and supporting positions. In a drawing at our October board meeting, we are happy to announce that Ken Ennis was the winner of the permit.
Congratulations and thank you to everyone for your help with this event and throughout the year. We are looking forward to 2013!
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Donkey, Elephant, or Dog Lover?
 I'm sure everyone in Iowa is aware there is an election coming up on Tuesday (if not you better check your answering machine and mail box; they could be overflowing). While I hope all our readers will be voting in that election, I don't really care who you vote for. You could be a donkey, an elephant, or somewhere in between; but I'm sure if you are reading this you are a dog lover. Another election is happening the following day that is important for dog lovers, and you may not even be aware of it! On Wednesday, November 7th at 6:00 pm at the Marion Public Library, we'll be voting on new board members for K9COLA (Citizens for Off-Leash Areas). K9COLA is your "voice" for the off-leash parks in the Cedar Rapids area. This group works with the City of Cedar Rapids on all things concerning the parks. While we have some returning candidates this year, there will be some vacancies as well. The following offices are up for election this year: Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Site Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, and both at-large directors. If you don't feel that you are prepared to hold an office yet, I still encourage you to attend our meeting or contact me to talk about how we can use your time and talents to make K9COLA and the off-leash parks better. Commitments for committee volunteers range from one to two hours a month, to two or more hours per month for committee coordinators. Remember if you don't vote or take steps to help us, you cannot complain about the off-leash parks (or politics for that matter). Thanks for your interest and support. --Marie Appel, Chairperson (marie@k9cola.org) |
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K9 Acres Update
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K9 Acres, the newest off-leash park out at Squaw Creek (just across from the Gardner Golf Course there), is currently
 scheduled to open in spring 2013. Unfortunately, despite getting the park seeded this fall, there hasn't been enough rain for the grass to get established. K9COLA has purchased a number of new trees for the park, thanks in part to a grant from Rockwell Collins, and by spring we should have several pieces of dog playground equipment and some benches.
We're sure you'll agree it will be exciting finally to have a dog park on the northeast side of town! Go to Animal Control soon to purchase your permits so you'll be ready on opening day!
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 Your Dog's Nose Knows
By Jo Pearson
Part 2 of a 2-Part Series As I said last month, I was headed to Wisconsin to do ORTs (Odor Recognition Tests) with all three of my dogs. I am proud to report that they all passed the test. Each dog has up to three minutes, and doing it faster is not necessarily better -- but I was still excited that my youngest dog, Keeper, found the box with the odor in only SEVEN seconds.
At the test, there are 12 identical boxes laid out in two rows. Only one has odor. All your dog has to do is go out and show you which box has the odor in it. Once your dog shows you, you say "alert" and indicate to the judges which box you mean. It's a pass/fail test. (A local group is trying to get an ORT test here in our area next spring!) Since my dogs took the ORT test, I have attended a small seminar locally where a certified trainer introduced us to a new and innovative method of training odor recognition. All the attendees were pretty excited. It is a sign of how new the sport is that at each seminar you find things are now being done a little differently than before. Rules and standards are dynamic and continue to change as trainers learn along with their students.
There are several local groups (spanning the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City corridor) that get together informally to train and share ideas. There is a local email list ( CRNoseWork) and a Facebook page will be developed shortly. Those who have been interested enough to attend seminars (until recently, that meant traveling to Urbandale, Chicago, or Wisconsin) then share what they've learned in the local training and practice groups and via the email list. There are also national email lists.
Some of the area dog clubs (notably 4RK9s and ICDOC) are offering beginning classes; contact Becky Gilchrist for information.
Currently, competitions are run by NASCW (National Association of Canine Scent Work), though the UKC is apparently now developing their own standards and competitions: stay tuned as this develops, as it sounds like UKC may be a bit more flexible than NASCW.
Nose Work is a great sport for any dog and a wonderful and fun thing to do together. I would encourage you to give it a try and watch your own dog blossom as it gets to take advantage of its most sensitive piece of canine hardware: the nose. I'll be glad to answer any questions you might have; just email me at jo@pearson.info. |
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Our Parks are User-Monitored
Approaching "Scofflaws"
Cedar Rapids Off-Leash Areas are user-monitored parks. That's right, as park users it is our responsibility and our right to encourage people to follow the rules at the parks (but as we are all volunteers, we can't actually enforce the rules).
The way we do this is probably more important than what we actually say. Always be friendly and courteous when speaking with each other. If you are comfortable doing so, find out if it's someone's first time at the park. Visitors may not know the rules, and it's always better to give someone the benefit of the doubt than to assume they are trying to be sneaky or deceitful. Simply handing someone a park brochure with our rules and
 park etiquette guidelines can help visitors understand how we operate and why we have the rules we do, and will go a lot farther than arguing with someone. Always remember to treat others as you'd like to be treated. And do make sure what you're saying is correct. We want everyone to have a great time at the park and to come back, so do your best to be pleasant and helpful, and to project a positive image for our parks and our park users. |
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We appreciate your continued interest in the Cedar Rapids metro area's off-leash parks, and we'll look forward to seeing you at the park!
Sincerely,
K9COLA Board of Directors
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