Missing your family pet? Need a study break that genuinely lifts your spirits? Look no further than Beau’s Dream Dog Park at Buchanan Park – a puppy paradise located just steps from campus at 901 Buchanan Avenue.
This state-of-the-art dog park, located directly across from F&M’s new Winter Visual Arts Center, has been an unofficial therapy spot for students seeking furry companionship between classes. The park features separate areas for large and small dogs, ensuring safe play for all sizes of four-legged visitors.
Many students visit the park multiple times per week, even those without dogs of their own. For many, simply watching the dogs play provides effective stress relief during challenging academic periods like midterms and finals.
A Park with Purpose
Beau’s Dream Dog Park isn’t your average fenced rectangle. The thoughtfully designed space includes equipment, water bowls and stations, and plenty of benches for humans to relax while their dogs socialize.
The park’s convenient location – a five-minute walk from the center of campus – makes it an ideal destination for students between classes or as a refreshing alternative to campus study spaces.
I’ve seen many students starting to incorporate the park into their weekly routines, bringing textbooks and study materials along. The pleasant environment and joyful energy of the dogs create an atmosphere that some find enhances their focus and information retention.
Not Just for Dog Owners
While the park primarily serves dog owners, F&M students have discovered that it offers benefits beyond pet playtime.
For many first-year students, the park serves as a form of free therapy. A quick stop on the way back from the library can provide a mental reset, with just fifteen minutes of watching puppies play making academic challenges seem more manageable. When asked about the park’s impact on student life, F&M freshman Luna Suarez said, “I would say the biggest impact the dog park has on my life here at F&M is that it’s a place where I can just go with my friends and relax. School is so stressful sometimes, but having a place where we can just go and be with dogs and talk to people from the community helps us decompress so much and makes getting through the semester easier.”
When asked what impact the dog park has had on students while being at F&M, freshman Alex Machek responded, “The dog park has significantly improved my mental health at F&M. It is very important to me to prioritize my mental health needs, so whenever I feel overwhelmed with homework and studying, I love walking over to the dog park to relax and take my mind off of things. It is nice to have the dog park so close to campus as it allows many students like myself to have a chance to be around playful puppies and de-stress once in a while.”
Fellow freshman Catie McDevitt shared a similar response, “I love having the dog park so close to campus! Whenever I see a dog owner walking their dog through campus, it always brightens my day. Spending time at the dog park is so relaxing, and the owners are always so kind, letting students pet and play with their dogs. It adds a little extra life to campus, and the park itself is such a wonderful place to spend an afternoon.”
The park also offers a valuable resource for students interested in animal behavior. With its diverse population of dogs interacting in a social setting, it provides a perfect real-world laboratory for observing canine communication, play patterns, and social dynamics – making it an excellent informal learning environment for animal behavior majors.
When to Visit
For students looking to incorporate some canine joy into their routines, regular visitors recommend:
– After 4:00 p.m. on weekdays when Lancaster residents bring their dogs after work
– Weekend afternoons for families with playful puppies
– Avoid rainy days (unless watching muddy dogs is your particular joy)
– Spring and fall offer perfect temperatures for both dogs and citizens
Photo credits: Ashley Witkowski, awitkows@fandm.edu
So the next time you’re feeling homesick for your family pet or simply need a mental health break, consider a quick walk to Beau’s Dream Dog Park. The park provides plenty of tennis balls for visitors to throw around, making it easy to interact with the dogs even if you don’t have one of your own. Watching a Labrador chase a tennis ball with unbreakable enthusiasm makes it nearly impossible to remain stressed about college life.
First-Year Ashley Witkowski is the Campus Life Editor. Her email is awitkows@fandm.edu.