RAMONA, Calif. — Much like how Airbnb allows you to rent a house, there's a company called Sniffspot that lets you rent your own dog park. In this Zevely Zone, I took my dog, Raleigh to the Circle G Ranch in Ramona.
As San Diego County gets more congested it's getting harder and harder to find a place to let your dog run. Two years ago, the private three-acre dog park opened in Ramona.
"Good boy, are you having fun?" Ryan Gonsalves asked my dog. Ryan is the owner of the Circle G Ranch; a property that's been in his family for 40 years. Dog treats, hand sanitizer, dog toys, Ryan has it all. "We try to think of everything that anyone would want or need," said Ryan.
For $17 an hour, through a company called Sniffspot, you can rent your own private dog park. "I just happened to see something in a neighborhood post that said Sniffspot and I thought what is that?" said Leslie Roos. She brings her dogs, Yogi and Nica all the way from San Diego to run free. "Sometimes we just come out here and it's more for me and not so much for the dog because I will just sit under the shade there and read a book or bring a lunch and they will just roam and have fun, yeah, it's priceless," said Leslie.
My dog, Raleigh, loved to roam too. But he did not care for the the bubbles I blew at him as party of the puppy fun. "Agh! He doesn't like those," said Ryan. Same went for the obstacle course.
"I think this is more for me than Raleigh, ready go," I said while pulling my dog through the plastic poles.
Since he wouldn't complete the course I did, by crawling through a large pipe. "You're supposed to crawl through the pipe not dad," I told Raleigh. "It's really if he likes it, he likes it, if he doesn't it's just not his thing," said Ryan.
Ryan loves dogs, but even more so, he loved his father, Alfred. "Yeah, he was a big animal lover for sure," said Ryan with his eyes filling with tears. "He needed a kidney transplant, and I was planning on being his transplant for that and after a while he got diagnosed with cancer and they wouldn't do the transplant anymore."
Alfred's dying wish was for Ryan, a 29-year-old, to run the dog park and take care of his mother Marcia who is battling Parkinson's along with his 90-year-old grandmother Hilda. "Anything I need he is right there," said Marcia. "I think he's great. He is very helpful," said Hilda.
Every guest who visits the ranch becomes a part of their family. "It's really cool to look through this and see all of the nice things people have to say about it," said Ryan while flipping through the guest book. What would his dad say about all of his success? "I just hope he would be proud of me mainly, because none of this would be possible without him," said Ryan.
Dogs just have a way of knowing when someone needs a hug. At that moment, Raleigh nuzzled close to Ryan. "Oh, thank you buddy, good boy," said Ryan wiping his tears away, then Ryan insisted we honor his father and run wild.
Ryan says all dogs are welcome at his Sniffspot, he'll even host birthday parties with up to 15 dogs. For more information click here.
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