A Howlin’ Good Time
River Park Off-leash News
JANUARY 2008
UPCOMING STUFF
PetExpo
Big Four Building
Sat, April 12 10am - 6pm
Sun, April 13 11am - 5pm
Adults $9
Seniors/Students $7
Children 6-11yrs $2
Children 5 & under FREE
Scoopy Doo Day
River Park
April 20
9am - noon
Save the date! This is the
clean-up event that the City of
Calgary holds every year.
Informal Clean-up Efforts
If we have a mild winter, FRPS
will hold a clean-up day with very
little notice. Hope you’ll support it.
Ginny, Teddy and Timmy
on October 14 clean-up day
Please feel free to share
this newsletter with
friends. If at any time you
no longer wish to receive
communication, just let
me know.
Candice Lee
287-1029 (home)
703-1671 (cell)
leesmale@telusplanet.net
A New Year’s Message from the Editor
Season’s greetings and best wishes to
everyone and their dog for the upcoming year.
It’s a new year and a new look for the off-
leash newsletter. Each edition will still
include dog-related articles, social event
news and updates on River Park.
So, I’m often asked about Friends of River
Park Society (FRPS) and why we exist.
Here’s the scoop on our volunteer-led group.
History
• Several years ago, A Howlin’ Good Time
originated as a social opportunity for dog
owners from River Park. Get-togethers
occured every 2 months and ended each
year with a dog Christmas Party in
December.
• In Oct/06, competing interest groups
(residents, pathway users, cylists and
environmental advocates) started meetings
to discuss the present and future of River
Park. Dog owners were not represented.
• In Dec/06, River Park dog owners learned
about 2 council-approved pathways that
would affect off-leash access and space.
• In Feb/07, A Howlin’ Good Time evolved
into the Friends of River Park Society
(FRPS), led by 6 team members:
Carla Radke, Linda Scarlett, Nadina
Stainsby, Kate Currey, Svend Andersen
and Candice Lee.
• In Mar/07, Candice was invited by a
community and environmental advocate to
represent dog owners at the meetings with
competing interest groups. At these
meetings, we learned that competing
interest groups primary concerns were the
amount of dogs in the park, bad dog
behaviour, bad dog owner behaviour and
wear and tear on the park.
• FRPS quickly responded to concerns
made by competing interest groups. FRPS
hold regular meetings to discuss issues,
goals, objectives, strategies and tactics.
FRPS officially registered our name
and developed/produced promotional
materials (business cards, brochures,
a display banner, signs and t-shirts).
Candice, Kelpie & Sirra
Friends of River Park exists to:
• Take ownership and pride in River Park
by keeping it clean (garbage/feces free).
• Preserve off-leash access and space.
• Ensure dog owners understand that off-
leash access is a privilege, not a right.
• Work with the City of Calgary to maintain
the park (remediation efforts, education
of fellow dog owners).
• Work with competing interest groups to
responsibly share space.
Friends of River Park Strategies
• Education of fellow dog owners.
• Bi-monthly clean-ups at River Park.
• Remediation efforts in cooperation with
the City of Calgary.
• Keep competing interest groups at bay by
maintaining cleanliness in the park and
ensuring our dogs are well behaved.
• Communication network (email distribution
list and newsletter).
• Attend meetings (City Hall steering
committee, City Hall working committee,
community associations, FRPS leadership
team).
So it’s simple... There are no hidden agendas.
There are no fees to belong. We only want
your commitment and support, along with a
little time and a lot of effort to preserve off-
leash access and space in River Park.
To date, FRPS is 500+ members strong. For
the love of your dog and River Park, please
join our efforts. — Candice
page 1 of 2
Adopting a family member from
DOG RESCUE
ORGANIZATIONS
Thousands of stray, abused, abandoned,
unwanted and sometimes, healthy
animals are euthanized every day.
If you decide to get a new furry family
member, consider researching and
determining breed characteristics that
suit your family’s lifestyle, the life-long
commitment required to have a pet and
spaying and neutering it to reduce
the amount of unwanted animals that
end up in shelters.
Here’s a list of well-known and newly
formed shelter organizations to check out.
Calgary Humane Society
www.calgaryhumane.ca
Misty Creek Dog Rescue
www.mistycreekdogrescue.com
Animal Rescue Foundation
www.arf.ab.ca
A River Park Update New Features and Volunteer Efforts
New Features
Thanks to Gary Cook and Steve Halla
with the City of Calgary Parks division
for installing the bulletin board and bag
dispenser in River Park during December.
The bulletin board will provide a space
to display non-profit organization’s
information that is related to River Park.
The bag dispenser was provided by
Cardel Homes as part of a three-year
partnership between them and the City
of Calgary. We hope to get one or two
more dispensers in spring. The bag
dispenser was installed upside down,
but on December 29, three people helped
me to correct the orientation and it is now
filled with bags. Please note, the bags
provided are intended for people who have
forgotten a bag or run out while in the park.
FRPS recently displayed a poster on the
bulletin board about the importance of
picking up after our dogs. It’s our hope
that this message will reach all dog
owners who use the park.
Dog Ambassadors
In 2007, FRPS team
leaders, Carla Radke
and Candice Lee joined
long-time community
and environmental
advocate, Robin
McLeod, as River Park
Dog Ambassadors. All ambassadors
are working together to maintain the
health and appearance of River Park.
Robin’s main focus stems from an
environmental aspect, while Carla and
Candice as dog ambassadors and
FRPS members, are attempting to
preserve off-leash access. Carla and
Candice are addressing competing
interests groups’ concerns, maintaining
cleanliness and promoting shared use
through education of dog owners and
hands-on maintenance efforts. Candice
will also be responsible for removing
posters from poles in the park, monitoring
the bulletin board and filling the bag
dispenser as needed.

Pawsitive Match Rescue

www.pawsitivematch.org Caring For Your Pet For the Health of It
Suggested reading about the language of dogs
Second Chance Animal Rescue Society
(SCARS)
In July, readers provided a list of suggested How Dogs Think
www.scarscare.org
books on various dog-related topics. S Coren • Free Press, 2004
Cochrane Humane Society Dianne H recently gave me Tail Talk by
www.cochranehumane.ca Sophie Collins, an informative book about How to Speak Dog
understanding the language of dogs. Listed S Coren • Free Press, 2001
Animal Services at the back, were several titles on the same
Home
www.calgary.ca Sweet topic. Perhaps you may be interested in If Dogs Could Talk
Home
some of the following: V Csanyi & R E Quandt • North Point
Pets for Life Press, 2005
www.petsforlife.ca The Body Language & Emotion of Dogs
M M Milani • Harper Paperbacks, 1993 The Intelligence of Dogs
S Coren • Free Press, 2005
Bones Would Rain from the Sky:
In November, Robyn Deepening our Relationships with Dogs On Talking Terms with Dogs
and Levon asked S Clothier • Warner Books 2002 T Rugaas • Dogwise Publishing, 2005
Friends of River Park
members for help to Canine Body Language The Key to Communication Between
find a dog sitter or B Aloff • Dogwise Publishing, 2001 Humans and Canines
kennel for their dogs Smith, C • Howell Book House, 2004
during December after their original The Dog Listener
dog sitting plans fell through. After J Fennell • Collins, 2004 Tales from the Dog Listener
researching the list of businesses we J Fennell and M Roberts • Ulysses
provided, they decided to try Happy Dogspeak Press, 2006
Tails Retreat in Cochrane for Cisko B Dibra & M A Crenshaw • Fireside, 2001
and Ezri. Robyn and Levon extend You Are a Dog
their thanks to everyone for sharing Dogwatching T Bain • Harmony, 2004
information and advice. D Morris • Three Rivers Press, 1993
page 2 of 2