There was a gem of a story in the New York Times last week — about  two elderly but popular neighborhood dogs who died within a day of each other.

Both lived in an apartment building on West 86th Street. Harry died Friday evening, his friend Bix died on Saturday.

“The fact that they were not human, but were instead a pair of 14-year-old dogs, seems only to have magnified the bereavement in their building, where they had lived longer than most tenants; on their block, where Harry held court at sidewalk cafes and was known as the Mayor of 86th Street; and deep into Central Park, where Bix had been the ringleader of a 9 a.m. play group since 1997,” the article reported.

Harry was a purebred Shar-Pei. Bix, named for the jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke,was a mix of Akita, Saint Bernard and German shepherd.

His 84-year-old owner, the documentary filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker, said he never knew any of his neighbors until Bix moved in, serving as an icebreaker and conversation-starter.

“Over the years, because of him, my circle of friends changed, I met people I never would have met; I came to see my whole life depending on this dog I hadn’t wanted at all,” said Pennebaker. “I’d expected having to walk him in the rain in the middle of the night. But I never expected to lose him. If ever you put a dog down, some of you goes with him.”

Rafael Curbelo, the building’s doorman, who kept a stash of treats behind his desk in the lobby, cried upon hearing the  news. “Harry was my best friend here,” he said.

As has become the tradition in the dog-friendly building, two dog death announcements were posted in the elevator. Within hours, both had been inscribed with expressions of sympathy from tenants.

Originally slated to be open green space, the idea evolved into a dog park, according to the airport’s website.

“This seemed to be a good step forward to serve our customers traveling with dogs and our customers wanting to enjoy the flowers,” said Kathryn Masters, project manager for the dog park.

The fenced, 1,000-square-foot area on the south end of the ground tansportation center contains rock as well as grass, benches,  biodegradable bags for pet waste and even some artwork, though this particular scrap metal sculpture looks like an accident waiting to happen. (That’s not a comment on its artistic value, just on what appear to be its sharp edges.)

Only two dogs are allowed at a time because of the area’s size, but owners can let dogs off leashes.

(Photo from Atlanta-airport.com)

Long a popular, but unsanctioned spot for dogs to run off-leash, the park — owned by Baltimore City but located within the county — remains officially closed. The footbridge leading to it was condemned as unsafe and recently demolished. The county will soon sign a long-term lease and take over management of the park.

While there is pressure from some groups to declare parts of the park off limits to dogs, plans call for a fenced-in area where dogs can run unleashed, and have access to the water. In all other areas of the park, dogs will have to remain on leash — a rule that will be enforced by park rangers.

Work on a new bridge, estimated to cost about $2.8 million, is to begin in March and take about six months to complete. Construction of a fenced dog park and trails will start in late spring, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Plans call for the park to include a nature center, hiking and biking trails, fountains, benches, restrooms and improved access to Lake Roland.

I took these photos at the park last year, while it was still open, but a little down at the heels. I’m fairly certain dogs, leashed or unleashed, didn’t vandalize the signs — more likely unleashed humans.

 
There’s a beautiful story in today’s New York Times that should resonate with dog park frequenters everywhere.

We wrack our brains to remember the names of dogs we’ve met before, then wrack them even harder to try and remember the name of the owner, and once in a while we stumble, calling the owner by the dog’s name, or vice versa.

Dick Sebastian resolved he would not make those kind of mistakes at the small-dog run in New York City’s Washington Square Park after he became a regular there a few years ago, along with his wife Susie, and his dog, Kitty.

After a visit, Sebastian, 71 and a retired surgeon, would return home, draw illustrations of the dog’s he had met and label them with their names. Later, he started bringing his chart with him to the dog run, where new dog owners started asking if he’d include their dogs on his ever-expanding artwork.

That led to Sebastian attempting less cartoony, more serious portraiture, sketching some of the dogs he had come to know. He started with a pug named Sidney, and in less than a year, he had drawn and presented, as gifts, 50 dog portraits to their owners.

The dog park crowd appreciated Sebastian’s efforts. Said one, “The fact that someone would care enough that he’d want to draw what’s unique about your dog for you …”

Sebastian was appreciated as well for his kindness, and his interest not just in other people’s dogs, but the people themselves.

He’d become a fixture, but now he’s leaving.  Sebastian and his wife plan to move back to their native Ohio this month, so that Sebastian, who has Parkinson’s disease, can get easy access to care at a retirement home.

