Jackson Heights Life

We went to the Woodside dog run last weekend. It's tiny and dangerous. There are large cement outcroppings and their was another dog there that was terrorizing our small Boston Terrier.

This weekend we went instead to Central Park (no dog runs at all) and then to Riverside Drive and 72nd Street (a much cleaner, larger and safer dog run) and he had a blast.
It's so unfortunate that we have to go so far away for him to be able to socialize and run around.

Does anyone know if there's a doggy day care service in the Jackson Heights area? I'm hoping to move into Jackson Heights this summer, but the caveat for me is the alarming lack of dog-friendliness I've encountered. I ask people on the street where they take their dogs to play, and most seem to just walk around the nabe. I know about the off-lead hours at Travers Park, and the grassy areas towards the airport, but otherwise there's not much until they build the dog run (if it ever happens). I started thinking a dog day care might be the happy medium for my pooch, but now I can't find any such services available in JH. I know they have at least one in Astoria, but that's too much of a trek without a car. My dog loves to chase balls, and while he can do that before 9 at Travers, I would like to have other options aside from just walks with me or my dog walker. Even if it's improvised/non official dog play area, any advice would be most appreciated.

That link you gave seems to focus more on folk's obsessions with other people not picking up after their dogs enough more than any of my other questions, but thanks for taking the time to respond.

You confirmed what I was thinking which was that it was possible that there could be garden areas for dogs if you found the right building. My dog's too big to take via subway. He's totally socialized, has been in the dog run since he was 5 months old (we live a block from Madison Sq. Park right now). I occasionally notice that vibe you mention about how people are afraid to greet other dogs near my place now.

I've also found that many people for whatever reason (unsocialized dogs, no time, etc.) don't like to stop and let their dogs "say hello" to each other. Many people that I've encountered with big dogs say that their dogs are "unfriendly" and have actually crossed the street to avoid letting their dog(s) near my dog. If I do say so myself, my dog is very well-behaved on walks and approaches other dogs with tentative caution (then warms up if the other dog is friendly), so it's not like they're trying to avoid a small, yappy, jumping dog. Point is, while you should always be cautious about approaching unknown dogs, it seems that you should take extra caution in JH if the other owners haven't been proactive about it already. Perhaps if there was a place for dogs to socialize (a dog run!),  there wouldn't be so many dogs in the neighborhood that haven't been properly socialized and this wouldn't be an issue. Don't mean to generalize here but it's just my experience walking my dog around the neighborhood anytime between 7pm and 10pm. There are plenty of wonderful friendly dogs and owners in JH too!

Katie, count me in as one of those dog owners that is apprehensive about allowing unknown dogs to approach mine.  Unfortunately, when my dog was about 1 year old, I made the mistake of allowing a new neighborhood dog to approach.  The dog's owner assured me that his dog was friendly and well socialized.  To make a long story short, the dog growled and lunged at my mine, nipping her and causing her to bleed.  On another occasion, during the Jackson Heights Halloween parade, a guy had his dog off leash as he was dressing his dog in a costume.  When the dog caught sight of mine, he ran toward us and jumped my dog.  The owner came running and had to grasp his dog by the scruff in order to separate the two.  It was very frightening.  I feel that as a result of these episodes, my dog seems to fear unknown dogs, yet she does have a group of regulars that we encounter on walks that she behaves well with.  Since my dog was a pup, I've always made good efforts to socialize her with other dogs, but at the same time have been very careful about what dogs I allow to approach and will continue doing so.

If it's helpful, I know that Fillmore Hall and Griswold Hall both have private dog runs. I've heard that the boards of both buildings have considered (and/or are considering) doing away with them but that there is opposition from residents (at least at Fillmore) because the dog runs are used fairly frequently. Perhaps others can chime in if their buildings have dog runs.

It's going to be difficult to find a building with an "official" dog run because of liability.  Any smart Board knows how quickly people sue. All it takes is one overly excited dog to nip anyone.  Most Supers don't want to clean up dog crap in a dog run addition to their full time duties. This year we decided to allow dogs again after a hiatus of several years.  Wouldn't you know a shareholder came knocking on my door to tell me there was dog poop on the main floor at the bottom of the stairs.  There's only one dog on that side of the building and they denied it was their dog.  No one saw this happen so all we could do was clean up the mess.  If that happens a couple more times, dogs will be banned again.  As it is now, some shareholders are not happy with the change in rules.

What happens when dogs are  banned after they are allowed for a few years?  People just have to give away their dogs?

No, thank goodness.  Those dogs are protected by what's called "grandfather" laws.  Anything that comes before a change in House Rules is not affected.  But let's say dogs were banned after a few years because of too many complaints or problems. The people with dogs get to keep their dogs.  But when a dog dies - that person cannot get a new dog.

But even with the grandfather laws, if a shareholder is in constant violation of the House Rules concerning their dogs (and our rules are extensive) then they get penalized as a shareholder.  By law you can't take away their dog BUT they can lose their proprietary lease.  So it's keep your apartment or get rid of your dog. We're talking EXTREME cases of rule violation here not every day stuff.  I can't imagine it would ever happen but the House Rules protect the co-op, the shareholders' right to peaceful enjoyment of the place and our rules even protect the dogs from bad owners.  (If that were to be the case.) Hopefully, our building will have considerate dog owners and we will always allow dogs.  Cuz I love em!   :smitten:

The New York Times has an article on Doughboy Plaza, the small dog run located in Woodside.  From the looks of it, the writer gives it the thumbs down, but his dog seems to like it when there are other dogs around to play with.  There's also mention of the much larger Sherry Park dog run that's located on Queens Blvd. by the entrance to the BQE.

