Woodbridge Dog Park Cooperative Inc

09/17/2024

The girls cross country coach at Amity high school let us know that they are hosting a cross country meet at Fitzgerald today. Dog park goers should know that access to the parking lot will be restricted from 3pm until probably 5:30-6pm. You can still go to the dog park, but you may have to walk a little farther than usual, and there will be races on the main paths starting at 4pm.

09/07/2024

🐾 We're so close to reaching our 2024 membership goal! With 132 members, we're just shy of our target of 150 members. 🎉 The great news? We've been granted an extension until October 1st to earn our $1,000 bonus!

Remember, the Woodbridge Dog Park Cooperative relies entirely on membership dues to cover our ongoing operational expenses—we receive no financial support from the Town of Woodbridge. As costs rise, your membership is more crucial than ever.

Take a moment today to join or renew your membership at our website! Prefer to pay by check? No problem! Make it out to Woodbridge Dog Park Cooperative and mail it to PO Box 3721, Woodbridge, CT 06525.

This is YOUR park—let's keep it safe, clean, and welcoming for everyone! 🐶💚

07/02/2024

🐾 Join the Pack at Woodbridge Dog Park! 🐾

We’re on a mission to grow our community of furry friends and their humans! Our goal is to reach 150 new/renewed members by September 1st, and we’re already at 60 members. 🌟

Your membership helps us maintain and improve our beloved dog park, ensuring it remains a safe, clean, and fun place for all our pups to play.

🔹 Why Join?

Keep our park beautiful and well-maintained
Connect with other dog lovers in the community
Enjoy a safe and friendly environment for your furry friend
Don’t wait! Join or renew your membership today and help us reach our goal. Every membership counts and brings us closer to making our park the best it can be!

👉 https://woodbridgedogpark.org/donations/

Let’s make Woodbridge Dog Park the ultimate destination for our canine companions. 🐶❤️

07/01/2024

We are closing in on the end of June, and since January 1, 2024 we have signed up over 60 new and renewing members – most since June 1st! Thank you to those of you who have joined or renewed so far – we appreciate your quick response to our call for support. We have had a number of folks sign up at the household level and some take advantage of our recurring membership option as well. And we very much appreciate those of you who have donated an amount above and beyond our very affordable membership dues.

Are we good to go with 60 members? Nope! Those funds go a ways toward but do not even fully cover the expense of mowing the park all year! After mowing, we need to cover our second largest expense - insurance. Then all of the other miscellany - water, trash bags, filing fees, etc.

There is still a lot of work to be done to meet our challenge of 150 members (and $1,000 bonus) by September 1, 2024. This is YOUR park, and we need you!

So please do your part to help us to maintain a safe, clean and welcoming environment for dogs and their humans - take the time to go to our website Woodbridge Dog Park Cooperative and join or renew your membership today.

If you prefer to pay your membership by check, please make it out to the Woodbridge Dog Park Cooperative and mail to PO Box 3721, Woodbridge, CT 06525.

06/10/2024

Did you know that the Cooperative – not the Town – is responsible for the operational expenses associated with the dog park? Our expenses include water, mowing and other landscaping needs, maintenance supplies, insurance and government filing fees. In 2023, these expenses were up to over $3,000. And they will be even higher this year, as the price for mowing services for 2024 has increased by over 20%.

We need to build and maintain an annual membership base that covers all operational expenses – the long-term success of the dog park is dependent upon it.

So do your part to help us to maintain a safe, clean and welcoming environment for dogs and their humans – and join or renew your membership.

We now have two membership levels: individual ($25) and household ($50). We know that the dog park is a family affair for many, so join or renew at our household level and you will be entitled to up to two voting members in the Cooperative. And while we have set membership dues, we always welcome additional contributions!

As an incentive to help us meet or exceed our goal, we have two members who have teamed up to generously offer a $1,000 donation if we have 150 new or renewed dog park members on our rolls as of September 1, 2024. The race is on!

So please take the time to go to our website Woodbridge Dog Park Cooperative and join or renew your membership today.

If you prefer to pay your membership by check, please make it out to the Woodbridge Dog Park Cooperative and mail to PO Box 3721, Woodbridge, CT 06525.

