How To Build a Dog Park With Pet Playgrounds & Club Pet Playground

Socialization is one of the keys to having a well-mannered, well-adjusted dog. When your dog spends time with other dogs, he learns essential skills in coping within a public setting, without aggression or anxiety.

A well-socialized dog isn’t fearful or aggressive with other dogs while out walking in the neighborhood, going to a park, or exploring a new city. Even with a change of routine, your dog is calm and collected. The more dogs your pet meets, the easier it is for him to adjust to changing environments. When your friends and family don’t have dogs for yours to play with, it’s up to you to find ways to introduce him to other dogs and provide opportunities for your pet to interact with other dogs and their owners.

How about if you could make money while socializing your dog? It’s a win-win situation and one that Pet Playgrounds can help you achieve.

Introducing Club Pet Playgrounds

Welcome to Club Pet Playgrounds. It’s a new tool for dog owners who want to establish a safe, private dog park on their land. You create the playground using Pet Playgrounds’ safe, secure dog fences. Once it’s established, install our new Android or iOS app on your phone or tablet. We advertise your private park for you. You’ll have the chance to book visitors using hourly and daily rates.

Have you ever wanted to quit your job and explore a new career that keeps you closer to home? Club Pet Playgrounds is an excellent option. Help your dog socialize by renting out your dog park. Here’s what you need to do to create a private dog playground that people will want to book.

Design and Install the Dog Playground

Before you can create your account on Club Pet Playgrounds, you need to design and install your dog park. This takes several steps.

1. Measure the Area

Go outside and figure out where you want this park. Ideally, you want a portion of land that is away from your dog’s usual area. Dogs can be territorial, so if your dog views it as his area and only his area, it could increase the time needed for your dog to adjust.

A side yard or front yard that’s easily accessible from your driveway is ideal. If your dog is used to being in the backyard, the front or side yard is less likely to cause territorial behavior. If your dog is always in the front yard, the backyard is the better option.

Measure how big you want the playground to be. The AKC’s recommendations for dog parks are that it’s around an acre. You want it to be spacious enough for running around, but not so large that it takes effort to collect dogs when their time is up. An acre measures approximately 209 x 209’ or 43,560 square feet. Our fencing is available in lengths of up to 2,000’, so you can easily fence many acres. If you’re aiming for an acre, you want a total fence length of around 850 feet.

2. Choose the Height

Pet Playgrounds offers three fence heights: 5’, 6’, or 7’. If you plan to cater to small dogs, a 5-foot, double-layer fence is fine. For private dog parks with active jumpers or puppies that like to chew, consider the 7-foot MAX which has three layers: polypropylene mesh, rubber-coated welded wire, and steel mesh. MAX fences have a 1,100-pound break strength with the polypropylene mesh and 1,800-pound break strength with the rubber-coated welded wire.

3. Choose How Many Gates Are Needed

You can have multiple gates in Standard, Wide, and Driveway widths. Standard fences are 5’, while Wide and Driveway are 8’ and 14’, respectively. Keep the number of gates to a minimum. You only need one fence in and out. Dogs are less likely to escape if there’s only one way in and out.

4. Pick Your Installation Option

Pet Playgrounds can install your fence for you for an added fee. We’re happy to offer professional installation. That said, we make our fences simple to install, and you can save a lot of money doing it yourself.

When you purchase a fence kit with us, it comes with dig-free posts and sleeves, tools, and hardware. You need very little in the way of tools as we include the major ones. Take our post sleeves and drive them into the ground with the included driving cap. Place the posts into those sleeves.

Next, you string the fence and support cables from one post to the next. You can also attach our flexible fencing to any existing trees on your property. You’ll use D-rings and the included hog ringer tool to secure the fencing. Ground stakes secure the fencing to the ground to create a dig-proof barrier at the bottom of the fence. Our DIY installation video shows exactly how easy it is to install our fencing systems.

Once the fence is up, inspect it to ensure all stakes are in place and that nothing was overlooked. You do not want chairs or tables against the fencing as that gives some dogs the height they’d need to leap over the fence. Put tables and chairs in the center of the playground along with water stations, if you’re including them.

You do want to add things that will keep dogs engaged. Tunnels, jumps, ramps, and hoops are ideal for active dogs that like to leap over and run through items. Have an area for kiddie pools to cool off in on hot summer days. Consider a shade structure, too.

Establish Firm Rules

Post a list of rules all dog owners must abide by while in your dog playground. Have a contract that states the dog park is at their risk and that they agree to monitor their dog and remove their pet if problems are occurring. Other rules to put on the list:

 Pet owners are required to pick up after their dogs. Consider making this easier by providing a dispenser of bags and a trash can.

• Dogs must be vaccinated and spayed/neutered. Proof of vaccination, spay/neuter, and a current dog license (if required by your state) must be provided upon arrival.
• All dogs must have a collar that’s easy to grab if dogs start quarreling. Plus, the collar must have a tag that has their contact information in case they do run off. Pet Playgrounds fences are difficult to escape, but a dog could dash through a gate when a visitor or the pet owner isn’t paying attention. The dog should also have a collar for that reason.
• No toys allowed. This policy is important as a dog might be territorial over items it owns. If you ban outside toys from your park and only allow dogs to play with the toys that are provided, it helps ease any territorial behavior.
• Problem dogs must be leashed and removed immediately. If a dog is continually picking fights with another dog or acting aggressively with smaller dogs, that dog needs to be removed. If a dog attacks another dog or person, you need to ban that dog permanently and report any bites to authorities.
• No food is allowed within the dog park. Water is okay. (You might want to provide water to make it easier for dog owners.)
• Children must be supervised at all times.

Those are the key rules, but you may want to account for different situations. Puppies need to be socialized, too, but they may not be old enough to fix. Consider having a certain day or time when puppy owners can have a puppy play date at your dog park. Make sure proof of vaccination is included as puppies may have communicable diseases like kennel cough or parvo.

Along with the puppy hours, consider a day when only small dogs can use the pet playground. Smaller dogs may need to avoid playing with big dogs because it’s too easy for them to get bowled over when bigger dogs are running around.

Pet owners often need arrangements for their dogs to spend time when they’re at work. Don’t be surprised if you get requests for doggy daycare services, too. If it’s something you’re open to, you can add it as an add-on and charge higher rates. Before you do, find out what the business regulations are in your town. You may be allowed to open a doggy daycare, but only for a certain number of dogs, and there could be noise ordinances to follow.

Are you ready to get started? Pet Playgrounds has an interactive fence planning tool that helps you calculate the exact price before you purchase the fence. Once you know what you want, complete the sale or sign up for one of our low-cost financing plans to help you pay for your private dog park fencing.