Dog owners realize pets, too, need their space.
In Lake County, though, space for dogs to run with their owners or frolic with other canines is in short supply.
At the Lake County Forest Preserve’s dog exercise area near Libertyville, the place has become so popular that officials have had to stop issuing permits to avoid crowding.
The forest preserve operates two dog exercise areas, one near Libertyville and the other near Wauconda. Both are fenced so dogs can run off a leash. The 1,800 permits issued this year allow dog owners to use either site.
Brian Hallwas, the district’s director of operations, said the dog exercise areas reached capacity in June, an assessment he made based on the use of the parking lot.
“We decided not to sell any more annual passes,” he said. “We did not want to put ourselves in an overflow situation.”
Annual passes cost county residents $25 and non-residents $50. Daily passes are still available for $2.50 for residents and $5 for nonresidents.
The dog exercise areas are so popular, Hallwas is planning a third facility in the Prairie Wolf Slough Forest Preserve near Bannockburn. The district already has set aside $35,000 to create the new facility, which might be ready in a year.
“There is a tremendous demand for people who want to let their dogs off-leash and run,” Hallwas said. The third facility could serve dog owners from Highland Park, Lake Forest and Deerfield.
For dogs that love to swim, the 30-acre dog exercise area near Libertyville is a logical choice. It has a large pond, along with five acres of fields and 2 1/2 miles of trails.
Joey Hazelton of Wildwood watches her terrier paddle furiously, racing toward anything tossed in the pond.
“She just learned to swim, so all she wants to do is swim,” said Hazelton. “She’ll spend a half an hour out there without touching the ground.”
Dog owners have favorite play areas, based on their experiences. Some owners using the Libertyville facility said some dogs at Wauconda are unruly or aggressive.
At the Wauconda facility, Kimberleigh Gorham of Round Lake is exercising several pets.
“It’s for people who are just as kookie as I am and love dogs,” she said. “And . . . we don’t have to worry about leash laws.”
Said Karen Bush of Long Grove: “They get to socialize and we get to visit while they visit.”
The Wauconda facility offers 15 acres, which includes trails and large open fields. It also has bathroom facilities, for people, unlike the Libertyville site. The Wauconda facility opened in October 1997.
Its only major drawback, say dog owners, is a lack of drinking water for the dogs, which pant after playing on a hot summer day.
“I don’t go to Libertyville,” said Karen Beauprie of Lake Zurich. “My dog won’t swim. I throw a ball and she tiptoes in and tiptoes out of the water.”
This camp of dog-lovers expresses a preference for the Wauconda site, citing examples of poor behavior by owners and dogs at Libertyville.
“I expect snarls and snaps; they’re dogs, after all,” said Gorham. She believes the Wauconda site is less crowded and more peaceful.
Ila Sersen of Wauconda said: “I like this place because you know everyone. The other place (in Libertyville) is full of people from everywhere, and weirdos.”
Both groups of dog owners, in Wauconda and Libertyville, had one thing in common–a concern for a fungal infection discovered in two dogs that had used the Libertyville facility in 1996. One became so ill it was put to sleep.
The dogs were sickened by blastomycosis dermatitidis, a fungus that grows in the soil in wooded areas near waterways in the central and southeastern United States. Spore-laden dust is inhaled, infecting the lungs, skin, eyes, nose, bones and central nervous system.
The forest preserve notified permit-holders of the illnesses in 1996, said Andrew Kimmel, the district’s director of environmental education and public affairs.
“It would have been difficult or impossible to survey the site for fungus that lives in the soil,” Kimmel said. “We thought the best course of action was to give permit-holders the information we had to decide whether they wanted to make continued use of the area.”
No illnesses have been reported since 1996, Kimmel said.
