Wagtown Dog Trail of Downtown Dayton
The nation’s first Wagtown Dog Trail and Wagtown Barking Spots is a dog-friendly tour connecting Webster Station and Water Street to Oregon District of Dayton, Ohio. Supported with a City of Dayton Mini-Grant, the Trail and Spots to give dog lovers easy access to poop bags, resting places, and spaces to chill and connect. These pathways are expected increase walkability, foster social experiences, encourage healthy lifestyles, suppress crime, encourage responsible dog ownership behavior, and promote humane lifestyles. The Trail was celebrated as “open” during Covid with a wildly successful Dog Scavenger Hunt that led participants on a great tour of Dayton, Ohio’s downtown area! Area groups plan to activate the space year-round.
Dogs and their humans are loving the newly installed Wagtown Dog Trail in Dayton, Ohio. The trek is easily marked for easy use.
Families, including their fuzzy siblings, love to tour the city and find new attractions, stores, etc.
Pups on adventures begin on the Wagtown Dog Trail.
Dayton-area residents came to Downtown Dayton to explore the city’s new Wagtown Dog Trail with their dogs.
Dog-friendly aspects addressed through the project:
Adding pet-friendly green space to the city
Increasing pet amenities like hydration and waste stations
Fostering pet-friendly retail and restaurants programs
Educating about responsible pet ownership
what are the benefits of a wagtown dog trail?
Create an easy-to-follow route that takes people through a retail, residential, and artsy tour of Dayton – all without having to leave their dog at home.
Encourage more active lifestyles by promoting regular use of the route to "get in" two miles of exercise.
Highlight downtown Dayton's most dog-friendly businesses, retail shops, housing options, and entertainment venues.
Encourage responsible dog ownership.
Celebrate Dayton's welcoming and vibrant pet innovations.
Foster artistic expressions that celebrate Dayton as dog-friendly.
What is a Wagtown Dog Trail?
Wagtown Dog Trails are dog-friendly spaces to get out and walk, meet other playful puppers, get info on local dog-friendly events, hold programs, and more. Dog Trails increase community walkability for pedestrians (both bipedal and quadrupedal), foster social experiences, encourage healthy lifestyles, deter crime, provide a forum to demonstrate responsible dog ownership, and get dogs the fresh air they love!
what is the route of the wagtown dog trail of downtown dayton?
The Wagtown Dog Trail of Downtown Dayton will be a two-mile trek connecting Webster Station and Water Street to the Oregon District. The route will take the walkers along Monument Avenue near RiverScape MetroPark and past 5/3 Field. The route then goes along Saint Clair Street past the Main Library, Memorial Hall, Cooper Park, the incubator shops along residential spots. A turn down Fifth Street gives the walker an array of shops and restaurants to choose from - many of which are dog friendly. After that, dog walkers will head up Wayne Avenue past more Dayton entrepreneur businesses, the Troll Pub, and murals of Dayton. Next, the path heads down Cannery Row on Third Street showcasing the many unique businesses and residential options. After that, a turn down Webster Street give the walker a delicious path past the 2nd Street Market, Deli at the Market, and finishes at the HQ of Barry Staff across from Tech Town.
This collaborative project is customized to the community's specific needs. It will bring neighbors together in a historically disconnected area, connect green, and bolster pop-up and entrepreneurial zones. Programs are being developed to message Trail users for everything from pet waste management, licensing, and spay/neuter clinics to dog festivals and adoption marathons.
The nation’s first Wagtown Dog Trail is a two-mile trek around landmarks and hot spots of two of Dayton’s downtown districts.
What is a Wagtown BARKING SPOT?
Wagtown Barking Spots are a dog-friendly tour connecting two districts to give dog lovers easy access to poop bags, resting places, and spaces to chill and connect. Wagtown is working with Dayton leadership, community partners, and animal advocates to create unique, local dog-friendly experiences that will get people yapping.
The Wagtown Barking Spots will increase walkability, foster social experiences, encourage healthy lifestyles, suppress crime, encourage responsible dog ownership behavior, and promote humane lifestyles.
where can i find wagtown barking spots along the Downtown Dayton Wagtown dog Trail?
Look for places designed to give dog lovers easy access to poop bags, resting places, and spaces to chill and connect. The Wagtown Barking Spots are expected to increase walkability, foster social experiences, encourage healthy lifestyles, suppress crime, encourage responsible dog ownership behavior, and promote humane lifestyles.
Volunteers from Hollywood Gaming Cares contributed to the project by refurbishing the abandoned RTA shelter by DayAir Ball Field in Dayton, Ohio. It will become another Wagtown Barking Spot.
The first installed Wagtown Barking Spot. Shown here at 416 Diner in The Oregon District. From left: Jon Daugherty, Darty Art; Beth Miller, Wagtown; Mike Elsass; Mike Elsass Art.
who is creating the art for the wagtown barking spots?
Mike Elsass Studio at Front Street Galleries. Courtesy of FB/frontstreetstudiogallery
You’ll love what’s happening in the art scene for the Wagtown Barking Spots. The creative team of Mike Elsass and Jon Daugherty of Front Street have been working their magic on the installations. You can see the actual iron and art works in progress at Front Street Galleries!
“Home to an eclectic mix of makers and dreamers, Front Street is a unique artistic experience on the east side of Dayton, Ohio. Inspired by the potential for color against industry, Mike Elsass pioneered the untapped frontier of the buildings, creating an artistic urban renaissance in Dayton,” according to the gallery website.
“Mike is fascinated by the medium of weathered steel. Inspired to constantly experiment, Mike’s artistic vision yields contemporary abstracts inspired by his vision of nature and time, perfection and imperfection, joy and suffering an aspects of the human condition, mixed with the beauty of nature,” as mentioned on his website. The vision for the project is to meld art, function, placemaking, and community building…through dogs and art.
When Mike and Jon Daugherty first heard about the Wagtown Barking Spots project, they were immediately intrigued and reached out to see how the Front Street team could be involved. From that point on, it’s been a labor of love and loads of inspiration to make the Spots a reality in Dayton, Ohio. Mike and Jon brought in fellow artistic collaborator, Dave Kleinfelder at Kerf WaterJet. "I love seeing the art and manufacturing worlds working together. It's hard to top the gratification of transforming ideas into tangible pieces. We are honored to be invited, and to bring our skill to this community project,” explained Mr. Kleinfelder.
The art installation creation:
Here are a few pictures of the benches and hitching posts while in production at Mike’s studio. You can see the iron and art working together to create a unique and stunning result.
Early stage of the process in creating the forms.
In process with water cut shapes that celebrate dogs!
Benches and hitching posts were made to celebrate dogs and provide places to sit, meet friends, and explore the community.
SOLD OUT! how can my dog be a part of the wagtown Dog TRail?
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be included in the Wagtown Dog Trail project. We’ll be customizing all of the paw prints with love…dog love. If you’d like to pay a tribute to your dog, you can have an honorary custom signature of your dog’s name painted on one of the official paw prints along the trail! It’s just $10 and helps to cover the costs of the Wagtown Dog Trail. Click the link below to join the fun and make the wag happen!
Celebrate or memorialize your furry friend by dedicating a paw print on the Wagtown Dog Trail.