Music to dog lovers ears Cochrane will be getting a new dog park.

Not an off leash shared space, but one where our four legged friends will have a chance to run and play.

The new dog park will run on the north side of Quigley Drive, south of the 1A, and west of Highway 22 along the pipeline corridor.

Suzanne Gaida, Town of Cochrane, Senior Manager Community Services, says first step will be to talk to residents that will be directly impacted by the park.

"We are just at the draft phase right now, we do have to do some public consultation so we're starting that consultation with the residents who back onto and will be impacted by the dog park. That will be happening before the end of the month and then we will be running a few open houses for the general community (at least one) to give us some feedback on what they like and what they don't like; and do what we can do with the funding that we have."

Initial plans include a pathway, fenced off areas for small dogs, training and agility areas, parking lot, and staging areas where you could walk your dog on leash and then take the leash off and let your dog run and play. 

Council has a $300,000 approved budget so far; Gaida says cost of the whole project remains unknown for now and phasing of the project may occur depending on cost.

"When we originally presented it to council we had two phases where we have a smaller parking area, the full path way done, the area for the small dogs (training and agility), and then in phase two it would be the bigger dog area and such. Really we don't know the cost until we finalize the design."

Gaida says this is not really a project that can be put off much longer, it has been in talks since 2012 and community members have been requesting additional space.

"We heard from the community that we needed another dog park five years ago and it was in the plan to start the development for 2017, so we are right on track. This will be the first dog park we have in Cochrane, the one we have down on the river is an off leash area which means it is a multi-use pathway; so dogs can be off leash but it is also an area for people on bikes and walking and running who may not have a dog because it is a multi-use space. Where this area we are developing will be our first dog park, it is strictly for people with dogs, should you choose to go in there without a dog that is your choice but it is not one of our main pathway systems or connectors."

The new dog park will in NO WAY impact the current off leash area, and while this dog park is considered a regional dog park, new development areas will still be required to include a neighbourhood off leash area in future plans.