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Very hot, very humid. Quiet, mostly empty. Charlie - my shy spaniel that I'm dog sitting is starting to blossom: roaming around the park, showing some get up and go. I hid (kind of landscaped) the cinderblocks that elevate the recycle container with some rocks, and secured it against dogs dumping it with a bungee cord. As is now usual, I went into the little pen when the evening group showed up. Can't afford any canine incidents with them since they no longer back me up in any way if something happens. Among the people who I use to count as friends : the tack now - as I guess as always been - is that they don't think me or my dogs ever cause any trouble or are ever anything but considerate and helpful, but I'm just such a wonderfully amusing, funny person that in any situation, it's always possible that I unintentionally caused something (usually pretty horrible) to happen in some mentally damaged attempt to be colorful and entertaining. But I'm a really great guy that's wonderful to all the dogs and people. So, like I said , with that kind of support, better to just lay low.
Beautiful Friday night last nite : Park : moody silent empty .
Had to break up another dog fight which led to the screamy dogwalker girl following me around the park - in one of her loud rageful states.
Doesn't seem to be any way to separate or extract myself from constant involvement in shrieky sessions. Hard for the casual viewer to not see it as . " those two." I've tried the last two days to always stay far across the park from her, and yet last night =still - one of her dogs traveled over to eventually engage in a spat with a small pup. Scary that this presented me with the opportunity to allow dogs to get her by not getting involved because it always leads to aggravation for me. One of the dogs was being walked by the Sceamy-Poo so it would have gained me some stupid points if the other dog had gotten hurt. Nah, had to run over and separate the dogs. Worse ( which is always at the heart of all this) the owner of the young pup would not just back me up by just saying : Stop the man got both dogs out of trouble , none hurt. End of discussion." She did thank me privately awhile later but did not want to get involved in anyway. So, in every event, this concept of " I know you saved my dog but I just prefer to not get involved: read: not have that woman target me as an enemy: IS at the heart of the matter. It allows the sense that there is SOME mutual responsibility in the matter. Doesn't seem like anything can be done. Either go to another park or just go along with the banchee dogwalker like most do pretending there isn't a disturbing delusion going on here - just to keep the peace. For the first time, I can see the legitimacy of considering a ban on dogwalkers if these flare ups keep happening. Again, if each person somewhat involved in each situation wasn't for some reason afraid to just state what happened this would all quickly go away.
To try to immunize myself somewhat from this weirdness, I've filled in the potholes in the parking lot, fill in all dog dug holes everyday, remove any fallen tree limbs, fix the stuck gate latches, removed the rotted and broken and splintering dog bone shapes from the old play-bridge, and with help ; finally got the whole mountain of wood chips spread around the park. Doesn't seem to help though. Have lost even more friends due to dramas that have, of course, the high pitched potty mouth dogwalker somewhere at their core.
BEST I CAN TELL: Cindy Hain ( the newest board member) never actually resigned from the board; Mary San Marco is not the new secretary : that was just told to me to calm things now. Is actually fine with me , as I've mostly been left in peace as have other people at the park. Just depressing these weird grade school ways of dealing with troubles at the park. Like I said, I don't know this for sure: anybody who does just fill me in.
Oh well let's see how it all works out.
More on this later - Exhausted - Been Dealing With Maddie's Wounds All Day. Maddie Hurt Herself Pretty Bad Monday Night - See HomePage DotFur.
More on this later - Really busy right now - Hold everything.
* At the park Saturday earlier than all the more exciting stuff happened. Who was there but : Sydney the older deaf dog, and Ralphie and their owners. These were the people who had one of the more serious blowups with Jen the dogwalker ( screams a lot , lots of dogs, very thin, potty mouth) a couple of months ago. They tell me they wrote a long letter of complaint to the town about Jen and the incident. I say that they're part of the reason the Park wants to ban me. "Whaaaat? they say" I explain that when the new dog walker rules were brought up , I was told the reason was that " There's been lots of complaints recently about the dog walkers." " But not you " they say, " you were the person who welcomed us and were so nice to Sydney." So, I have to explain how I was just kidding and didn't blame them : that it's just typical of stuff that goes on around the park : that the Park's Board knew there were never any complaints about me or Sally or Mary or Aaron or any dog walkers, only complaints about one person but chose to spin it as " .. lot of complaints about the dog walkers." As there might have been a complaint filed with the town by the woman who either grabbed or shoved Jen a number of weeks ago (really getting all of this started) because ( I wasn't there ; this is just the story as told around the Park) Jen was screaming in her face about something. Did this woman complain to the Park or Town about "dogwalkers" or one specific person. The owners of Sydney and Ralphie were really put off by this idea that their letter about one person could be spun to involve me in anyway.
