To the editor (dear humans):

We — the pooches, hounds, mutts, pups and zoomie-loving doggos who frequent the Portsmouth Dog Park — wish to convey our thanks for supporting the canine community, for listening to us, and for striving to meet our need for enrichment, socialization, and mischief.

There’s something for everyone here. The big dog area has plenty of room for us to fetch tennis balls. This is important, obviously. The small dog area offers a safe space for the vertically-challenged. You provided benches and chairs for yourselves, which is great, because you tire easily and we’d have to go home sooner if you had to stand up the whole time.

We especially want to thank the van Beuren Charitable Foundation for funding the expansion of the dog park, the Aquidneck Land Trust for helping to fund the landscaping of the new trails, and the Portsmouth DPW for doing all the heavy lifting.

You humans may not fully understand the significance of this initiative. While you are mindlessly strolling down the dog park paths, we are completely present in the moment. We have our noses to the ground. We are laser-focused on our environment — sniffing out creepy crawly things, playing hide and seek, building tunnels through the underbrush, and hanging out in our dog caves. It’s true that the lower branches of the new white pines are turning brown, but that’s the price you have to pay for staking out your territory.

Thanks also to the 23 Marines and 12 civilian volunteers who joined us for Spring Clean-up Day at the park last Saturday. Sorry if we got in your way as you were trying to work. It was just so much fun to sit on your feet, lick your faces, and get belly rubs. We really are as lovable as you think.

On behalf of all the doggos,

Jane Regan, chair

Portsmouth Dog Park Committee