The New York Times
Dog Day Afternoons
By DAN SALTZSTEIN
Published: August 9, 2008

THE dog run at 56th Street and Woodside Avenue in Woodside, Queens, is, frankly, a disgrace to dog runs everywhere. Tucked away behind Public School 11 in an elevated corner of Doughboy Plaza, it’s less a dog run than a small, squarish pit of dust.

The site boasts the boilerplate sign — “Rules of the Run” — which indicates an official New York dog run. But other than some shade on hot, sunny days and an overstuffed garbage can that appears to be emptied every week or so, the run has very little going for it.

The ground is covered with dirt from which odd pieces of concrete and metal mysteriously protrude here and there. There is no hose or water supply, only a baby-blue plastic bowl that can be filled at a water fountain about 40 yards away. Given the nature of the terrain, the many gates to be opened and the trickle produced by the fountain, filling the bowl is neither easy nor pleasant.

Mandy, the 3-year-old black mutt that my wife and I adopted last year, doesn’t appear to hate the Doughboy run as much as I do. She gets to socialize when other dogs visit the run, but that is rare, and as a result, she returns to our apartment covered in dust and still full of energy. When I walk her through Doughboy Plaza, she often pulls toward the dog run, then loses interest when she doesn’t find a playmate. It’s always a sad moment for us both.

Apparently, I am not alone in my feelings about the Doughboy run.

“Oh, this place is awful!” a local dog owner told me one day. “We almost never come here.” Then she added, “Have you been to the one at 65th and Queens Boulevard? Now that’s a dog run!”

On a recent Saturday, we decided to seek out this Dog Run of Eden. However, when we made our way to the intersection to which we had been directed, things did not look good. We found ourselves at the junction of Queens Boulevard and the entrance to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. This neither looked nor sounded like the ideal place for a dog run.

We crossed Queens Boulevard. We crossed back. I called 311, the city’s official help number, but the very pleasant woman who answered didn’t seem to have access to a dog-run database. A Web search on my Treo yielded a map on the parks department site displaying a big block of green called Sherry Park. All we saw was highway. Then we spotted the run, which was, in fact, right where Queens Boulevard meets the B.Q.E.

I’d pictured the park as bursting with nature. Not just green, but covered in grass (or at least wood chips), with a profusion of trees for shade. Being a relatively new dog owner, I wondered if this expectation was based on repeated viewings of “The Dog Whisperer,” which is set in Los Angeles. In L.A., or at least on the show, dog runs are huge spaces and very green.

At least there were dogs. Sherry Park, as it turns out, is a large expanse of concrete, perhaps five or six times the size of the Doughboy run, and set far enough back from the street that the noise from the highways isn’t terribly noticeable. A bunch of dogs immediately ran up to us, and within a few minutes, Mandy was frolicking happily.

The only green area was a small slope at the back of Sherry Park, which the dogs didn’t seem particularly interested in, and the weeds that invariably flourish amid urban concrete.

MANDY is an obsessive sniffer, and nothing grabs her interest as much as unusual plants. She licks tall grass and loves to bury her face in leafy weeds. Still, she didn’t seem bothered by the concrete. Upon arriving at the dog run, she immediately started wiggling and hopping around, the way she does when she is excited. In fact, all the dogs visiting Sherry Park that day seemed more playful and at ease than the ones I’d seen at the Doughboy run.

Sitting at one of three shaded concrete tables, each of which had a built-in chessboard, was Raquel Leon, 25, of Woodside. Ms. Leon was visiting Sherry Park for the first time with her father, whom I had met at the Doughboy run with Draco, the family’s golden retriever. Ms. Leon summed up the differences between the runs. “They don’t really like it,” she said of dogs’ reactions to the Doughboy run. “They need space.”

Debbie Phelan, who was accompanied by Lucy, her terrier-Lab mix, agreed. “It’s well kept here,” Ms. Phelan said. “People look after it.”

And, indeed, as I looked around, I noticed what I first took to be a portable toilet (for humans, presumably), but which turned out to be a tool shed, flanked by gardening implements that at least suggested the possibility of regular upkeep.

“It’s a pity there aren’t more,” Ms. Phelan said of the run. “This is a good one. Well, it’s the only one I know around here, but we like it.”

As our dogs explored and roughhoused, we were joined by Josie Callanan, 37, of Woodside, and her Jack Russell terrier, Jinx, a k a Jinxsie. Ms. Callanan didn’t think much of the Doughboy run, either. “It’s too small,” she said. “It’s not a dog run.”

The day was hot and humid, and as the dogs settled down in the shade of the tables or lapped at the water in one of two metal bowls, my thoughts wandered. Was this as good as it got for the hundreds of dogs in the neighborhood? Were the only options tiny and dusty or big and concrete?

Despite the generally positive vibe — Mandy was simultaneously panting with fatigue and wiggling with happiness — I had to admit that I was disappointed. Then, Ms. Phelan, as if reading my mind, asked: “Have you been to Forest Park, out by Woodhaven Boulevard? Great dog run.”