The City Council has directed Los Baños staff to look into the possibility of creating a dog park.</p><p>“I’ve been hearing about this for the last few years. There’s just really no place where dogs can run off the leash,” Councilwoman Anna Brooks said Monday. </p><p>Last week Brooks requested that options for a dog park be presented to the council in October.</p><p>She said there was hope that some developments that have been working their way through the city’s reviewing process would include dog parks, but those plans seem to be on hold.</p><p> Brooks admits that she does not know what a dog park might cost. She said she will be interested in seeing the figures. </p><p>At last weeks council meeting some officials expressed a belief that building a dog park will not be an expensive thing to do. Councilman Joe Sousa said his experience is to the contrary.</p><p> “With all due respect it does cost quite a bit,” Sousa said. “There’s a lot of fencing involved. My research shows that you really shouldn’t mix large animals with smaller animals.”</p><p>Sousa said he looked into the possibility of having a dog park in Los Baños when he was the city’s public services director. He said he’d like staff to review the idea again and see if it is more feasible now.</p><p>In Fresno there are four dog parks, the most recent being only months old. The facilities are fenced in areas that exist on park land already in use. </p><p>“Participation is excellent, they’re used every day,” Fresno Park Manager Steve Nielson said. </p><p>He said if his newest park isn’t open on time in the mornings he gets calls from upset pet owners. Nielson said he takes that as a sign that the park is well-liked by the community. </p><p>Nielson said his city’s dog parks have benches, picnic tables, fencing, water and pooper scoopers. He said the four parks are not expensive for the city and do not require any more maintenance than any of Fresno’s other parks. </p><p>Saturday morning in Los Baños Raymond Delgado was taking his pit bull, Diamond, for a walk near Ranchwood Park. He said he’s never taken his pet to a dog park but his main concern would be how the dogs get along with one another.</p><p>“I’m not worried about my dog. I’m worried about other dogs,” Delgado said while holding the leash of his beloved animal.</p><p>The oldest of Fresno’s dog parks has been around more than a decade. Nielson said at those facilities there are fences that separate small dogs from larger ones, but mainly the city relies on the owners to know their pets’ temperament.</p><p>“We just encourage people, if your dog doesn’t (do well) around other dogs to leave him at home,” Nielson said.</p><p>Enterprise staff writer Corey Pride can be reached at 388-6563 or cpride@losbanosenterprise.com