Barry can walk north from his house along Lake Washington.

If he goes south just a few lengths of his short legs, he runs into a gate and a sign with a red slash across the image of a dog on a leash. He stops dead in his tracks.

Beyond that gate lies Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park and the promise of new vistas and exercise for Barry and his humans, Marlene and Roger Winter.

Barry is a 10-year-old cocker spaniel, with boundless energy and a friendly wag of his short tail. Marlene Winter is known as one of the movers behind the off-leash Cedar River Dog Park, an example of how a partnership between government and private citizens can pay off with big dividends.

To say the least, Winter has an affinity for dogs. And, she’s an advocate for dogs and their owners.

It’s why she has cast her eye at Coulon park, where dogs aren’t allowed at all, a policy that covers Newcastle Beach Park, the other city park that has outdoor beach swimming.

In other city parks “domestic animals,” such as a dog, must be kept on a leash no longer than eight feet. Owners are required to carry what’s necessary to clean up animal waste.

Coulon is no ordinary park. It’s got space and paved trails and areas where dogs and humans won’t necessarily mix with messy results or unwanted confrontations. Dogs are only allowed in Coulon if they’re walking with a person from a vehicle to the boat ramp.

“Some people choose to go to Coulon so they aren’t around animals,” said Terry Higashiyama, administrator of the City of Renton Community Services Department that includes the Parks Division.

Winter isn’t asking that Barry and other dogs run free in Coulon park.

She’s only asking for on-leash access to the northern part of the park, away from the swimming beach and the open grassy areas where sunbathers hang out.

Winter introduced the idea at a recent City Council meeting. The matter was referred to the council’s Community Services Committee.

Higashiyama said a public process would precede any decision about allowing dogs onleash in Coulon Park. That process would include talking with all users of the park, including those who walk the trails without a dog.

“We are trying to find some common ground,” said Higashiyama. One possibility is to allow dogs onleash in the park during the park’s off-season.

Sometimes the problem is not the dogs but their owners, Higashiyama said. “They don’t always keep them on their leash,” she said.

The city, Higashiyama said, has to protect all those who use the park.

She acknowledged that Winter has offered to purchase plastic mitts to pick up dog waste and find volunteers to clean up after dogs.

“We need that partnership,” Higashiyama said.

Winter knows about such partnerships. She helped raise about $40,000, which was the public’s share of the cost of building the off-leash dog park. The group, RUFF, continues to volunteer at the park to make improvements.

Winter has lived on Lake Washington for about 30 years, beginning when the land that’s now Coulon park was relatively undeveloped compared to what it is today. For years the Winters have picked up trash tossed out windows by drivers along their main thoroughfare, Lake Washington Boulevards.

Her Mountainview Drive is the route to the northern walking entrance to Coulon Park, with the gate that bans dogs and bike riders.

She has been thinking about how to make the idea of dogs in Coulon “palatable” to the city and other users.

“What would be a fair compromise?” she asks.

She’s suggesting the on-leash route for the trail from the northern entrance at Mountainview’s dead-end to the circular drive with its parking lot and bathrooms north of the swimming area. Dogs wouldn’t go to the lake’s swimming area nor to the area around Ivar’s, she said.

She has offered to buy the plastic bags to pick up animal waste, a cost that would run into the hundreds of dollars. And, she would patrol daily the trail for dog waste that wasn’t picked up. She’s asking for volunteers to help with the costs and to monitor the trail when she’s out of town.

“I know there are hundreds of people who would team up with me to pay for the bags,” she said. She knows the idea “is going to die in a nanosecond” if someone would step in dog waste.

Winter also points out that dog owners are a responsible breed.

“Dog owners understand it is a privilege,” she said of the on-leash walk in the park.

How to help

Marlene Winter has set up an e-mail account where supporters can help her with a variety of tasks. She’ll need support to make her case before the City Council. She has offered to provide bags so that dog owners can pick up after their pets. She’ll need help paying for those. And, she has promised to daily clean up any doggie “litter” left behind in the park. She would need volunteers to take over that job when she’s out of town. The e-mail address is barrywinter96@yahoo.com.