* I can see the reasons why not, still it would be nice to see a pile of these complaints. I'd bet anything that not one is a complaint about dogwalkers in general.
* This is one of the main arguments with the "new" dog walk rules : the argument goes like this [ those of you more familiar with the park's dynamics and soap operas and personalities will recognize the logic here] :
*** Park and its' Board have for over a year now had endless trouble even screaming fights with one particular dog walker .
these incidents began to escalate and increase in frequency starting a little less than two months ago
*** culminating in the big woman on woman spat and shoving incident a number of weeks ago
New dog walker rules appear, along with the intention to start enforcing the old ones
I complain, othe dog walkers worry , I ask the Park Prez: "what's going on here?" I'm told " don't worry , they're not for you" Than who " Can't say" " oh. I see.."
*** Plan works : the particular dog walker not around anymore, then she's back with as many dogs and loud as ever. what happened " some people who really like her asked where she was" " we felt bad for her" "Talked to her, and told her it would be fine for her to come back."
*** All back to the same state as before the new dog walker rules , nothing changed, plan failed
But they forgot to take the new rules off the books. How could they. So they were around when other issue came up between me and the new member of The Park's Board. aka : " The Blorg."
* I know that lots of the above is conjecture. But people who have been around for awhile and followed recent events can look at it point for point and ask themselves if it sounds plausable. Others can take it as they will : just a bunch of stuff that anyone could have made up. Any way, it's one of my main contentions as to why I've never paid any mind to the new rules. Is it recorded anywhere that I was told not to worry about the new rules : nope; how do I know that the particular dogwalker stop coming for a time because of the new rules, but then was talked back into returning to the park _ I don't: just things I heard and surmised from a series of events. So this is just whatever it is, mostly just here for those that might recognize or even know how much truth there is to this version of events. I have no doubt about this storyline, but I can see where anyone could think that it's just my version.
Well, actually, the Dog Park is going to file a formal complaint concerning me with the Town Of Ossining, the town is supposed to then send me some sort of letter or order that I will then contest in court.I imagine the complaint that the Park will file with the town will be something to do with my bringing a dog as a dogwalker to the park today (Saturday) when the new park rules state that no dogwalkers are allowed on weekends.
Already the letter writing campaign from the people who find it pathetic and absurd that I should get banned from the dogpark is beginning. I figure it should be a good number of people considering the number of people that I've welcomed to the Park over the years, or lifted their dog up and out of trouble, etc... The Park will manage a few nasty letters : Paula from the board , her friend on the board ( the one that little kid described so wonderfully the other day when he called her the "Blorg," "that woman is like the Blorg." I don't know if that's some creature from a comic book or a kid's TV show, but it sounded just right. Out of the mouths of babes. ( I was told that she was going to step down - I really doubt that, just doesn't fit the profile ) maybe Jen the dogwalker. , the people whose dogs I've pulled pitbulls off of recently : probably three people there a, people they'll frighten with the park closing if we bother the town at all. But none of these people will be able to put together much of a coherent argument, and tend to comical hysterics , I see any campaign against me to be only helpful to my case. Any argument on the rule that says no dogwalkers on weekends will only site incidents with Jen the dogwalker, and be unable to site any issues with me or any other dog walker on weekends over the years... but to the contrary many incidents of the park being lucky I was there to intervene in conflicts that tend to happen more often on weekends when the new comers and one timers need a lot more baby sitting. More than likely, the town will wonder why in the world they have been asked to get involved in this , and will want to know why this board cannot resolve such simple conflicts as this , remind them that mostly their job consists of running the park smoothly and not allowing its' issues to take up the town's time and resources. For example : " is there some bunch of liquored up thugs that come each weekend with a their wild dogs and beat up anyone who complains?" " No, it's this dogwalker , sometimes he even brings two puppies on a weekend." " do these puppies injure many people on average?" "no, but sometimes he'll even break up a dog fight." " between these puppies?" " No, between other people's dogs." " Why - in the world - are you bringing this to us! This is your job : to resolve these silly issues, not to work out your personal feuds." It's equally likely that the town will just sack this board and appoint another or let the membership vote on another - as it's likely that this will ever actually find it's way into court. They'll have to explain how this all began when they appointed a woman to the board who had just moved to Ny State and lives now in Putnam county - not Westchester. Not that it's against any rules; just doesn't sound very good when it's led to this state of affairs. I'll write more about this tomorrow.
