Dog Run Field

MrsMozart

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We have one. Set up for our dogs but we've been asked if others can use it, which might go a wee way towards the cost of setting it up so... ?. Liveries can already use it if they want when they come to see their horses.

It has a shelter and a picnic bench thingy as the views are grand and I like sitting out there. Any suggestions as to what others might want that isn't too over the top for a basic place?
 

MrsMozart

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A poo bin and bags

Ah yes, thank you. I have some of the little carry things - was thinking of attaching them to the fencing so they're to hand as it were. Was only going to put one wee bin out there but could put in a couple more. And a few water bowls, though the pigs have some super heavy stone troughs that aren't all needed - could make a bit of a paddling area for the hot days (when we get them :rolleyes::cool:).
 

Pearlsasinger

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We have one. Set up for our dogs but we've been asked if others can use it, which might go a wee way towards the cost of setting it up so... ?. Liveries can already use it if they want when they come to see their horses.

It has a shelter and a picnic bench thingy as the views are grand and I like sitting out there. Any suggestions as to what others might want that isn't too over the top for a basic place?


One of our local ones has agility equipment available and water for visiting dogs.
 

splashgirl45

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paddling pools, balls, small agility area. ive got weaving poles and a couple of different jumps, didnt cost much and lots of fun. they are plastic so not very sturdy , it was under £50 from amazon
 

Spotherisk

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Without being a killjoy you will probably need planning, and insurance. Fences of a height that cannot be jumped or got through or under. A good mower so you can keep the grass shirt so you can see the poo which isn’t collected. An online booking system. A double gate system so people can drive in and ship us one gate before letting the dog out.

A friend did all this a couple of years ago (farm diversification), enclosed a couple of acres. They are so busy that the thousands spent out are already repaid and now they’re into profit, and that’s with a big deck ride on mower too.
 

MrsMozart

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Thank you folks - will make a list and see what's do-able.

Ooh lots of good thinking, thank you. Glad your friends are doing well ?. Existing yard insurance is sending a quote ?. It has 6' deer fencing and gate as was built to keep both the Grots and a smal JRT in, and a pull in place for cars coming / going (planned when we was thinking of having D2's wedding in there), and have a ride-on mower and a D who's happy to poddle about on it (I bought him a Stetson years ago for just such an occupation ?). He can knock up an online booking system if we get to that stage - I'm thinking just low level as we're next to a large forest with plenty of walks, only thinking of opening it up as people have seen it and asked.
 

MrsMozart

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our local one has a lock on the gate and when booking they give you the code and also ask you to finish 5 mins early so there is room for the next person to park and get their dogs out and that stops dogs meeting at the gate so safer for all

Ah yes, was just wondering about the swap over times... Gawd this is getting complicated :D
Thinking about it, there's space for a car to come in and close one gate, the first person can get dog back in car and open deer gate and drive out and past waiting person, waiting person can then drive in and shut deer gate, first person can open other gate and leave - the driveway is wide enough there even if waiting person is actually late and not waiting at all. Hm. Thinking to be done. We'll do a test run, see how it would all work in reality, or at least some version of it!
 

Britestar

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Thank you. What's the digging area surface? I can get some tyres - are they tied down or just loose?

A dug over area, or a sandpit so dogs can dig happily.

The one I've seen had big tractor tyres filled with soil just so the dogs can leap on and off them.

The toy box is filled with easily cleaned and sturdy toys.
 

Zoeypxo

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I go to a few. As have 2 dog reactive 40kg malamutes .
The first one is only 1 mile from my house and cheap, 2 acres but nothing to play with or climb over/jump on. Good excersize for the dogs but can feel slightly boring unless you bring your own toys/balls.
The 2nd one is 3.5 acres but 5 miles from my house. Bit more expensive also, but has loads of plants, mini trees, ‘sniff station’ basically just lots of different bits of wood, woodchip, plants, tyres, little wooden dog houses to go in and sniff.
Another one i went too once was huge and had a small agility course which my dog loved but the fencing was unstable and dog almost escaped! So i didn’t go back.

i think generally speaking aslong as there is a shelter of some sort/bench to sit on and running water its fine, But tyres to jump in and over and little trees to sniff seem to keep my 2 happy.

all of the dog walking fields around me seem to be very popular and regularly fully booked so definately a good business venture
 

Spotherisk

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Tractor tyre ball pit. Low ‘table’ with non-slip top for posing/ring craft stuff.

My friend cuts hers about twice a week and does the lot because then you can see the abandoned poo… if you leave it long people don’t always pick up…
 

MrsMozart

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A dug over area, or a sandpit so dogs can dig happily.

The one I've seen had big tractor tyres filled with soil just so the dogs can leap on and off them.

The toy box is filled with easily cleaned and sturdy toys.

Thank you. I'll get a couple of tractor tyres as I know my dogs will enjoy and it is their field (I must remember that it's theirs!). The dug over area should be easy enough and I hav some sand left over from something or other.
 

