Sequim Dog Park 10th Anniversary

What: Birthday party with KSQM 91.5 FM’s Pet Appreciation event

When: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9

Where: Carrie Blake Park, 202 S. Blake Ave. near the covered picnic area across from the Guy Cole Center

Local dog owners and their pets have something to bark about this weekend.

The Sequim Dog Park is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a birthday party from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, at Carrie Blake Park near the covered picnic area across from the Guy Cole Center.

The event runs in conjunction with KSQM 91.5 FM’s Pet Appreciation event that features a variety of vendors, demonstrations, a raffle for prizes and more.

The Sequim Dog Park was opened in 2007 after a group of pet owners and community members requested the City of Sequim approve and partner with dog owners of Sequim to create a space where dogs could roam off leash.

The request for the park came after four pet owners ran into law enforcement in 2006 after a bystander reported seeing the owners’ dogs off leash near Carrie Blake Park in violation of a leash law.

Not long after, the Sequim Dog Park Pals was created as a nonprofit and a dog park was opened with volunteer efforts and funds to create the park.

Now, a decade after the dog park’s inception, the community park is over one acre in size and has two designated areas — one for small dogs and another for big dogs — plus a shaded area for owners and dogs to sit and spigot with fresh water for dogs to get a drink.

Barbara Miller, a member of Sequim Dog Park Pals, said there is a lot of pride that has gone into the volunteer work that has made the dog park what it is today.

“I’m so proud of the way it has improved on itself and it’s got better every year,” Miller said.

Her fellow board member Dave Neidhardt — one of the original members of Sequim Dog Park Pet Pals — shares Miller’s sentiments about the dog park.

“It’s been an amazing transformation,” Neidhardt said.

The park also features two purple gates at the outer entrances of the dog park with cutouts of small dogs for the small dog park side and cutouts of bigger dogs for the big dog park side. The gate at the big dog park was most recently added made by volunteers Bill Seabolt, Steve Harwood and Scott Birdsall.

The annual birthday party also serves as a fundraiser with the donations collected to continue to improve and maintain the dog park. Local businesses will donate items and services to a raffle and tickets will be available that day. Winners will be drawn at the end of the party and those who donate will receive a free root beer float and a birthday cupcake.

Neidhardt said the Sequim Dog Park Pals are still trying to spread the word that there is a dog park in Sequim. He said the dog park and the party is a social event for people and dogs in the community.

Learn more about the Sequim Dog Park and its 10th anniversary birthday party at www.sequimdogparks.org/index.php.

The newest addition of the Sequim Dog Park includes a purple gate for the big dog side of the park made by volunteers Bill Seabolt, Steve Harwood and Scott Birdsall. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins