Mission Statement -
The Purpose of Morgan Hill Dog Owner's Group is to serve as friends of the Morgan Hill Dog Park and help the City to keep it as a community asset where people and their dogs can play together in a safe and friendly environment. Dogs contribute immeasurably to their families quality of life- helping to foster a sense of togetherness for everyone and creating a positive community spirit.
Our Park -
Morgan Hill is located in the southern section of Santa Clara County. Morgan Hill is about 20 miles south of San Jose and 10 miles north of Gilroy. The Morgan Hill Dog Park is the one of two off-leash parks in the south county area and is widely used by Morgan Hill residents as well as dog owners from surrounding communities. Morgan Hill Dog Owners Group is widely recognized as the group that "made the dog park happen". Now that the dog park is built our organization continues to raise funds to support the park and to be visible in the community as models of responsible dog ownership. We are an organization run totally by volunteers and supported by donations from the community. Anyone who is interested in our group and/or would like to get involved may contact us by e-mail. Send us your contact information and, with your permission, we will add you to our email list to receive information and updates.
On our site you will find notices on dog related events, dog needs and services as well as pertinent information related to the operation of the Morgan Hill Dog Park. We also periodically will post items of interest to the dog owners of our community.
The Dog Parks are located just off West Edmundsen (just off Monterey Road) behind the Morgan Hill Community Center. It is a year-round, grass covered facility with trees and benches with separate areas for small and large dogs. Excuse us for 'puffing out our chests', but it's one of the nicest off-leash dog parks in the bay area! But hey, don't believe us - come and take a look for yourself!
Our History -
Morgan Hill has an ordinance which prohibits dogs from being off leash any place in the City. With the tremendous residential growth in Morgan Hill over the past few years the need for an off leash dog park became evident. While MHDOG was searching for a suitable site for the proposed dog park, we were very pleased to have the City offer a section in the southern end of the already existing Community Park on Edmundson Ave. However, the City had no budgeted funds for development of the dog park, so a fund raising project by MHDOG went into high gear.
By working cooperatively with the City, MHDOG was able to bring about this unique public-private funding package which ultimately got the dog park built. Our grass roots organization raised funds through various fund raising events as well as generous donations from the community. This support from local citizens became tangible evidence of community interest in and desire for a dog park. As our fund raising drive became very successful, we petitioned to the City to match our funds so that all the amenities desired for the park could be completed in a reasonable time frame. The approval of that petition was the final link to starting construction of the park-- which was just eighteen months from the start of our fund raising campaign! With ground breaking for the dog park in the summer of 2006 four years of dreaming, working, talking to people, and planning finally came to a reality. The Grand Opening of Morgan Hill Dog Park on Jan. 20, 2007 was indeed a happy day for the dog owners of Morgan Hill and especially for the diligent cadre' of volunteers in Morgan Hill Dog Owners Group.