By: Mia Kologranic
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| Statesboro's Downtown Dog Park is an open space with room for furry friends to hangout. The park is located directly behind the public library. |
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| Downtown Dog Park has a list of rules the dogs and their owners must follow in order to use the area. The rules are a guide to ensure all visitors can enjoy their time responsibly. |
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| Jazmine Reynolds is walking in her two dogs, Cee-cee and Gunner. Charlie and Huff are waiting patiently on the inside of the fence to meet some new friends. |
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| Hunter Neel looks for a good spot to throw the ball as Misha and Baxter eagerly watch his every move. "I always end up playing with more dogs than just my own," said Neel. "They all love being included." |
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| Michael Runzy is in a game of tug-of-war with his dog Loomis. The park usually has ropes, tennis balls, and other random toys there for dogs like Loomis to enjoy. |
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| Loomis continues playing hard with Michael. He is determined to beat his owner in this friendly yet competitive activity. |
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| Les enjoys running through the tunnel and losing other dogs that are chasing him. The tunnel also functions as a hill for dogs to run up and down on. |
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| Baxter (L), Les (M), and Misha (R) tiredly wait for someone to turn on the water fountain for them. The dog park provides two water stations to keep the dogs hydrated after a long play date. |
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| Les is relieved that a kind human finally turns on the water fountain for him to enjoy. Sometimes when no one is looking, he puts his paws in the water and splashes around like a fun little pool. |
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| Les (L) and Misha (R) create a furry friendship while visiting the hydration station. The dog park is a great place for socialization for both dogs and humans. |
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| Mark refills the water bowl after the thirsty heard of dogs leaves to continue to play. As you can imagine, this was one of many trips taken to make sure the bowl had water in it. |
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| Sarah, Jessica, Valerie and Mark (L-R) enjoy a nice break from playing with their dogs to sit under the shady pavilion. The park caters to four-legged and two-legged friends so everyone can enjoy it. |
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| The pavilion is sponsored by Youth Leadership Bulloch, a program of the Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce. The program helped raise money for additions and updates to the park in 2014. |
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| Youth Leadership Bulloch has a fundraiser selling brick dedications to honor or memorialize pets. These bricks line the entrance of the park and all proceeds go towards enhancing the park. |
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Owners like Rachael Crosby can also enjoy the multiple bench-swings while taking a break from the fun. There’s three bench-swings located within the park.
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| Jessica, Valerie, Mark and Sarah (L-R) engage in some friendly conversation and even some work. Mark stated he loves to come to the dog park because it allows him to meet new friends and relax as his dogs run around. |
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| Peaches also enjoys a nice relaxing break from the fun as she rolls around in the cool sand. Even on a hot Statesboro day the dog park can still be enjoyed as it offers areas of shade and the cool sand – of course. |
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| Sarah pets Misha in attempt to leash her up and leave the Downtown Dog Park after a thrilling hour of play time. The dogs seem to never want to leave their newly made friends. |
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| Hunter Neel searches for his dog so they can leave one of their favorite spots in Statesboro. Some owners consider this the challenging part of the dog park because they will run as far away from the door as possible. |
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| Some dogs such as Baxter and Lilly try to escape as they wait for their owner to open the door to leave. Relaxing at the park is nice, but these four-legged friends are ready to be in their homes after an eventful time at the Downtown Dog Park. |
