Working out at Keene.

People are looking forward to having a walking/jogging trail at the new dog park. A few people have mentioned that they wish we had one at Keene. Well, there is nothing to stop people from doing laps at Keene; an identified path isn't necessary to give you a chance to do some exercise. I borrowed one of those wheelie measuring things and Bill and I did some measurements so you can figure out distances.

It is 308 feet from the lower parking lot to the entry to the dog park. It is 771 feet from the upper parking lot to the entry. It is 778 feet from inside the gate in the all dog area, walking the fence line all around and back, measuring close to the fence. There are 5280 feet in a mile so you can do your own calculations. I did some figuring and if you start at the lower parking lot, do six laps in the all dog area and back to the parking lot you have traveled 5284 feet, or a mile.

To increase your work out you could do a detour and go up and over the hill. Another way to add some squats, resistance, purpose and help out the dog park you can do some poop pickup on your first lap. My preferred method is to take two bags. One regular grocery bag to put poop in and one newspaper bag to put on my hand and arm like a glove to pick up with. The newspaper bags are pretty easy to find through the crate openings since they are often orange, blue or blue.

Doing some laps gives the added benefit of getting your dog away from the entry and congested front of the park since most dogs will hang with their human. Just make sure you keep an eye on your pooch while you do laps to make sure they haven't pooped or are getting into mischief.