Blair County Dog Park Celebrates Its 13th Season

The Blair County Dog Park Association is beginning its 13th season with a lot of reason to celebrate.

The dog park, which is located off Agway Road in North Woodbury Township, offers 10.6 acres of scenic, rural land.

The association, a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization, was recently able to purchase the 10.6 acres of land where the dog park is located. After leasing the land for 12 years, the parcel was offered to the association for purchase. Through a fund-raising endeavor, the park raised the funds for both the purchase price and closing costs.

During the same time, the park’s old zero-turn mower broke and the park board was trying to figure out how to come up with the over-$10,000 amount to purchase a new one. To the surprise of the board, a brand-new Bad Boy mower from was gifted to the park from members Barry and Ruth Davis of Duncansville.

“We are fortunate to have members and dog lovers in the community who see the value and purpose of our beautiful park,” said Roseanne Conrad, park board president.

Conrad stated that members come from all over Blair County and as far away as Bedford and Huntindon counties to use the park. Most members reside in the Altoona/Hollidaysburg/Duncansville area.

According to board member Barry Davis of Duncansville, “The dog park is my happy place. We are like family there. The park is beautiful and relaxing and I just love coming there with my little dog, Ariel, so very much.”

The dog park is sectioned into four separate fenced-in areas. Most notable are separate areas for small dogs and large dogs.

The park is a member park with prospective members required to fill out a questionnaire, agree to park rules and pay a nominal membership fee.

“Unlike most municipal dog parks in the country, our park is not funded by the tax base or maintained by a government entity,” said Conrad.

From the beginning, the organization raised all the funds to build and maintain the park through fund-raising and annual membership fees.

Members and their dogs are vetted. Dogs must be non-aggressive, healthy and social. They must be up-to-date on vaccinations, be free of internal and external parasites and owners must supervise their play while they are off-leash in the park.

A place for birds, too

While the main purpose of the dog park is to have a safe area for dogs to run off-lease and get plenty of exercise, people like to come sit on one of the benches and just watch the birds. The park has almost two dozen nesting boxes on the grounds. Native birds such as blue birds, field swallow and sparrows nest there each year.

Conrad said that one of their members purchased several new nest boxes and got several more from the Blair County Conservation District this year. She said she and several members got together one weekend to build and install the boxes.

The park’s board

The dog park’s 2024 election of officers was held during the association’s February meeting. The slate of officers and board members include Roseanne Conrad, president; Bill Lewis, vice president; Bonnie Risser, treasurer; Caitlin Morder, recording secretary and Karen Lewis, corresponding secretary.

Barry Davis and Betsie Claar were installed as board members. Carol Johnson is board emeritus.

The Dog Park Association is planning to hold its annual Spring Clean-Up Day on Saturday, April 27, beginning at 9 am. All members and friends are encouraged to help out. Information is available on the dog park’s website and Facebook page.

Other events are being planned for the summer and fall, including canine behavior classes for members and Barktoberfest in October.

Persons interested in joining the dog park may download an application along with the Rules of the Dog Park from the website at http://www.blaircountydogpark.org.

Information on events and other activities is available on the website as well.