06/10/2024

Calling all current or new members! June is membership month for the Woodbridge Dog Park. Please remember to renew your membership today!

https://woodbridgedogpark.org/donations/

03/27/2024

Freecycle Pet Supplies for Earth Day 2024!

12/05/2023

Reminder to join us for the annual meeting of The Woodbridge Dog Park Cooperative, Inc. which will be held TOMORROW on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, at 7 p.m. in the Woodbridge Center. We will have a short presentation and Q&A by Madeline Meade, Lab Manager at the Yale Canine Cognition Center. There will be a brief break after our speaker before getting into the “business” of our annual meeting.

11/20/2023

Reminder: There will be an in-person meeting tonight, Monday, November 20th, at 7PM in Room 16 of the Center Building to vote on the proposed revised Bylaws:

The Board recently completed a review of the bylaws of the Woodbridge Dog Park Cooperative.

Originally written in 2018 at the beginning of the process to fundraise for an install the dog park. The Board has updated the bylaws to better reflect the needs of an established dog park. Both the original and draft updated bylaws can be reviewed at

We set out to create a safe and clean community park where humans and canines could socialize in the center of town. In 2018 the town of Woodbridge granted us use of a beautiful flat section of the 139-acre town-owned Fitzgerald Property – part of the Town Center Campus.

10/26/2023

The small Dog Park will reopen tomorrow, Thursday, October 26th with work being completed at a later date.

10/25/2023

Update on the Dog Park Closure: our Large Dog Park will reopen tomorrow, Wednesday. October 25th.

However, our small dog park will remain closed due to individuals not adhering to the park closure signs posted at the dog park, and on social media and damage being done to the cement pads installed today. We will continue to update everyone about the closure as we know more. Thank you.

10/24/2023

Please Note: The Large AND Small Dog Park will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, October 24th, for new cement pads to be into place. We apologize for any inconvenience but appreciate everyone’s patience as we continue to improve our Dog Park for our two legged and four legged friends.

10/22/2023

Our Fall Newsletter just went out, stay tuned to this page for updates shared in the newsletter over the next few days!

09/23/2023

Lost & Found!

Found at the dog park this morning, two Toyota keys on a wire band. They were brought to the Woodbridge Police Department. If they are yours you may retrieve them there.

06/10/2023

Don’t forget June is Membership Month! Join or renew your membership today!

We are pleased to announce we are now offering an easy recurring membership option! Set it once and never worry again!

12/02/2022

Special Thank you to Bill Berloni for coming to speak at our Annual Meeting last night. Very informative.

11/30/2022

We want to respond to an inquiry regarding board terms.
At last year’s election, there were two “questions” on the ballot. They were not labeled as proposed bylaw changes and voters were not given the required 14-day notice of a vote on bylaw changes, nor were they provided with the original and proposed bylaw wording change. As such, neither “question” effected a change to the bylaws of the WDPC.
The current bylaws state that, after the initial board terms (of those board members elected in September 2018), all board terms are three years. The 2018 board terms were staggered, with some members agreeing to serve one year, some serving two years, and the remainder serving three years. The idea was that the initial staggering and subsequent three-year terms would ensure continuity of the board on an ongoing basis.
Unfortunately, all board members rolled off last year, resulting in 100% turnover. The current board recognizes that 100% board turnover, no matter the length of the term, is neither practical nor in the best interest of the continuity of the dog park. We have a subcommittee of the board that will be reviewing the bylaws and proposing revisions for members to vote on, likely in a special meeting before the 2023 Annual Meeting. In the meantime, all terms of current board members are for three years. We do have one vacancy on the board due to a board member moving away and will take nominations for that position from the floor at tomorrow’s meeting.
As stated before, if you have a question, we encourage you to contact us at [email protected] or post on the WDPC page – that is the fastest and most direct route to getting questions answered. Likewise, if you are interested in volunteering in some capacity, including serving on the board, please reach out to a current board member or contact us via email.

11/24/2022

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!

From your Board of Directors

We are thankful for all of you and our furry friends!

11/18/2022

Thank your for your patience! The concrete pads are complete and the Dog parks will be opening again at 10 AM TOMORROW MORNING!