I'm just writing this off the top of my head. I'll try and put it in better order later and add links to relevant. Forgive the mis-spellings and such. info.
When it comes to the new dogwalking rules and the resurrection of the old ones, people always bring up the idea that somewhere back in the founding of the dog park, the Parks & Recreation Department of Ossining did not want any dog walkers in the park.
Might be true, could be. But I've only heard it mumbled to me in one whispered conversation with a board member, another time sneered at me as some kind of threat to my dog walk business, and one other time by another dog walker who may have just been qouting what she had been told by board members. I've never had a serious adult-like conversation about this with anyone somewhat in the know. Or any conversation that has point for point any sense of credibility.
All I've heard so far is that the Parks & Recreation Department (or the town) did not want a dog park. Have never been clear on whether this applies to the Park when it was down bottom or when they moved the park to where it is now. Not even sure if that really matters. In some kind of negotiation over some period time , the Board ( this current one or the former Board at that time ? ) managed to work it out with the Town such that we now have a dog park. Somewhere in the negotiations, the Town ( or Parks & Recreation) stated that they did not want Dog Walking for profit going on at the park. The Board managed to smooth things over with the rules that existed for dog walking businesses untill some new ones were added recently. I was also told by a Board member that the new rules had something to do with recent complaints about dog walkers addressed to Parks & Receation. Of course all of this is vague and hearsay, and unverifiable because as I said : I've never been able to have an adult conversation about this that doesn't devolve into people walking away or beginning to actually scream and yell.
The implication ( again vague - I'm sorry but that's all I can get) being that the dog walker complaints had something to do with either one dog walker bringing too many dogs and using loud and inappropriate language.... and or that same dog walker having an actual physical altercation with another woman at the park. From what I heard , it was the other woman who shoved ( or something ) the dogwalker. I was told that the new rules ( or maybe even the re - emmergence of old ones already on the books ) had something to do with a comprimise or something that resolved these new issues with Parks & Recreation. Again, I'm not really sure about any of this ... and I'm not sure why it's so hard to just get the story on this without so much furtive hush hush then - at times - explosive weirdness.
I ( a dog walker) feel that the new rules were actually being used in a clumsy manner to solve a problem that had nothing to do with dog walking businesses but issues with one person that happened to be a dog walker. Then when that didn't work out, then after a series of confrontational events, the use of the rules (old and new) devolved into personal vendettas. That's just my take on it. Not what the issue is here. Because I felt this way, I refused to go along with the new rules that I felt were brought about by whims and rages , and not any reasoned thing.
Now the situation is this : the Board Of The Dog Park cannot actually ban anyone from the Park because despite the enclosure it is still just a public park; they can notify the police and have the police and file some kind of complaint, or _ and this needs more research _ I've been told that the police will according to town code then difer to the Board of the Park and enforce officially the rule of the park, somehow in all of this the person ticketed or detained or what then has their day in court to challenge the right of the Board to make up such and such a rule or whatever. Something like that. Like I said, none of this is ever made clear. Others and I are now in the process of researching the town code , etc for the facts on all of this.
Now , what I hear all the time is that once the Parks & Recreation Department or the Police or the Town have to deal with enough of these situations or even just one ( this is never clear and changes rom attempted conversation to attempted conversation) they will just close down this Dog Park that never wanted anyway. The implication always being don't question various rules the Board might come up with and go along quietly with whatever : or YOU will be the cause of all this ending for everyone. Pretty powerful concept. Not just : well, we'll just call the police and you can have your day in court and pay whatever fine and have the town enforce are rule on you. Nope if you persist in your problem with are new rule you will be the end of the dog park. What kind of horrible selfish person would do that !
What I'm interested in here is if the existence of the park is actually hanging by such a delicate thread, or is this just a way of keeping people or -especially me - quiet for some reason. It just seems like something that could be ascertained. If there isn't such a fragile situation with the Town, then it would be a good thing to stop dealing with each other in this silly way. That's all. Many of the above points and opinions and views have their own debatable complexities; but here I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this Parks & Recreation or Town waiting for any excuse to shut the park down; so we'd better watch ourselves.
