Oxford planning new dog park and dog training center

When Carrie Hall first rescued her dog, Greta, she noticed signs of anxiety.

Worried, Hall decided to board Greta at Training Tracks, the canine learning station in College Corner, to help train her.

"It helped a lot," Hall, an Oxford resident and Miami University professor, said. "She really warmed up to people, I think a lot more because they gave her a lot of reinforcement and like varied experiences."

Training Tracks, a boarding, training, day school and learning service for dogs, will be coming to Oxford in early September, c0-owner Jeff Silverman said. It will be located on 5500 College Corner Pike next to Popular Smoke and Vape Shop.

Training Tracks set to open Oxford facility

The city's planning commission approved a conditional use permit for the development at a July 9 meeting. Now, the applicant needs to apply for appropriate permits from the city including a verification permit, sign permit, fence permit and sidewalk permit before the business can become operational, according to the planning commission's staff report.

"I've taught the psychology of dog courses a couple of times on the Oxford campus, and we usually go [to Training Tracks] to see demos of the concepts that we learn in class," Hall said. "And so it'll be a lot easier to take the students to that."

Silverman said the business has been in College Corner since it opened in 1998, but as the business grows they need more space.

"We've always been in Oxford's orbit," Silverman said, "and we really like to think of training tracks for a lot of our clients as in addition to providing training, we're kind of a home away from home."

Silverman was a past president of the largest animal behavior organization in the world, the Association of Professional Dog Trainers. His wife used to serve on the certification review committee for the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants.

Silverman added that after the move, they'll keep the same staff members to provide the animals with a stable environment.

Bids for new dog park due later this month

Not only is Training Tracks moving to Oxford, but there's a new dog park coming to town across from Leonard Howell Park, too.

City Manager Doug Elliott said in an email to the Oxford Free Press that the city is receiving bids for the new dog park construction project due Aug. 16. He added that the 2024 Capital Improvement Fund included an appropriation of $90,000 for the project.

Casey Wooddell, parks & recreation director, said they've noticed for several years that the existing dog park, Northside Bark, is a very heavily used facility, but it's not big enough based on the demand for it. The city plans to maintain both Northside Bark and the new facility unless usage at one dwindles drastically.

"We would consider repurposing the existing dog park into something different," Wooddell said, "but initially we [will] have a smaller dog park and we'll have a bigger one."

Hall said she thinks the new dog park will give people more options, but they can also be tricky, especially for her three older dogs — Greta, Addison and Grina.

"If people don't have a fenced yard at home, that can be a great option for being able to take the dog off leash," Hall said. "I think the tricky part is that then you have your dog in there unleashed with other dogs who are unleashed, and they're often sort of one time encounters, where then you're needing to trust that all the dogs are going to get along."

According to Forbes, the amount of exercise dogs need depends on breed, age and general health, but most dogs require an hour of exercise a day. Oxford currently has one dog park located at 5160 Morning Sun Rd. The city has an ordinance that prevents owners from letting their dogs off-leash in public spaces.