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Dogs are finally having their day.

Parks where they can romp and run unleashed with canine consorts while their owners yip and yap with each other have popped up in area towns like Foxboro, Sharon and Medway and are being planned in Attleboro and Somerset.

While the park in Foxboro has been backed into a legal doghouse by neighbors, the parks are popular in general and seem to represent a surge of pooch power locally and throughout the country.

Internet news stories from Hawaii to Maine chronicle dozens, if not hundreds, of off-leash dog parks springing up in towns where leash laws, condo and apartment living, and keener knowledge of better pet care have prompted owners to start "bark parks" to exercise and socialize their canine critters.

In the past couple of months alone, news stories report the communities of Hawaii Kai, Hawaii; Belfast, Maine; Exeter, N.H.; Hastings, Neb.; Conway City, Ark.; Collinsville, Ill.; Milton, Wis.; Destin Common, Fla.; Frederick, Md.; Spring Hill, Fla.; Lynchburg, Va.; Auburn, Calif.; Royal Oak, Mich.; Yuba City, Calif.; Pittsfield; North Andover; Royal Oak, Mich., and Burlington, Iowa, have plans for a dog park or have just opened one. And it looks like pooches will even play in Peoria, where efforts are under way to organize that Illinois city's first dog park.

The Peoria park will memorialize a police search dog that died in an accident, according to a report last week by Peoria television station WMBD-WYAA.

Memorial bricks sold at $50 each will honor individual dogs and help finance the facility.

While most dog parks are an acre or two, the park in Hastings, Neb., is big enough for a herd of great Danes at 55 acres, reports the Grand Island Independent newspaper online.

It's not big because Hastings has a lot of money or a lot of dogs. It's big because the town has a big plot that's not good for much else. The park covers a former city landfill - a site already fenced, which cuts the cost, the newspaper reported.

In Pittsfield, officials may put a park on the site of a former zoo, an obvious animal friendly area, according to a story in the Berkshire Eagle.

Poop seems to be prompting the Pittsfield park. Residents have great concern about dog droppings in the city's 29 people parks, the newspaper said.

Ralph Gasbarro, a certified dog trainer who owns Attleboro's first dog daycare facility, Off the Leash Doggy Day Care, an indoor/outdoor version of a dog park that lets dogs run and romp while their "parents" are at work, said the boom of doggy parks is a response to a need.

"It's becoming a big thing everywhere, and I think it's a great thing," he said. "I don't think it's going to slow down because people see the benefits."

The parks provide exercise and social interaction with other dogs in a world where leash laws, condo and apartment living and a lack of spacious fenced yards keep dogs housebound and isolated, he said. Dogs, like people, need exercise to be healthy, but sufficient exercise is hard to get on a leash, Gasbarro said.

"The parks are a good place to let dogs run around and use their energy," he said.

And perhaps more importantly, parks improve the mental health of man's best friend, he said.

Since dogs are pack animals, they like involvement with other dogs. If they don't get it, disruptive or destructive behavior can result, especially in the presence of other dogs, Gasbarro said.

"If dogs are never with other dogs, they don't know how to act with other dogs," Gasbarro said. "That can lead to aggression and fear problems. If they are not socialized, there's a good chance bad things can happen."

Bob Bamburg, who sells pet products and keeps abreast of pet trends as the owner of Attleboro's Old Barn, said the explosion of dog parks is partly the result of dog "parents" becoming more aware of what's good for their pets, and then following through with better food, medical care and exercise.

"It's a phenomenon," Bamburg said. "(Dog parks) are popular places to let dogs run and socialize. People (and dogs) love them."

Exercise and socialization is the mantra in nearly every story about dog parks, and Bamburg, like Gasbarro said it's important.

Exercise, along with discipline and affection, is key to a happy well-behaved dog, he said. A well-exercised dog is easier to discipline, he said.

Roberta Collins, chief proponent of the Attleboro park, said pooch playgrounds are blooming on the landscape because of increasingly strict leash laws, the prevalence of two-worker households, which cause dogs to be cooped up for long periods.

Dogs that are shut in for hours can cause anxiety and bad behavior, like excessive jumping and barking, she said.

And people who live in condos, or apartments as, Collins does, simply don't have a place let their dogs play.

Leashed walks don't provide enough activity, Collins said.

"He can't get what he needs by walking," Collins said of her golden retriever, Spencer. "He needs to run and play with other dogs. When he gets home, he's tired and he's not jumping off the walls. A tired dog is a happy dog."

