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First, Ferris, a shepherd and husky mix, bounded after one of his four tennis balls. Next, he rolled around in the newly laid mulch and paused, considering his next move, before taking a break at a specially designed doggy drinking fountain.

Running without his leash at the newly opened dog park in Cabin John Regional Park, Ferris seemed to communicate his contentment with a wide, doggy grin. And, according to his owner, Potomac resident Erin Griffin, Ferris will play happily at the park for years to come.

"It's hard to find places where he can be free and run around — he really needs a fence," said Griffin, sitting with fellow dog owners in a shaded meeting area. "I can walk him in the morning, but that just takes the edge off."

Rockville resident Lucia Baumgart, who stopped by the new park with her 5-year-old mutt Ella, agreed. "I think the exercise calms them down," she said. "You get a dog that's been cooped up in a backyard or at home with no exercise, and they can get hyper."

Griffin and Baumgart are just two of the many county dog owners who are ecstatic about the new park. In Montgomery County, designated dog parks are the only public areas where dogs are legally allowed off-leash — and owners say areas where their dogs can exercise, especially in the downcounty, are sorely needed.

The first to be opened by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in the downcounty, the Cabin John Dog Park opened to the public Sept. 23. It joins three other dog parks — at Black Hill Regional Park in Boyds, Ridge Road Recreational Park in Germantown and Wheaton Regional Park in Wheaton. A fifth, slated for Olney Manor Regional Park, is under construction, and Park and Planning is evaluating other sites to meet a high demand from dog owners.

"I've been receiving phone calls and inquiries about this for quite some time," said C.J. Lilly, a landscape architect and project manager for Park and Planning's park development division, of the new park. "Even when I go out to the site, people walking their dogs are very curious and anxious to know when the dog park is going to open, so there was a certain clamor and excitement building up around this."

Construction on the $158,000 project — funded through the Capital Improvements Program — began the first week in July, Lilly said. The park is just more than an acre, and features separate fenced areas for large and small dogs, as well as a rock climbing structure.

The park is a welcome addition for downcounty dog owners who previously had to travel long distances to reach other dog parks — or break the rules by letting their dogs off leash in non-designated areas.

Baumgart said she's taken Ella to Wheaton Regional Park in the past, but "the traffic is horrendous — if it's after 3 in the afternoon, I knew I couldn't get there," she said. "Here, it's just around the corner."

Park and Planning took that into account when choosing the location for the new park, Lilly said.

"The southern half of the county is where most of the residents are, and likewise, it's where a high percentage of the dogs are," Lilly said. "We like to have them where they will meet the need as well as possible."

According to Griffin, the new park isn't just a boon for dog owners.

"I think people who don't have dogs can be happy, too, because now we have a place to go," she said.

Cabin John Dog Park is located in Cabin John Regional Park, at 10900 Westlake Drive, Bethesda. The dog park is free and is open from sunrise to sunset during regular park hours. It will be closed from 9 to 11 a.m. every Tuesday for weekly maintenance. The park is currently open to the public, but a grand opening celebration is slated for Oct. 31.