Dogs fight for space in FG Park
April 13, 2008 by Jim Colgan
Looks like the neighborhood dog population is increasing - so much so that the dogs are turning on each other during off-leash hours. One resident reports that her dog was left with serious wounds after a pit bull attack this morning. The President of the park’s pets society sent an email to members saying that this kind of attack is on the increase on account of overcrowding. Meanwhile, the owner of “Bonnie Dolnick” wants to know which dog attacked hers (presumably so she can send the $200 vet bill).
General Nathaniel Greene, our namesake. Read more about him 
i’ve been going to the park for a couple years with my dog, and unfortunately this happens now and then. the park is getting more and more crowded with dogs though!
I have to say that I agree the park is overcrowded by dogs. I run there and have noticed that it’s getting out of hand. And with all these “free-range” dogs, are the owners still cleaning up after them? I sure won’t feel comfortable spreading my picnic blanket out on the grass come summer…you never know what you’ll be getting yourself into. Don’t get me wrong - I love dogs. But the park’s ecosystem is being increasingly strained and there’s no more room for people and their kids to run and play freely.
Maybe it would be a good idea to set up a little doggie park in the back of the park. There are areas of the park that are not used. While I think that dogs should have the freedom to run, I agree that many owners fail to pick up their dog doo doo. The fact that there are so many of them and they all congregate in the same area where many kids and people play soccer, football and baseball is unsanitary. I stopped playing soccer in the park when I realized I was inhaling dog piss in the dust that gets kicked up. Dogs should have their own area in the back of the park and not be allowed to run free if owners continue to fail. This means other dog owners should also tell other dog owners to pick up their DS when they see it happening.
dogs get bit sometimes. saf, but true. it’s the risk you take as a dog owner during off leash hours. as a daily dog fg dog park-er i’ve def seen it every once in awhile. it’s the nature of dogs, but i don’t necessarily believe a product of more dogs in the neighborhood. as a responsible dog owner, trust me, we all ride anyone who doesn’t pick up after their dog. it is bad for everyone. there is a huge sense of community within the fg off leash hours and we all greatly appreciate that our dogs can run free during limited hours. would love to keep the freedom for dog owners as well as everyone else in the community.
i’ve lived in FG for 9 years. the park needs a real, sequestered, official dog run. there is dog pee on every inch of that park and flagrant abusers of the leash laws abound. that said, the dog run could be a really big, really nice area for dogs. and then dogs and people could frolick freely.
on a recent trip to buenos aires i was shocked that dogs there do not bark at each other nor bite each other as they pass each other by. they are so well-adjusted. what is it about dogs in the states?
I’m a dog owner, and think that a dedicated dog run at Cuyler Gore Park (at Greene and Cumberland) would be a good solution. That way, those who prefer off leash before 9 am could still do that in FGP and those who prefer a dog run could use that anytime. As to the politics of installing a dog run, I’ll leave that to others!
The fact of the matter is that Fort Greene Park now has far too many users (canine and human) for its size. With the amount of condos being built in the area, overcrowding in the park will only get worse unless we somehow get more dedicated park space in FG.
I think everyone is forgetting that part of the reason why Fort Greene Park is now safer, cleaner, and so much more popular than it used to be is because of the dog owners. They were the first people who started venturing back in there years ago, when the park was still considered a danger zone. Having lived in many other cities, with many other dog parks, I gotta say that the dog owners here, with some exceptions, are the most responsible I’ve seen. Most of them run their dogs during the designated off-leash hours, before 9 am, and after 9 pm; and those who don’t are often caught, and forced to pay hefty fines. Most of them also clean up after their dogs pretty religiously, and control their dogs quite well. There is plenty of room for kids to play in the park between 9 and 9 each day, when the dogs go home and leave the park for everyone else to enjoy.
I am a regular user of the park and I would agree that most dog owners are very responsible. I think it would be great if the PUPS organization could hand out flyers every two months or so, reminding people of the off-leash rules, and letting people know if for example, if the park workers have have alerted PUPS that there are more holes or poop than usual. (The flyer could also stress the importance of leashing aggressive dogs. I am always surprised that there are still a few people who continue to let dogs off-leash that get into fights about 75% of the time.) Some dog owners are new to the park and some owners just need a friendly reminder that off-leash hours are a privilege.
Just the other a morning, my dog was playing with a dog I had never seen before. The owner brought the dog at about 8:45. When I leashed my dog at 9:00, she said “Are they really strict about the hours? I couldn’t make it out the door until now. I want to throw the ball a little longer.” She was new, so I’m sure she has no idea that staying out past 9:00 is a big no no!
Nobody is saying that dogs aren’t great. We are talking about the increasing number of dogs, the safety of some dogs, and the sanitary conditions of the park for others.
A dog run could help those dog owners that don’t feel it is safe to let their dogs out.
You could still keep the dog hours and enforce more of the doo doo picking up, but I think a dog run would help dilute the concentration of dogs in the center of the park where it is flat and most kids/adults play sports (please note i don’t play sports there, i play tennis). This dog run should be put in an area at the back of the park which is underused.
When is everyone going to realize that the world is not perfect. A dog is going to bite someone, an owner is not going to pick up the crap. BUT not all dogs will bite nor owners leave the crap. I don’t have a dog and i think the park rules should stay as they are.
what happened to this blog?