Lest one of the last dog-friendly public beaches on Martha’s Vineyard is closed to them, a group of responsible dog owners have taken it upon themselves to police the rules at Lambert’s Cove Beach.

The group came together last week, at a meeting of the West Tisbury parks and recreation board, in response to a growing number of complaints about the behavior of dogs and their owners at the town beach.

In reality, the problem is more with the owners than with the dogs. True, one elderly woman broke an ankle and toe last year when she was knocked over, and there have been a couple of fights, but the main problem is with people who fail to leash their dogs as they should, or pick up after them.

And so now members of the dog owners’ groups will take turns to monitor the beach access path, educating other dog owners about the rules.

Certainly, said West Tisbury animal control officer Joan Jenkinson yesterday, something had to be done.

“It was becoming a mess down there,” she said.

“So now this group is going to be down there, spreading the word that if owners don’t abide by the rules, they’re going to lose the privilege. It’s going to be closed to them.”

The formation of the dog owners’ group is testament not only to community spirit, but also to the community grapevine, for it came in response to a rumor, as the cochairman of the parks and recreation board, Bruce Keep, explained.

“Word got out that we wanted to close the beach to dogs, which wasn’t true,” he said.

But it was enough to prompt 20 or 25 people to turn up at last Wednesday’s meeting, to discuss the problem. Only one of them actually wanted the beach closed to dogs.

But the rest agreed there was a growing problem. With most of the other public beaches closed to dogs, ever more dog owners were turning up at Lambert’s Cove Beach, from all over the Island.

“The complaint is basically that dogs were not being leashed on the pathway from the parking lot to the beach, as they are supposed to be,” Mr. Keep said.

“And there were problems with people not cleaning up after their dogs, both on the path and on the beach. They should use plastic bags to pick up the dog feces, and they should take them home. But they don’t. They throw them along the path, at the end of the path, on the beach.

“And some dogs were being a nuisance, even though we’ve advanced the time to allow them on the beach after 6:30, so people could have a dinner down there without the dogs bothering them.

“So we’ve had the animal control officer stand down there, but she can’t spend all her time policing it,” he said.

But with the help of other owners, the meeting decided, the situation might be rectified. It had worked before.

About 10 years ago, there were similar complaints. Then, a group of concerned citizens and dog lovers, organized by Steve Maxner, took turns standing at the head of the path reminding people of the rules.

Mr. Maxner recalled: “That worked splendidly for a couple of years. Then everyone, including myself, got lazy.

“Then, lo and behold, a couple of weeks ago, we heard there had been a number of complaints about dog poop and aggressive dogs, and that parks and recreation were contemplating shutting the beach down. We thought it was time to start it up again.”

He believed 18 or 20 owners had signed up to be part of the education effort.

It’s not as though the rules are onerous. They require that dogs be leashed on the path from the parking lot to the beach and back, and that owners clean up after them. The beach is open to dogs until 10 a.m. each day, and again after 6:30 p.m., Mrs. Jenkinson said.

In addition, owners should obtain beach passes for their dogs from the parks and recreation office. The cost is $5, and it comes with a flyer detailing the rules.

Mrs. Jenkinson would actually like to see the controls a little tougher.

“I would like to see dogs on a leash unless they are swimming or running with their owners,” she said, adding:

“I am a bit worried someone could get hurt breaking up a dog fight, or that a child or elderly person could be knocked down. It’s the only beach left that I know of, where people can still take their dogs and let them run.

“And nobody likes seeing an owner and their dogs enjoying the beach more than I do. It’s just a matter of being responsible. Pick up the poop and take it home with you, until they get a trash barrel there, which they’re supposed to do.”