Houston's Millie Bush dog park ranked best in U.S.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3191976

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City's 1st dog park ranked best
Unique amenities put Millie Bush Bark Park at top of magazine's U.S. list

By MELANIE MARKLEY
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

No bones about it: Houston's first park for cavorting canines is top dog.

Millie Bush Bark Park in far west Houston has been ranked the best in the nation by Dog Fancy magazine.

The 15-acre dog park, with three man-made ponds, walkways and fake fire hydrants, was opened 1 1/2 years ago by Harris County Precinct 3 and was named in honor of the former president's late springer spaniel.

"Never-say-die supporters waged a five-year campaign to open Millie Bush, Houston's first dog park, inside George Bush Park," says the magazine in its June edition.

"And was this Texas-size jewel ever worth the wait."

Susan Chaney, editor of Dog Fancy, said the magazine took nominations from readers and assigned a writer to evaluate the 60 parks that were mentioned the most.

There are about 700 dog parks around the country, she said.

"The reason Millie Bush Park came in on top is that after the writer had interviewed people about the park, her comment was that they had unparalleled amenities, including three man-made ponds — one that was designated just for small dogs. That was pretty impressive to us."

Rounding out the top five were the Fort Woof Dog Park in Fort Worth, the Allmagnet Dog Park in Burnsville, Minn., the Tompkins Square Dog Run in New York City and the University City Dog Play Area in University City, Mo.

The top five dog parks qualified for $10,000 in grant money from Novartis Animal Health, a co-sponsor in the contest.

But Mike McMahan, special activities coordinator for Precinct 3 in Harris County, said the county had to turn down the $10,000 and accept a smaller amount of $2,500 because there were strings attached to the larger grant.

In exchange for the $10,000, McMahan said, Novartis wanted to promote a community event and advertise its products, which is against county guidelines.

"The park is built for the people and for the people to use without being subjected to any of the for-profit businesses' advertising," said McMahan said. "We feel that's just not the place for it."

McMahan said the $2,500 will be used for improvements to the park, which was such a huge success when it opened in December 2003 that the county had to double the parking lot.

"We just felt we had built a great park for people to enjoy, and lo and behold, the dog fancier survey claimed it as No. 1," he said.

"We were quite surprised. We didn't realize that we had something that special."

The No. 1 ranking got no quarrel from the Friday afternoon regulars who gathered at the park to watch their dogs run, swim and tussle leash-free.

"I don't know of any other dog parks, but this is fabulous," said Karen Andrews as her black lab, Karma, raced around the park. "It's well worth the exhausted dog."

Steve Bryant said he takes his German shepherd, Bastian, to the park three or four times a week. The 10-mile drive, he said, is well worth it.

"Here, they can just be dogs," said Bryant, watching Bastian prance along the bank of one of the ponds near a swimming golden retriever.

According to the Houston Dog Park Association Web site, there are six dog parks in the Houston area.

Chaney, Dog Fancy's editor, said dog parks have become popular in the last 10 years because of what they have to offer: room for dogs to run free and a place where dog owners can socialize with people who have common interests.

"I think it does speak well for a city that they recognize these facilities are important," she said.