psiPARK.pl – the first Polish web portal on dog parks and dog runs
- Information on dog parks & dog runs in Poland
- Safe dog play & caretakers’ responsibilities educational materials
- Dog park construction & refurbishment support
Brief history
We have officialy started on the International Dog Day, on the 1st of July, 2017. However, we have already been around for two years at that time.
Living with our dogs in a big, crowded city makes safe and fenced green areas really valuable and important to us. Places where dogs can run & play freely and with no risks. A few years back towns & cities did not really care much and did not offer such places for public use. Later, as soon as first dog runs had appeared in our area (in the whole voivodeship, as there was a max of one dog run per a couple of cities), we kept visiting them on regular basis.
Those dog runs were always empty and we did not actually know why. After a while it became apparent that dog owners simply did not know yet that such places exist but were very excited to learn about them. This was true for a couple of years! That is why in January 2014 we started one of the first Polish Facebook profiles dedicated to a specific dog run & a dog run at all. Along with the profile a community appeared, people like you, also interested in enabling their dog to be safe when at play, people fascinated with their dogs, loving and caring. That’s the story of the Silesia Park Dog Run’s page and the Silesia Park’s meeting group.
The first meeting in the Silesia Park Dog Run took place on the 21st of March, 2015. Since then there have been more than 20 meetings up to this day. Each one of them gathered around 30 dogs.
From our point of view it was a great experience to witness dog parks & dog runs growing in number in Poland in the forthcoming years. The more dog parks, however, and more people visting once empty areas, the more we started to notice a rapidly growing neccesity of an easily available educational source on safety & dog communication methods.
Our “13 rules of dog park safe dog play” were first published on the 15th of May, 2016. The rules were widley appreciated in the dog owners’ discussion groups, as well as between dog behaviorists and dog training experts. Our set of rules was later published in the 2016 “Dog park’s reality and an aware dog owner” project’s printout in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz. The project was supported by “Initiate wth FIO”, a financial fund for public initiatives.
The psiPARK.pl web portal has been put on-line on the 1st of July, 2016. The idea was to publish information about existing dog runs & dog parks in Poland and to educate how to safely use them. No other information source was available at that time.
Currently we are a widely visited place with over 130 000 hits per month. We cooperate with dog behaviorists, companies which erect dog parks, build & sell their equipment and with Polish cities. We have enriched our portal with additional sections: dog and the city, dog’s caretaker’s responsibilities and advices for dog enthusiats.
We were granted european funds in cooperation with the European Social Fund in 2017. The latest version of our portal has launched in early 2018, including our new logo and a dog park & dog run search engine incl. an unified info screen for each and every dog park, a novelty of innovation for the Polish market, all our recipients & everyone interested in dog parks.
Our mission
We inform about dog parks & dog runs in Poland, promote the general idea and educate on how to safely use dog parks & dog runs and what are the dog owner’s responsibilities.
We mainly focus on:
- Publishing information on dog parks’ & dog runs’ localization in Poland along with other crucial data
- Promoting the creation new dog parks & dog runs
- Support for new dog park & dog run construction
- Education on safe dog play and dog communication methods
- Education on safe dog park & dog run usage
- Proclaiming dog owners’ responsibilities
How we operate
- We run the first Polish web portal on dog parks & dog runs
- We publish information on dog parks & dog runs in media
- We distribute printouts with information on safe dog play in a dog run & dog park
- We are a media partner for dog infrastructure related events
- We cooperate with dog bebaviorists, dog training experts, companies creating dog park & agility equipment, cities and dog park & dog run administrators/governing bodies
- We visit dog parks & dog runs in Poland and meet up with their users
- We intervene at the governing bodies to help keep the dog parks & dog runs safe and clean and the equipment in good condition
- We create a place to share experiences and support for those who are looking to create a dog park or a dog run, facilitating access to information for others interested in participating in their project or looking for support
- We advise on how to create a dog park or dog run in your city
- We report on the dog run & dog parks users’ needs
- We report on the equimpent’s condition & gather users’ opinions
Our vision
Safe, fenced dog runs & dog parks available to the public in each Polish city. The dog owners know how to use the dog parks & dog runs and how to act around other dogs, what enables dogs to run freely and play and be happy. Clean and safe streets and lawns. Eeach and every new or experienced dog owner is aware and fullfils his or her basic responsibilities required by local regulations, general law and simply living in a community.
psiPARK.pl – the first Polish web portal on dog parks and dog runs
60 000 individual visitors per month | 110 000 visits per month | 280 articles | 45 projects with business partners | 3500 likes on Facebook | 1 quadruped park tester
We invite you to read and create the psiPARK.pl with us!
the psiPARK.pl Team
