Unleashed: Off-leash Dog Park Design Trends and Planning Tips offers a variety of planning and design considerations and other resources for planners and community representatives.

Dogs are man's best friend, it's said, and people in the U.S. have lots of furry friends"?uoh about 70 million, according to the 2012 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook. There are also 74.1 million pet cats in the U.S., but that's another story.

Dogs need exercise and "socializing," so many owners take Fido to the dog park to air out and schmooze with canine pals. Clearly, dog parks are a community benefit if properly designed and planned.

PlayCore has now produced Unleashed: Off-leash Dog Park Design Trends and Planning Tips, a variety of planning and design considerations that should be taken into account to ensure a dog park is meaningful to the community and pet owners. Unleashed provides guidelines on location and context, promoting usage and community interest, planning and implementation strategies, as well as marketing and programming. Successful off-leash dog park case studies are also presented to help inspire advocates to take action in their community.

Landscape architects or community representatives who are interested in building a dog park are encouraged to log on to www.playcore.com/unleashed-dog-park-design to request a copy of the book, or link to dog park product sites to help design a dog park.