SportDogPark, 2/10
 Sami Salminen and Viiru |
A loud dog barking welcomes a visitor in SportDogPark in Marjamäki, Lempäälä.
There are three anxious doggies waiting for their turn for the track in the hall. A dog called Viiru gets his turn first with his young owner, Sami Salminen. Viiru can barely wait the fence to be moved away from his way. Up he goes! He makes his way through the track; the bars, the tubes and the bridge. Way to go, Viiru!
SportDogPark is the biggest hall built for dog sports in the Nordic Countries. Four fields can be used at a time. It is not necessary to be part of any association or club and anyone can use the hall as long as they pay the hourly fee. The hall has been rented also for e.g. junior soccer teams.
 Ville Kautto with Heta and Elsa |
Need for a hall
Managing Director Mrs. Päivi Männistö says that people have been interested of this new hall that was built in January. There have also been many visitors. No wonder though, as the hall was built based on peoples´ needs. An anxious group of five dog owners had noticed, that even if Tampere region has opened two new halls by the end of the year 2009, there is not enough space. Many times they had to use horse areas as dog training places and it is not the best possible solution.
Mrs. Männistö says that they even considered to build up a hall for both, dogs and horses. They gave up the idea quickly as the dog sports has many special requires according to the space and the flooring for competitions and training. So they wanted to proceed in these conditions.
The hall is owned by three women: Mrs. Päivi Männistö, Mrs. Anne Huittinen and Mrs. Sini Kaukinen. In addition, the husbands of Mrs. Männistö and Mrs. Huittinen are tightly involved. The hall was built on loan money to municipality´s plot.
By now, Viiru has done his job and seeks for drinking water. It is Ville Kautto´s turn with his two lovely doggies, Heta and Elsa. In these late afternoon hours, these three are the only dogs in the hall, but by the evening the hall will be filled again. They also arrange courses in the evenings. Originally the owners mainly wanted to rent the space, but now they even arrange courses up to four hours per night. Mrs. Männistö is the only one working full time in SportDogPark and the others work there in addition to their full time job.
 This little dog crossed the bridge too fast to get a good shot. |
Easy accessibility is an advantage
Mrs. Männistö thinks that Marjamäki is a great place for their company as it is near Tampere, by good connections and easily accessible for the whole Tampere region habitants, for they have clients from all over the region.
Mrs. Männistö´s job is a mixture of work and hobby. She doesn´t have time for any other hobbies. At home there are five dogs waiting and her work is related to these animals. So it is obvious that her life is all about dogs. What matters is that she enjoys her work amongst these lovely animals.
At least they are always content clients!
(Päivi Nahkola)