11/15/2022

Newsletter Updates:

More improvements are coming to the dog park! Later this week we will be installing concrete pads under each of the benches in both the large and small dog parks – this will cut down on the wear and tear in front of the benches as well as the mud that inevitably accompanies it. Because this work is weather-dependent, you may arrive at the park to see a sign that the park is closed – we apologize for any inconvenience and hope you take advantage of walking your pup around Fitzgerald instead. We will post any necessary closures to our page Woodbridge Dog Park Cooperative Inc | Facebook and Instagram Woodbridge Dog Park () • Instagram photos and videos rather than send additional emails. We do not expect to be closed for more than a day or two to allow the work to occur and the concrete to cure.

The water hydrant will be turned off for the season in the next few weeks; service will resume in April 2023!

11/01/2022

From your Board of Directors:

As we said yesterday, we were surprised to find out that the Woodbridge Volunteer Fire Department (WVFD) was staging the fireworks for their annual Halloween Truck or Treat event within the dog park. No one had previously requested our permission to do that, nor were we informed by anyone. We reached out to the WVFD to let them know of our dismay at not having been informed of their plans and told them that we would remain closed November 1st to allow them time to fully clean up the dog park.
In the last 24 hours, we have reached out to various experts to assess any additional steps we need to take before letting our dogs back into the park. And having walked the park this afternoon, we can confirm that the park is in very good condition. We did pick up some pieces of cardboard and other firework remnants, however, and we expect that we may still find more. We intend to keep walking the park in the coming days to search for anything additional. You can help us by watching your dogs while in the park to ensure they are not eating anything unusual and picking up and discarding any debris you find.
We have been advised that the rain last evening was likely of some help but spent fireworks do contain chemicals and coloring agents that can be toxic. If you suspect your pup has ingested fireworks, please contact your veterinarian immediately. An additional resource is the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at 1-888-426-4435.
Please know that we will work to make sure that the dog park is not used to stage future fireworks events.

10/31/2022

From your Board of Directors:

While we support the Woodbridge Volunteer Fire Department and their annual Truck or Treat event, we were surprised to learn just today that the fireworks were being staged from inside the large dog park. No one had previously requested our permission to do that, nor were we informed by anyone. We have worked hard to maintain the dog park as a safe and healthy environment for dogs and people alike.

The Woodbridge Volunteer Fire Department has committed to cleaning up the debris. We are going to remain closed the entire day tomorrow, November 1, to allow them adequate time to do that. In the meantime, we will be figuring out if there are any other clean-up steps we need to take before letting our dogs back in to enjoy the park.

10/30/2022

Reminder:

In coordination with the Woodbridge Fire Association, for the 11th Annual Truck or Treat event, our Woodbridge Dog Park will need to be closed from 1 PM on Monday, October 31st through 11 AM Tuesday, November 1st for firework setup and cleanup.

There is rain in the forecast for Monday, if the Event is postponed to Tuesday, November 1st our closure dates and times will move forward. Watch our page for updates!

Happy Halloween to all our pups! Please share/post pictures of your furry friends in their Halloween Costume Glory if you wish, we would love to see them.

10/27/2022

Quick Update on our Dog Park!

In coordination with the Woodbridge Fire Association, for the 11th Annual Truck or Treat event, our Woodbridge Dog Park will need to be closed from 1 PM on Monday, October 31st through 11 AM Tuesday, November 1st for firework setup and cleanup.

There is rain in the forecast for Monday, if the Event is postponed to Tuesday, November 1st our closure dates and times will move forward. Watch our page for updates!

Happy Halloween to all our pups! Please share/post pictures of your furry friends in their Halloween Costume Glory if you wish, we would love to see them.

10/24/2022

Saturday afternoon Girl Scout Troop 60323 presented the Woodbridge Dog Park Cooperative with dog toy containers with inset water bowls for both the large and small dog parks. Completed as part of their Bronze Award project, the girls made these containers all by themselves – from finding a design, making a materials list, budgeting and purchasing to learning how to use power tools in the process! We are honored that the girls chose the dog park as a beneficiary of their hard work.

Many thanks to Troop 60323, and congratulations on your Bronze Award!