Nutro launches 3rd Annual ROOM TO RUN™ Dog Park Program

With the long summer days, we love spending more time outdoors playing with our dogs. Even my senior dog Cleo, loves to stroll through our local park and sniff around, and if she gets lucky, enjoy a quick encounter with a puppy.

This time of year a couple of my neighborhood dog parks have clean up days set aside for residents to spend a little extra time clearing dry shrubs, fallen tree limbs and forgotten poop. I think it is a great way to bring the community together.

In San Francisco we're lucky, but there are many towns that have dog parks or off-leash areas that need more work than just a little clean up, before people can take their dogs there for some serious playtime. Fortunately, you now have a chance to apply for one of 30 grants, at $2,000 each, from the Nutro Company that will be awarded through October.

ROOM TO RUN™ is a Nutro-sponsored community program which encourages public dog park and off-leash area enhancements in local communities across the country. Anyone in the U.S. can apply to win one of the $2,000 grants for improving one of their local public, non-profit dog parks.

American country music singer and songwriter Sara Evans has teamed up with The Nutro Company to launch the nationwide grant program for dog park enhancements. She will be promoting the program all year. 

"As a proud dog owner, I'm excited to help The Nutro Company kick off the third annual event and to help spread the word to dog lovers around the country," said Sara Evans.

"Our dog Roman is like a member of our family, and I know many people feel the same way about their own dogs. I support the ROOM TO RUN™ effort to give dogs and their owners an enhanced place to play and bond."

ROOM TO RUN™ is a community program which encourages residents to take action and apply for grant support to help their public dog park.

Dog park enhancements may range from:

• General repairs and maintenance (e.g., painting benches, repairing fences)
• Installation of new agility equipment
• Landscaping
• Updates to water system
• Creation of a poop bag center

Grants will be awarded on a rolling basis through October 2012. 

Check out the Nutro Facebook tab to apply for a grant, and to see individual winners as the grants are awarded throughout the year.

Be sure and follow Sara Evans on Twitter as she helps promote the program!

The deadline for entries is September 31, 2012. Check out the official press release for all the details.

This post was written by a Nutro Knowledge Network Member and sponsored by the Nutro Company.