Mission Viejo is spending $850,000 to build a dog park.

That’s right, a dog park.

And the price doesn’t include maintaining the park. That’ll be another $30,000 to $40,000 a year.

If that seems like a lot of money, it’s worth remembering that Mission Viejo lags a bit in the trend in building parks for pets. Nearly half the cities in Orange County (13) and several HOAs already have dog parks, so there’s a strong chance your city has one.

That’s a lot of valuable public land and tax dollars for dogs. But is it a waste?

For my first visit to a dog park, I realized I needed an expert.

Our rescue dog, Buddy.

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We love our pets, dogs in particular. Last year, Americans spent $47.7 billion on pets. More than 45 million households in the United States have dogs.

The owner of a single dog, on average, spends $1,490 a year, says the American Pet Products Association. Vet expenses chew up the biggest chunk. The smallest slice is for toys, $40 a year.

And apparently that doesn’t include doggie attire. In the APPA’s report, I couldn’t find a line item for clothes. Consider the jaunty wardrobe left by Ziggy, our now-deceased furkid: yellow slicker, reindeer antlers, varsity sweater, World War II fighter pilot jacket and – of course – elf ears.

So what’s millions of dollars for Orange County’s dog parks?

Too much, two Mission Viejo city council members said last week in voting against the new dog park. Citing the recession, they called the expense irresponsible.

Yet city after city has approved dog parks: Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Orange, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente and Seal Beach.

For a little context, I randomly picked another relatively recent trend in parks in Orange County, skate parks. With grinding rails and swooping curves of concrete, these parks cost considerably more to build than dog parks which require little more than grading, fencing, restrooms and grass or wood chips.

I counted 18 cities with skate parks: Anaheim, Brea (2), Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, La Habra, Lake Forest (Etnies), Mission Viejo, Orange (Vans), Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, Santa Ana and Westminster.

Then I discovered a park with both a dog park and a skate park, Rancho Santa Margarita’s Canada Vista Park. It seemed like the logical choice for my expedition with Buddy.

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As Buddy jumped out of the car, one of my pet peeves about a small but high-impact group of dog people lay on the sidewalk. Worse, it was in front of the entrance to the skate park filled with children.

Suggested New Year resolution: Every dog walker bags every, um, gift. And at least once a week, we pick up others’ leftover gifts.

Gift-free sidewalks, front yards and parks for Valentine’s Day can be our way of saying, “We love you, Orange County.

Before we even made it to the dog park, Buddy made friends with a Malti-poodle rescue dog named Bailey.

Although it was Buddy’s first trip to a dog park, his social skills from the shelter remained intact. Buddy’s black. Bailey’s white. Rolling around entwined, they resembled a pair of piano keys.

Meg Chasin of Rancho Santa Margarita told me her family regularly takes Bailey to a variety of dog parks throughout the county.

Her favorite?

Dog Beach in Huntington Beach. “We have so much fun,” she said.

Another dog park they especially enjoy is the Laguna Canyon Dog Park, a large grassy area off Laguna Canyon Road.

Chasin confided that Rancho’s, like some others, is less than ideal because the wood chips are messy and are rough on dog paws. But Canada Vista is nearby and her 10-year-old son, Ben, can scooter in the skate park at the same time that Bailey is hanging with friends.

As Buddy and I approached the gate to the dog park, I wondered if Buddy, at 22 pounds, would survive.

Could he run with the big dogs?

•••

Buddy was the new kid on the block. A pack of about a half-dozen dogs of all sizes chased him. Like a small wide receiver, he zipped across the park, cut hard right under the picnic tables, sliced left through a bush and was tackled.

He jumped up on his hind legs, pawed playfully at some of his pursuers and jetted off.

The action was like watching football bloopers.

Satisfied Buddy wouldn’t get devoured, I sat atop a table and fell into conversation with Elizabeth Vish and her husband.

While we talked, the Vishes’ dog, a lightning-fast Beagle, chased and frolicked with Buddy. I learned her husband was a Marine at Camp Pendleton and that he’d served two tours in Iraq.

Going to the dog park a few times a week offers a respite, and not just for their Beagle.

Later, I circled back to talked to Chasin. She said the best part about going to a dog park is talking and sharing.

“It’s an eclectic group of people,” said Chasin, a part-time drama coach at Dhesa Charter School in Newport Beach. “Swapping dog stories is like swapping stories about kids.”

It was then that I realized dog parks aren’t for dogs any more than skate parks are for skateboards or baseball parks are for baseballs.

Dog parks are for people.

And human smiles are worth a lot.

David Whiting’s column runs News One Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Life/Outdoors Tuesdays; dwhiting@ocregister.com.