By AMENA H. SAIYID
Journal staff writer

Because of the success of the Blake Lane dog park, Fairfax County park officials are considering a proposal to open a second dog park at Baron Cameron Park in Reston. They also are working with local dog-owner groups to find other sites where dogs can be unleashed to run loose. By county ordinance, dog owners can be fined $45 for letting their dogs run off-leash in the county's 350 parks. If approved by the Park Authority board, the county could set up a dog park at Baron Cameron as early as next spring.

Under the proposal, the Park Authority will enclose nearly an acre of grassy area with a chain-link fence and double gates inside the 60-acre park at the corner of Baron Cameron and Wiehle avenues. Until June, Fairfax County was the only jurisdiction in Northern Virginia without a dog park. Alexandria's parks have 25 off-leash areas, and Arlington County has seven. The county's Park Authority will hold a public hearing at Buzz Aldrin Elementary School at 7 p.m. Dec. 11 on a proposed amendment to the park's master plan to include a dog park on the site. The authority will continue to receive public comment until Jan. 10.

Park spokeswoman Merni Fitzgerald said the park's original master plan did not include a dog park. This summer, park officials opened the county's first dog park at Blake Lane Park in Oakton. ``Blake Lane Park has been a huge success any way you can measure it," Fitzgerald said.``Because it was the first one of its kind, many people assumed it was a pilot project, but we never imposed any time limit to see if the park would work."

According to Fairfax County's computerized dog-license database, there are 2,000 dogs in Reston alone. The 360-member Reston Dog Park Coalition, however, asserts there are three times as many unlicensed dogs present in the area, based on national statistics for dogs per household. The coalition is working with county officials to set up a similar dog-park facility for Reston.

Coalition president Brian Davidson said his group and the Herndon Dog Coalition are prepared to sponsor a park now. Like the Blake Lane dog park, Fitzgerald said the proposed park would be partly funded by such sponsoring organizations as Reston Dogs. Davidson said the Blake Lane park can accommodate only 25 dogs at a time. A second park would prevent ``overuse" of the facility. ``We need many parks throughout the county," he said. ``Reston alone needs three or four parks."

In a presentation to the Reston Association, Davidson proposed that sponsoring groups would maintain the park and educate users about rules, but the Park Authority would be responsible for trash removal and issuing dog tags. Using results of a nationwide dog-behavioral surveys, Davidson sought to dispel stories that off-leash dogs are prone to fights. He said socialized and well-exercised dogs are less agressive, healthier and live longer lives.