Dirty Dog Run Making Pooches Sick
The conditions at the Park Slope dog run have gotten downright unsanitary, according to dog owners who regularly visit the run, and things are only bound to get worse as the weather warms. Dog owners charge that, in addition to the general unpleasantness, the urine-soaked wood chips are to blame for giving their furry friends…
The conditions at the Park Slope dog run have gotten downright unsanitary, according to dog owners who regularly visit the run, and things are only bound to get worse as the weather warms. Dog owners charge that, in addition to the general unpleasantness, the urine-soaked wood chips are to blame for giving their furry friends parasites and diarrhea. The Parks Department confirms that all is not as it should be. J.J. Byrne Park manager Eric Greene said they haven’t been changed since November. “I don’t want to change them at all because it’s all going to be under construction,” he said, referring to the new park Boymelgreen has promised to start building next month because part of the old one was used as a staging area to construct The Novo. Nevertheless, Greene said compaints have prompted the Parks Department to drop off wood chips beside the park within two weeks. This time volunteers are supposed to change them. (Normally, he said, the department does most of the work, removing the fence and lugging out special equipment to change the paw padding. “It’s very time-consuming.”) Tony Chiappelloni, president of FIDO, an off-leash advocacy group for Prospect Park, said, “Personally I think small dog runs are basically unhealthy.”
Extreme Makeover Planned for J.J. Byrne Park [Brownstoner]
Dogs should be made to socialize when they are just few months old, if not then it will be very difficult to make them socialize later.
when comes to taking them out a well disciplined dog will not make much trouble to the owners or to strangers unless provoked.
If you’ve ever watched Cesar Millan… which if you have you evidently learned little from what Millan is trying to teach… socializing dogs with other dogs is a very important element of their domestication. Millan frequently fosters his clients’ “red zone” dogs to socialize them with his resident pack of pits and shepherds to teach them submission and to defer to the pack leader (which will ultimately be you).
A dominant dog that doesn’t behave well around other dogs will ultimately be problematic around people too. Dogs are pack animals. That’s where their instincts are. They need to know their place in the pack.
A public dog run is one of the best ways to accomplish this, providing it doesn’t cater to idiots who bring unneutered, aggressive dogs into the run. You should start socializing dogs while they’re young, after all their vaccines.
Let’s get one thing straight. Dogs do not need to “run free and socialize” in order to “be happy”. This is a bunch of Disneyesque anthropomorphic hogwash promulgated by NYCDOG, FIDO, and others during the one-sided, done-deal “debate” over the leash laws in the parks a year or so ago.
Listen to Cesar Millan. He says that in dog training, exercise comes first. By this he means real exercise, not standing around kvetching with your buddies while your overweight Retriever lumbers around the Long Meadow for twenty minutes. Real exercise is hand walking your dog for several miles a day. Yep that’s right..at least an hour, walking your dog on a leash. This worked with my youthful pitbull. Settled her down like nothing else. My dog is one of the happiest dogs I have ever known, and everyone who meets and plays with her agrees. But she has NEVER been allowed to “socialize” off leash in prospect park or anywhere else. According to the NYCDOG mantra, “a tired dog is a happy dog”. But offleash time in the park is not the best way to get your dog, dog tired. If it really has to run in order to be happy (think siberian husky) then maybe it does not belong *gasp!* in a city apartment.
My dog was socialized..to people. When she was a tiny pup, and as she matured, I took her to the Greenmarket at Grand Army Plaza every single Saturday. She got used to all different kinds of people petting her and admiring her and so today she just loves all people..to a fault, really. That’s what socializing a dog means. This whole soft brained puppy playdate in the park business just holds no appeal for me. You don’t know all the dogs. You don’t know all their medical histories. You don’t know who’s had vaccinations. No proof is required. Nobody’s even checking for dog licenses. Dog “socialization” is based on rank, and canine rank is usually enforced with aggression. Anyone can bring any dog to the park and let it loose. There is no fence to protect other park users from annoying and menacing dogs. No, contrary to the FIDO chapter and verse, my dog is perfectly well-adjusted, obedience trained, and safe with all people, without ever being let loose in the park to “socialize”. I think I’ll pass on doggie play date time, thanks but no thanks. I value my animal too much to risk her life and health that way.
Maybe not keep animals in captivity as personal entertainment and then you won’t have this problem. And I agree — kids or dogs. You get ’em, you pay for ’em. Not me. I have neither.
-Chris
Bklyn Fire Alarm Guy at April 25, 2008 11:16 AM writes:
>Anyways, why should taxpayers allocate land and pay for a dog run that’s only beneficial to some people but not the majority?
I don’t have children, but I’m paying for playgrounds. Should we get rid of the playgrounds? A majority of new yorkers don’t use them. A majority of the population of NYC doesn’t use the williamsburg bridge, should we get rid of that? I assume we are also going to get rid of the baseball fields. I know I don’t play baseball…
Actually 12:14, all the breeds you just mentioned are notoriously lazy indoors, and as long as they get sufficient outdoor exercise, are much better suited for apartment life than many smaller, more active breeds. Taking a dog for a long morning walk or run in the park can do wonders for the state of mind of both dog and owner.
I just brought my big dog to the country for the weekend and on our walks encountered dogs in big yards that went berserk when we passed by, though my dog barely looked in their direction. People think a big yard means they don’t need to walk or socialize their dog, when in fact it’s much better for the dog to be out and about with its owner and taught to behave appropriately in a variety of circumstances.
If the owner is up to the responsibility, almost any dog can be happy in the city. Like a lot of the arguments about kids, it comes down to basic responsibility and consideration.
Not all breeds are the same you dopes. Some breeds prefer having a cozier home space. I do think it’s sad to see the huge dogs who need more than merely walking on a leash to get proper exercise, living in a city. But small dogs are fine, as are terriers who have energy but like to feel cozy and secure, and medium size dogs. But a Mastiff, Great Dane or St. Bernard? That’s retarded. That’s somebody selfishly indulging their desire to have a certain breed and not caring if it’s the best environment for the animal.
Actually city dogs do have it better than ‘burb dogs. Look at those dogs left out all day in fenced yards–they’re bored, they’re lonely, and they bark all day. sure they can pee & poop all they want but there’s more to a dog’s life than that.
Dogs want to get out and exercise, but they (like most people) ain’t gonna do it themselves. City dogs are walked at least 2x/day–and btw, those people who work all day hire walkers to take their dogs out. Some even use doggy day care. those of us at home with our pets see that they like to sleep all day, usually close to their humans (a city dog’s pack).
And as far as it being cruel to keep a dog in an apt., my dog was a rescue, and certainly did not enjoy the “freedom” of living on the streets.
Oh, and back to the original post–at the Tompkins Square dog run we used to spread the chips ourselves after putting down a layer of lime. the run had to stay closed a couple of days so the lime would settle.
BTW, why use a dog run in Park Slope? Prospect Park is off leash until 9 am!
Once dogs start paying taxes they can use the parks.