The four-legged park patrons don’t mind the mud at all. In fact, for some it makes the park even more fun.

For the two-legged patrons it’s another bowl of kibble entirely, and that’s why they met with the Orcas Island Dog Park board to talk about park maintenance in inclement weather and issues of park popularity.

The goals were to gather ideas and volunteers to help maintain and self-police the park. The new location at the corner of Mt. Baker and North Beach roads has twice the usage of the old park location and the increased volume has brought unanticipated challenges.

“We have a dog park board to get things moving at the park and arrange what needs to be done,” board member Jeff Hanson said. “But it’s a users park and many have stepped up to take care of it by doing everything from bringing water every day to spreading the word.”

Rain and snow turned the park and adjacent parking area into a muddy mess last month, which park organizers and community volunteers worked quickly to remedy. Some of the suggestions the board will consider for maintenance include spreading additional wood chips and gravel and roping off some sections of the park. An organized volunteer effort to help with maintenance is being planned.

Twenty people attended the meeting last week and discussed a variety of topics that included training classes, dog park education, park maintenance, an area for small dogs, fundraising and how to curb aggressive dogs and their owners.

The park board, Eros Belliveau, Mariah Buck, Hanson and Karen Linnes, would like to add an additional board member to help administer the nonprofit.

Community members interested in board membership, news about dog park events or who would like to make a donation to maintain the park can get more information at OrcasDogPark.org.