MrsMozart

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I go to a few. As have 2 dog reactive 40kg malamutes .
The first one is only 1 mile from my house and cheap, 2 acres but nothing to play with or climb over/jump on. Good excersize for the dogs but can feel slightly boring unless you bring your own toys/balls.
The 2nd one is 3.5 acres but 5 miles from my house. Bit more expensive also, but has loads of plants, mini trees, ‘sniff station’ basically just lots of different bits of wood, woodchip, plants, tyres, little wooden dog houses to go in and sniff.
Another one i went too once was huge and had a small agility course which my dog loved but the fencing was unstable and dog almost escaped! So i didn’t go back.

i think generally speaking aslong as there is a shelter of some sort/bench to sit on and running water its fine, But tyres to jump in and over and little trees to sniff seem to keep my 2 happy.

all of the dog walking fields around me seem to be very popular and regularly fully booked so definately a good business venture

Ooh, interesting, thank you. Hadn't thought much about prices. I think I used to pay £10 per hour for up to three dogs, but that always seemed a bit mean and they we got a fourth dog, though had our own place by then. With everyone feeling the pinch I'll aim for erring on the side of less £. We have lots of wood from scraggly trees that were taken down ages ago, they might enjoy a second life as dog sniff thingies. There's what used to be a smokers shelter that I got from Marketplace - it sits right at the top so you get shelter from any wind but still get the views and I love it. There's also a picnic bench just because I can't resist a Marketplace special and it seemed like a good spot for it :D . We can run water and make a standpipe easily enough, which would be very useful for our mud magnets, and to be able to refresh the water bowls in there.
 

MrsMozart

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Tractor tyre ball pit. Low ‘table’ with non-slip top for posing/ring craft stuff.

My friend cuts hers about twice a week and does the lot because then you can see the abandoned poo… if you leave it long people don’t always pick up…

Hadn't thought of a low table thing. There's probably something around that would do the job nicely. And concur on the shorter grass! I've seen one place that keeps an area long, which is lovely for the dogs to go sniff, but not so grand for finding the poo...
 

MrsMozart

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Before I fall asleep (mornings come around far too soon!), what are people's thoughts on price for an hour, or for 55 minutes to allow for the swap over? As I'd not thought of this as a money maker, though after the drainage costs for that field maybe I should(!), I don't have any hard and fast thoughts on it, other than I don't want to be hitting pockets hard given the circs many of us find ourselves in these less than stellar times.
 

Britestar

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I would leave a gap for change over. Makes life easier with reactive dogs.

The one near me does breed meetings. Advertises and has a number limit.
 

TPO

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This place isnt far from you so worth checking out. I've been there a few times and it's brilliant. I've got a couple of friends with reactive dogs and they used it a lot for exercise amd training initially.

Weekends are constantly booked out well in advance. It's all online and they've set up the parking inside the fields and waiting areas so there's no chance of escapees.

She turned her outdoor arena into the all weather dog field. It's definitely floodlit, not sure about the other fields, so it's usable/sellable year round.

https://hoovesnpaws.co.uk/
 

MrsMozart

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This place isnt far from you so worth checking out. I've been there a few times and it's brilliant. I've got a couple of friends with reactive dogs and they used it a lot for exercise amd training initially.

Weekends are constantly booked out well in advance. It's all online and they've set up the parking inside the fields and waiting areas so there's no chance of escapees.

She turned her outdoor arena into the all weather dog field. It's definitely floodlit, not sure about the other fields, so it's usable/sellable year round.

https://hoovesnpaws.co.uk/


Oh I've seen that one on FB! Looks very tidy indeed. I doubt we'll be anything like as smart as that, though parking would be inside the field so should be secure. And there'd be lights as we're setting some up for a party so they could stay up.

See what a night's sleep does to the thinking.

So much to think about ?
 

MissTyc

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We use "The Big Barn" in East Sussex; they have a field, an indoor school, and outdoor school. All for dogs. Used to be a livery yard (might still be but they only get to hack haha) and now makes a fortune renting these spaces by the hour/half hour ... The field has a few "toys" - tyres, a hay bale, a mini pool, but in reality is mostly just a fenced in field for people with reactive or non recalling dogs. The outdoor school has a few tunnels and picnic tables but is mostly clear for people to hire it for agility (they bring their own equipment). The indoor school is the best as it has loads of kit. (sad waste of an indoor school, I often think having ridden my horse in the torrential rain at 6am only to then take the dogs for a play indoors hahaha).
 

Zoeypxo

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The most popular one near me is £5 for half hr, £9 for an hour up to 4 dogs and 1 car.
1.50 per extra car and £1 per extra dog after the 4.
The cheaper one i go to is £4 for half hr and £6.50 for one hour up to 3 dogs , £1 per extra dog but you don't get charged for extra cars which is ideal when i meet family there, not much space in my car with the 2 massive dogs ?.

the rules are that in your hour slot you must have got your dogs back in the car before the start of the next persons slot.
The next people arriving must not get dogs out of there car until the previous people are safely in there own car.
Which makes it safe and no meet ups with random dogs in the car park
 

Tiddlypom

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This is our local one. We've not used it yet, but know people who do and they rate it very highly. It was set up a small number of years ago, and it's really taken off. I didn't think that there would be the demand in these parts, but I am very happy to have been proved wrong.

They do sole use hire plus a number of socialisation sessions - sometimes breed specific (beagles and bassets, anyone?) and sometimes by size or other criteria. We've going to give one of the small dog sessions a whirl sometime, a neighbour takes their dog to these and she has a ball.

I think there's a 15 minute gap between private hires to keep the two groups well apart.

https://unleashedwrenbury.co.uk/
 

Spotherisk

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Before I fall asleep (mornings come around far too soon!), what are people's thoughts on price for an hour, or for 55 minutes to allow for the swap over? As I'd not thought of this as a money maker, though after the drainage costs for that field maybe I should(!), I don't have any hard and fast thoughts on it, other than I don't want to be hitting pockets hard given the circs many of us find ourselves in these less than stellar times.

In Devon it seems that £7ph is average - edited to say £7 for 30mins and three dogs, NOT £7ph!
 

Mynstrel

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You need a water supply (tap/bowser) but don't have water bowls just in case anybody brings a sick dog to reduce the risk of infection. One of the posher ones near us has a wash off area but I don't think that's a must have. Be careful with agility stuff, not everyone has the sense to not do too much with young dogs and I'm not sure where you'd stand if one got hurt. Tunnels/concrete pipes could be a safer option.
 
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