Dog parks are the best option for dog exercise, but they are also good options for people who are too tired after work to walk their dogs, Collins said. Dogs do all the work in the park, and they love it, she said.

While both people and dogs love dog parks, problems can arise.

The most obvious example is Foxboro.

There, the board of selectmen and the conservation commission have been taken to court by neighbors with complaints about noise, trespassing and the process used to approve the park.

A judge put the pooch playground on a short leash, by requiring leashes until the issues are brought to heel.

When the judge's order was ignored by some park enthusiasts, the town locked the gate to prevent an all-out war with the neighbors.

But if the Foxboro park is on a short legal leash, the problem seems partly created by the enormous demand for the parks.

Collins believes Foxboro organizers may have pushed too hard and fast in their eagerness to get their pooches up and running, which resulted in misunderstandings and conflict.

In Attleboro, Collins and city officials plan to take their time.

"We want to go at a slow and steady pace and do it correctly," she said. "We'd rather do it right, rather than have something happen like happened in Foxboro."

The establishment of rules and regulations are key, she said.

"That's the glue that will hold it together," Collins said.

Finding a good site and funding will come later, she said.

City Councilor Brian Kirby agrees.

"We want to do it right," said Kirby, who's chairman of the council's special committee on the dog park. "It's not something we can rush."

While good rules are important, Attleboro officials know rule writing can be doggone hard and can bog down proposals, such as the city's wetland ordinance last year. They are hoping not to repeat that exercise, but it could happen.

Tedious haggling is slowing the process in the California town of Auburn, according to a report by auburnjournel.com

Tempers were frayed after a long session "sparring over rules for a dog park sign."

One official was clearly irate.

"This is not rocket science," he said. "We don't need to hash out every word of a dang dog sign."

While the debacle in Foxboro is bad news for local canines, Foxboro is not the only town where park organizers have been treed by homeowners.

The owner of a 150-unit apartment complex next to a park in Arroyo Grande, Calif., sued, citing problems with the usual suspects: noise, traffic and poop, according to sanluisobisbo.com

Residents of Lakewood, Ohio, charged that a park in that community was "noisy, smelly and generally bothersome to nearby residents," according to a report in the Plain Dealer of Cleveland.

A judge eventually dismissed that lawsuit.

Meanwhile, there are other worries, like dog fights and dog bites.

In Foxboro, there was a report a child was bitten. It was later revealed the "child" was a 17-year-old, 275-pound high school football player who was trying to break up a dogfight, which is a different problem.

Collins acknowledges dog fights can happen, and said dog owners can't be too casual while enjoying the company of other dog owners. They have to keep a sharp eye on their pooches at all times to prevent potentially violent clashes.

Animals not under control can do serious damage, as happened in a park in Sunrise, Fla., where a pit bull attacked a greyhound. The dog survived, but needed $2,000 in veterinary care, a local paper reported.

Clashes are not the only danger. Unintentional collisions between pets at play can be deadly, too.

A news report from Sequim, Wash., told of two dogs that collided while chasing a ball. It was all in fun, but one died.

While bad things do happen to good dogs, the number of incidents don't seem great, however.

Meanwhile, the barkparks have a positive emotional benefits, like joy and even love for pet parents, proponents say.

Watching pets play can be a happy experience.

It's like the owners are watching their real children play, Gasbarro said.

"I think they get joy from watching their dogs have fun," he said.

And Bamburg said fellow dog owners get joy from each other.

"It's a thing for pet parents too. It's way to meet new people," he said. "I'm sure there's more than one dog park romance that has developed."

Collins, who said she has a disability which keeps her in more than she wants, looks forward to trips to the dog park because it will give her a chance to talk with other people.

"It's socialization for me, as well," Collins said.

Meanwhile, Bamburg seems to have correctly picked up the scent.

Some people in Texas have apparently seen the possibilities for love and made their pooch park a potential smooch park.

In the town of Kingwood, Texas, dog park users organized the first annual "Yappy Hour for Singles" at the ABBY Bark Park. It was scheduled for last week.

While mating behavior is probably the last thing pet parents want for their dogs at a park, it's exactly what promoters of the singles event seemed to have in mind for their owners.

"You can mix and mingle as we provide a fun and safe off-leash environment for your dogs to exercise and socialize," said a promotional press release from the sponsor of the event.

Beer, wine, soft drinks, food, music - and, of course, doggie treats were provided. Woof, woof.

GEORGE W. RHODES can be reached at 508-236-0432 or at grhodes@thesunchronicle.com.