My 85-pound Yellow Lab, Sam has lived with me in downtown Manhattan for his entire 8 years. And despite the many people who say “How can you have a big dog in the middle of New York City?” he’s happy, he’s in great physical condition and he has a better social life than I do.

In New York City most dogs play in concrete dog runs which are sometimes in school yards, sometimes within parks and sometimes just a little fenced in patch on a busy street.

Sammy grew up at the Mercer-SoHo Dog Run on the corner of Houston Street and Mercer in the middle of SoHo. It is a membership only dog run, to which members have a key. It’s one of the few that have running water and a swimming pool. It also has rules that make a lot of sense, including that two un-neutered males can’t play in the run at the same time and that no children under 4 ft tall are allowed inside.
For the past four years Sammy has played at a dog run behind the elementary school in Tribeca where we live now. When we first moved down here there was a big fight going on between the school and the dog owners. People werenÅft picking up after their pooches and parents were – rightly – angry that there was dog poop in the playground.
Eventually the community board got involved and now we have about 1/3 of the school yard and the kids, separated by a fence, have the rest. We finally got running water last year, along with a swimming pool. I plan to come back in my next life as my dog. It's not a bad life!

This year we have two pools – one is 9 feet in diameter and about 3 feet deep and the other is meant for cement mixing and is about 1 feet deep. The big dogs tend to like the big pool and the little dogs the little one. Except Sam, who likes the little pool where he loves to lay down and dunk his head under the water.

We noticed that the dogs had trouble getting in and out of the big pool so somehow someone got six cement blocks from a construction site and built “steps” that most of the dogs – except Sam – have mastered. When I put Sam in the big pool he just walks around in circles and looks forlorn because he can’t figure out how to get out. Of course the prospect of dinner eventually gets him out.
Sam’s absolute favorite thing in life is to run around the dog run with two or three tennis balls in his mouth at once. And he likes to wash them in the pool.

The rest of the dogs – and there are as many as 20 at a time after work every night – like to play with each other. But Sam is more interested in tennis balls than dogs or people, as a rule. Once in a while he will just fall in love with another dog – usually a Wheaten Terrier or another smaller dog and make a big fool of himself trying to win her affection.

When Sammy chews on the tennis balls they eventually get all goopy and slimy and he makes white foamy marks all over the run. I feel that he is trying to write a message or draw a picture. :>) If seen from above, I bet his name would be written in slime.

Some nights there are dog fights in the run and once in a while someone gets hurt. But given the number of dogs things are pretty peaceful.
James, a Jack Russell terrier, has his own soccer ball which he chases all over the run with his nose, making the most hilarious noises as he runs. He occasionally balances it on his nose, which leads us to believe he is just 5 minutes away from an appearance on David Letterman’s “Stupid Pet Tricks” segment.

Then there is Clyde the Frisbee dog, who will also jump 5 feet straight up to get at a spray of water from the hose, and Jack the diving Lab, who swims underwater in the pool. And there’s Duncan, a Yellow Lab puppy who likes to knock over the water dish and then run around with it in his mouth. He ran smack into the wall last week and almost knocked himself out.

So the dogs have great exercise and lots of social fun every night, which keeps them in prime condition. We all feel sorry for dogs who live in the suburbs because they have no friends to play with. And hardly any of them have their own pools.