Haydon Wick dog park opens with first-ever dog show

Haydon Wick’s Goodearl Dog Park is marking its grand opening with something better than a standard ribbon-cutting: the parish council has lined up its first-ever dog show for Sunday, May 24, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The two-hour event is built around waggiest tail, cutest companion and playful puppy categories, turning the new park into a destination day for dogs that thrive on movement, noise and a crowd.

The park sits on Goodearl Field between Chatsworth Road and Old Blunsdon Road, behind the Goodearl Leisure Garden site, and it is free to use. Haydon Wick Parish Council says the space includes a secure enclosed area plus access to open field areas, so dogs can shift from contained play to bigger runs without leaving the site. That setup gives the park a practical edge: it is not just an exercise pen, but a place where dogs can mix, read each other and burn off energy in more than one way.

The opening has roots in a very specific bit of local pressure. A petition signed by 131 residents called for a secure dog park, and the proposal was chosen as the top priority through the council’s Community Choices participatory budgeting scheme. After residents said the original design was too small for larger dogs, the council enlarged the area. Muddy Squad, a local dog business, also backed the project with sponsorship, helping move the park from idea to finished space.

The council has paired the launch with basic rules that matter in a busy off-leash setting: keep dogs under control, close gates securely, clean up after them and keep unwell dogs, along with food, out of the enclosed area. For owners with high-drive dogs, that is the sort of structure that makes a park usable, not just appealing on paper.

That is why the dog show matters. It gives the park an opening act that rewards dogs comfortable with novelty, stimulation and public activity, while giving families and regular park users a reason to show up and see how the space works. Goodearl Dog Park is starting with a social test run, and that is exactly the point.