Cahaba Beach Dog Park now open

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Photos courtesy of Emily Gaunt Photography.

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Dogs explore the facilities at the new Cahaba Beach Dog Park.

Ken and Ann Horne and their family have taken the typical dog park experience to the next level. Their new Cahaba Beach Dog Park opened behind Home Depot off Highway 280 last month.

A 7,700-square-foot facility, Cahaba Beach Dog Park offers doggie day care, boarding and grooming services, and training.

“Our daughter Stacy said we should open a high caliber dog park in the Birmingham area,” said Ken Horne. “Now, I’m proud to say that we’re being considered the ‘Disneyland for Dogs.’”

The boarding facility offers furry friends a vacation of their own while their owners are away. Pet owners can choose from a variety of packages including standard, junior, executive and presidential suites. Each suite holds a five-inch memory foam bed and a web cam for owners to view their dogs remotely. Junior, executive and presidential feature televisions that play movies such as Rin Tin Tin and Lassie.

“We want the dogs that stay with us to be as comfortable as possible with us, and we want owners to know that their pets are being treated like royalty,” said Horne.

The facility’s private off-leash dog park offers more than three acres of shaded play areas, complete with tunnels, ramps, water features and trail ways. Furry friend owners can also enjoy a vending area and bocce ball with their four-legged friends, as well as a fort for kids.

“We plan on catering to humans, as well as animals,” Horne said.

In order to join the dog park, all pets must pass a temperate evaluation given by a certified animal behavior consultant and have vaccines on file from their veterinarian, so owners know every pet in the park is appropriate for group play. Monthly fees for park membership are $15 for single-pet families or $20 for multi-pet families; members also receive discounts on other services.

The park has also incorporated an amphitheater to the complex that will host dog sport demos and community events for area animal outreach and assistance programs.

“We hope to incorporate fundraisers into our facility in the future. We want to continue to make a difference in the community and in the animal world. We want to keep moving forward,” Horne said.

In the process of building the facility, contractor Mark Thompson worked with the family to create an eco-friendly building. The bricks were excavated from a burned building in Bessemer, and excavated rock from the property was used to line trail ways, play areas and water features. Most of the property’s original trees remain, with only some removed to add a play area.

“We thought this would be something nice to offer the community,” Horne said. “Our lives have gone to the dogs, and it is a nice place to keep pets while owners are away and to get pampered as well.”

To keep up with Cahaba Beach Dog Park, follow them on Facebook.