ADOG – Association of Dog Owners Group – has been busy behind the scenes during the pandemic.

The Fountain Hills organization advocates for local dogs and is active with Desert Vista Park, home of the off-leash park in the community. ADOG serves as the liaison between the dog park and the town.

A recent development, according to President Denise Dunning Ricketts, is the anonymous donation of $27,000 for shade structures at the dog park.

ADOG board members and representatives from the Town participated in a meeting at FireRock Country Club. Mayor Ginny Dickey, Council members Sharron Grzybowski and Gerry Friedel attended, along with Community Services Director Rachael Goodwin and Community Relations Manager Bo Larsen attended the meeting.

Ricketts said ADOG is looking forward to working more with the town. She said members of the organization are happy to provide volunteer labor for different projects.

One project the group hopes to help with is to clean up the area near the “large dog” area. Members said the weeds and trees are overgrown, creating an uninviting look.

Because the town has approved herbicides, vendors and other parts of town business, ADOG would need to work through the town to help with maintenance projects or other activities.

“We would just need to know what the priorities are for the dog park,” Dickey said. “We definitely want to work with you.”

Ricketts also brought up the Leash Up. Clean Up. program. Larsen has been working with the campaign in Fountain Hills to address the issues of having dogs on a leash and pick up dog waste.

Larsen said ADOG is a great advocate for the program.

Another ADOG plan is to provide dog behavior training. Classes will be taught by Kennedy Travis of Pawsitive Dog Training. The website is pawsitivedogtrainingaz.com.

For more details on ADOG, go to adogfh.org.