Times reporter Susan Dominus writes:

“New York is full of ad-hoc communities based on proximity and built up around mutual affection — walk into any watering hole at 7:30 p.m. — but they often have a live-and-let-live looseness to them. While parental oversight can stifle, en loco parentis oversight can be a rare, welcome comfort in the circles of urban life,”

 ”For passionate dog people, the folks at the Washington Square Park dog run are also, it turns out, passionate people people, and there have been myriad parties scheduled in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Sebastian before they depart.”

It’s not the first time I’ve said it, and I’m not the first one to say it, but dogs — if they don’t just automatically make us better humans — certainly manage to open up the opportunities for us to be.

Dick Sebastian, it seems, recognized that — most artfully.

(Artwork: The small dogs of Washington Square Park, by Dick Sebastian)

It’s only a tenth of an acre — bounded by Fayette Street, Park Avenue, Baltimore and Liberty streets, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Once opened, possibly in a matter of weeks, it will be the third area in Baltimore where dogs are legally permitted to be off leash. The other two are Canton Dog Park and Locust Point Dog Park, which opened last month.

“We saw the need,” Bob Dengler, the Downtown Partnership’s vice president of capital projects, told the Sun. “Even before this area was fenced in, people were already walking their dogs there.”

Between dog friendly apartments, and a pet-friendly hotel — the Hotel Monaco, which recently opened two blocks away — the downtown area has seen a surge in residents, both human and canine.

The city is also working on creating off-leash areas at four parks — Patterson, Riverside. Wyman and Herring Run — most of which will  be in designated parts of the parks during designated morning and evening hours.

The city’s transportation department built the fence and installed a ramp to make the park accessible to the handicapped, while the Downtown Partnership paid for the fence and will maintain the park.

 
A looooong time coming, and then delayed some more, Baltimore’s first city-funded dog park will open this weekend — and there’s even more good dog news on the horizon after that.

The Locust Point Dog Park ’s grand opening is scheduled this weekend in conjunction with Locust Point’s Star Spangled Festival, which runs from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday. Mayor Sheila Dixon is expected to attend — primarily to show off the new dog park.

The fenced in dog park includes a big hill topped with fake turf, trees (though dogs will only be able to look at them longingly — they’re protected by fences) and even a water feature: A sunken trough, fed by a water spout (in the foreground of the photo above) runs the width of the park.

The most dramatic feature though will be a giant dead tree, shaved of its bark and set atop large rocks, stump and all. It was being hoisted into place earlier this week.

The effort to start a dog park within Latrobe Park was started by a citizens’ group, then taken over by the city last year, which funded the park, but won’t be responsible for its upkeep. That duty will fall to the citizens’ dog park committee. 

The opening means dogs will have two fenced-in places to legally run unleashed in Baltimore. Canton Dog Park, with a large dog and small dog area, was built by a citizens’ group. The Locust Point Dog Park isn’t divided into large and small dog areas.

Here’s the rest of the good news: Soon, up to four city parks will have designated off leash areas.

The city council gave the Department of Recreation and Parks the authority to create the off-leash areas earlier this summer — just after lowering the off-leash fine to $200, down from a $1,000 fine the council says it inadvertently passed into law.

Sources tell ohmidog! that the off-leash hours are being considered for Riverside, Wyman Park (and a separate area at Wyman Park Dell), Herring Run Park and Patterson Park. There would be morning and evening hours, possibly as expansive as from 5 to 10 a.m. and 5 to 10 p.m.

The exact hours and boundaries for the off-leash areas haven’t yet been determined at all the parks. A group of Riverside Park area pet owners met with city Recreation and Parks Department officials Monday night, and parks officials are meeting with Patterson Park residents Oct. 1 to discuss off-leash hours

A fenced-in dog park, long sought by dog owners in that area, is still a possibility at Patterson Park. The city will consider plans for both options. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Wolfe Street Academy School on Wolfe Street in Upper Fells Point.

Use of the off-leash areas, and of Locust Point Dog Park, will probably carry a fee. In addition to the basic city dog license,  a special fenced run/off-leash tag will be likely be required to use both the off leash areas and the dog park. Those will eventually become available  — through BARCS — at an expected cost of $20 a year ($10 for seniors). Forms to get the basic dog license will be available at the park on opening day

When the changes go into effect — this year if the city moves swiftly, maybe next year if it moves at its usual pace –  expect some increased enforcement of the leash law in those areas, and during those hours, that aren’t leash free.

