Since adopting Lucy (picture above), our Black Lab, in December 1997, we've been looking into places to play with her. Fairfax County has a general leash/cleanup law for dogs, and there don't seem to be any dog-friendly parks near our house (Oak Hill, in western Fairfax County - south of Herndon/Reston; north of Fairfax/Chantilly/Centreville; west of Oakton/Vienna). She loves to swim and run around in the woods. She likes the floppy frisbee we got her and *loves* retrieving thrown tennis balls.

I've met a number of other people in my area who are as eager as I am to have an official place near us where we can let our dogs play off-leash. Two of us started a group called the Herndon Area Dog Coalition (HADC) for this purpose and to have folks to get together with in general for dog walks. I later resigned from first the leadership and then the group, for a variety of reasons, but I am still interested in their progress. They are now called Herndon Dogs, Inc. .

I have removed all of the dog park info that used to be here. HADC has a page of local (NoVA-area) dog parks. Please go to their off-leash area/dog park page to check these out. I have also created an Offleash Dogs web ring for our local groups as well as for other dog parks around the world. The web ring is not the same as the mailing list of the same name, although some people and groups are members of both. The list inspired the ring.

Lucy's site has these main sections:

• Lucy's Yard (main page)
• Lucy's Story tells how we ended up with Lucy, fun we've had, and problems we're working on
• Lucy's Pix has pictures of Lucy with her human and canine friends
• Lucy's Dog Park Page has info about Northern VA and other places dogs can play together
• Lucy's Adoption and Fostering Page contains numerous links to national and DC-area shelters, humane societies, and animal rescue groups
• Lucy's Links Page has spay/neuter and general dog information links, links to sites whose products benefit dog rescue/humane groups, info about traveling with dogs, and the web rings she's in

  ...and don't forget these:

• Offleash Dogs Web Ring, which I would never had started had it not been for Lucy
• Lucy's Suggestions for books & movies, available through Amazon: mostly about dogs/other pets and/or for kids, but not all! Some are classics; some are simply fun and/or thought-provoking
• I'm Stumped! CafePress shop, for dog-themed and other clothes, gifts, stickers, and more
• I'm Stumped: the blog! - for those semi-regular commentaries, rants, and practical suggestions

*REAL* e-mail is good! - lucydog@imstumped.com

Spammers are forbidden to use this address for any reason.

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This page last updated 07/30/10