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| My dog Sam is beside himself with joy. For the first time in his life, he can play – off his leash – in a huge park with hundreds of other dogs. We moved to Brooklyn the day after Thanksgiving. Saturday morning I asked people who were walking their dog where I could take him to play. “Just follow us,” they said. And they led us into Prospect Park, which is three blocks from our new apartment. I’ve lived in Manhattan for the past 25 years, so moving to Brooklyn is a major move, even though it is one of the five boroughs of New York City and only 20 minutes by subway from Manhattan. I expected it to be different, but not this different! |
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| Gleeful Dogs Everywhere | |||
| I couldn’t believe my eyes when we entered the park, which is thousands of acres. There, as far as the eye could see, were well over a hundred dogs OFF their leashes, running gleefully in an open field. All Sam has ever cared about is how many tennis balls he could stuff in his mouth at once. He’s been known to carry three, and he always has at least two. Other dogs have rarely interested him. Although there were dozens of dogs in the dog run every day, he’s had only four really good dog friends in his life: two of them Wheaten Terriers, one a Golden Retriever and one a Black Lab. As soon as he saw the scene in the park, he dropped his tennis ball and ran in wild circles, rolling on the lawn and yelping with sheer exuberant joy. Then he started to crouch in the universal “let’s play” pose of dogs and to romp with dog after dog until he was giddily exhausted. |
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| Please Walk on the Grass! | |||
| Here in Prospect Park, dogs are allowed off their leashes every morning before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. in October through April and after 7 p.m. in May through September. Compare that to the park in our old neighborhood in Tribeca. There, along the Hudson River, is a two mile long promenade with gorgeous manicured lawns that are entirely “Dog Free Zones.” Even with their leashes on, dogs cannot ever walk on the lawn! Let your dog’s feet touch green and you risk a $100 fine. For the first 8 years of his life, Sam has played in concrete dog runs in Manhattan. He’s had occasional trips to the country and day hikes, but concrete school yards and narrow fenced concrete dog runs have been his source of exercise and doggie camaraderie. |
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| New Human Friends Too | |||
| When we went to the park on Saturday he seemed to think of it as nothing more than a fun day. It rained all day Sunday, so we didn’t go back then. But the sun was shining this morning and as soon as we headed to the park, he knew that this is our new place to play. I wasn’t sure exactly which path to take, and Sam dragged me to the right one immediately. There weren’t as many people this weekday morning as on the weekend, but there were more dogs than we’d ever seen in any Manhattan dog run. And there were lots of the same people I’d met Saturday morning, meaning lots of new friends for me as well. Right now, Sammy is having a doggie nap involving a big smile on his face and lots of yelping in his sleep. |
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