All in all, though, it looks like — thanks to the hard work of many humans — brighter days are ahead for Baltimore’s dogs.

Police are continuing to interview witnesses who were present Saturday afternoon in what bills itself as  “the largest public off-leash dog park in the nation,” according to a  Contra Costa Times report.

Police booked David Triebwasser, 48, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and committing a hate crime. He later posted $175,000 bail.

The 55-year-old black woman arrived at the park in Southwest Richmond with her German shepherd about 2:20 p.m., according to police reports. Apparently upset about the dog’s behavior, Triebwasser, who is white, confronted the woman.

The woman told police he shouted, “Take your black ass out of this park!” and threatened to kill her if she did not obey. She reported that he shouted racial slurs, punched her in the face and hit her with his pickup truck.

Both the man and woman called police. The woman declined medical treatment .

Officers found several witnesses who observed a heated exchange and who confirmed some details of the man’s and woman’s assertions. Triebwasser denied voicing racial slurs, hitting the woman with his car or punching her, police said.

 
A group of Montgomery County residents have come together to push for a new dog park in Randolph Hills Local Park, near Rockville. You can keep up with their efforts on the Randolph Dog Club’s new website.

The club describes its mission as  working with the Montgomery County government to build an off-leash dog park on land within the park.

According to the club, Montgomery County, with 25,000 licensed dogs, has only three dog parks; that’s a ratio of 8,333 dogs per park.

“Dog parks have many advantages: they promote responsible dog ownership, reduce criminal activity in adjoining areas, properly socialize dogs and provide an exercise outlet which keeps dogs physically and emotionally healthy,” the website says.

The proposed park would serve communities such as Kensington, Garret Park, Aspen Hill and North Bethesda, where dog owners now must travel miles from their home to find the nearest dog park.

Mongtgomery County’s three existing dog parks are at Black Hill Regional Park, 20930 Lake Ridge Drive in Boyds; Ridge Road Recreational Park, 21155 Frederick Road in Germantown; and Wheaton Regional Park, 2000 Shorefield Road in Wheaton.

While all county commissioners support the concept, one is concerned by the estimated cost, set at $350,000 by county Parks and Recreation director Bill Mitchell.

“That’s way too much money,” said Commissioner Diane Marseglia. “I hope in the future we can have talks about scaling it back. I am completely confused about that cost estimate because the last price I thought I heard was about $100,000 and I thought that was too much.”

The 2.6-acre dog park is planned for near the Tollgate Road entrance of Core Creek Park, next to the 24-hour fishing spot on Lake Luxembourg, according to Phillyburbs.com.

Mitchell said the commissioners could vote to send the project out for bids by mid-September and that it could be finished by the end of the year.

Mitchell said dog park users will have to register and pay a yearly membership fee. The park will include a 2-acre fenced-in area for larger dogs (more than 25 pounds) and a 0.6-acre area for smaller dogs (25 pounds or less).

“When I was young, you could take a dog to an open field and let it run, but with all the development, those open fields are less and less,” said Newtown Township resident Patrick Flanigan, who has helped collect about 1,000 signatures on petitions in support of the dog park.

The City of Austin Parks Department plans to close a popular dog park for six to eight months because of high E. coli bacteria levels in the creek.

Officials blame the bacteria — found during regular water sampling since 2007 — on dog waste at the Bull Creek District Park, one of 12 off-leash parks in Austin.

In March 2008, the city put up signs at the park about the environmental dangers of dog waste, but problems persisted, parks Director Sara Hensley said. The department plans to require leashes at the park beginning Sept. 8. In October, plans call for the dog area to be closed entirely to plant more vegetation to helps keep pollutants from draining into the creek. City officials haven’t determined yet whether leashes would be required when the park reopens in the spring.

Heavy use of the park has worn down existing vegetation there, city officials say, and the drought has led to low, slow-moving waters in the creek where bacteria can thrive, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Austin’s leash ordinance requires dogs to be on a leash no longer than six feet on public land. The maximum fine for violating that rule is $500.

The parks department is trying to find other spaces that could be turned into off-leash parks, Hensley said.

Debra Bailey, a task force member who formed a volunteer group last year to regularly clean up dog waste at the park, said sewage spills and other trash left in the creek could also be to blame for high bacteria levels. The city should look at other options before closing the dog park or requiring leashes, such as better enforcement and signs related to picking up dog waste, she said.

“They are blaming the dogs and not addressing other issues,” she said.