One of the things to remember about the negotions between the Park People and the Town Board regarding dog walking business is this : Somewhere around the time of moving up to where the dog park is now there was a somewhat large dog walking business called " Doggy Wishes, Pussy Cat Dreams." Don't know how long before moving up the hill about three years ago this business was in operation. By the time the business stopped using the park because they all wound up in court against each other for various reasons , the had a fleet of three copper colored vans that would pull up to the park, and unload a ton of dogs into the park. Some of the old employees of this business still use the park now as part of their individual businesses, ie : Jen the dogwalker, and others. It's been mentioned to me that this was one of the causes of the Town Board's concern with dog walking businesses. Could've been ? Maybe? Anyway to know ?
A search of the Village ( town?) Code does not turn up any specific mention of Dog Walking Businesses. At least, that I could find, might be in the Town Board Minutes or somewhere else. There is mention somewhere of people selling ... like : hotdogs or t-shirts, or stuff like that ... need to have a permit or license. I could see this as a law that would cover dog walking. But then, why isn't there a system offered for applying for this license ? Might not be a bad idea to have the dog walker licensed in some way ? Still compiling and searching all the codes and bylaws and whatever else for all things connected to this issue.
I'll write more about this issue : because there is some more to it but this should be enough of an outline of the issue to start with. I gotta go now. In fact, going to break a rule by bringing a dog to the park as a dogwalker on a weekend. So this could get much more interesting, and soon.
(July 26. NOTE. Did get interesting : as I was informed that the Park will be filing a complaint with the authorities against; this'll wind up in court. Told you it was gonna get funner sooner.)
Here's a link to the town code or village code if you'd like to comb through it for anything relevant to any of this :
Chapter 190 is "Parks & Recreation"
Link To Village Of Ossining Town Code Click
Link To Archive Of Ossining Town Board Minutes Click
might find some mention of Dog Park Rules here,or its' special legal relationship to the town or village of Ossining. Haven't found a search function yet on this page.
RESPONSE TO COMMENT POSTED BELOW, Scroll all the way down to read, or go back to older posts page
Quotes from the comment are in black. My notes are in red
1.) new board member -- I seem to be your target. Have at it.
2.) girl fight at gate -- will be resolved by the board.
Had nothing to do with me, Be interesting to know why this is here ? Does it have to do with one of the women being a dogwalker : therefore a connection to me ; or that the other woman was at the time a client of mine? I wasn't there. Maybe, because I mention it in setting up the story of the dog fight in the same entryway in which I did intercede ? I actually do like your idea of keeping me honest here and setting facts straight; it would be the closest thing to a dialogue between the membership and the board that we would have.. So, why am I mentioned in relation to this ?
3.) Dog fight at gate. I stop the fight. Get bit -- Rules say don't jump in. The dogs' owners are to handle the situation. If you choose to jump in, you do so at your own risk.
no has ever heard me complain about injuries I've suffered from stopping dog fights in the park. I've stopped many, and have been thanked by many owners. Only said that I had received some bites to give some weight to to my feeling that even I didn't think the dogs were too blame. and I mentioned getting some bites because it brought up the issue of no one at the park at that time knowing what the legal consequences for the dogs would be if I went to an emergency room. Not sure about the hair splitting on stopping dog fights , or judging the techniques used each time. Like I've said: I've stopped a lot of dogfights over the years: always thanked, never complained, always wondered if the dogs were alright. Everyone use to help each other: an air of constant caution about the rules didn't use to be the norm. Sad the day I stand nearby and watch dogs get hurt while doing nothing. I think this is the whole crux of the matter : when You say something " The Rules say don't jump in. The dogs' owners are to handle the situation. If you choose to jump in, you do so at your own risk." Now and then , people say : I don't care what the rules say, I've got to help. I've always known it was at my own risk: never . Never complained. Was always thanked. The board members, park goes, park president all had many opportunities over the years to point out any mistakes I had made in stopping a dogfight. All of this is new.
You say in your comment something like :" .. those that followed the rules did not get bit..." Actually two other people helped Myra, who owns Max and now possibly JoJo, and Brian park vice president. Myra did get bit, on the hand , pretty seriously. Thing was that Myra and Brian got there 2nd and third respectively : by that point they had no option but to pull dogs out of the entryway by each dogs rear legs. I had gotten there first : the woman was pinned against the locked front entrance gate [ remember Brian: Myra and I were in the park , the woman had entering with her dog, and had closed the front gate closest to the parking lot behind her , and latched it. She then opened the gate that leads into the park , her dog was still on leash, the other dogs then entered the gate way from inside the park , as the situation exploded she was pinned back against the closed gate behind her and had raised her dog up onto its' hind legs with the leash, Rosie - the 11 year old pitbull girl had risen up onto her hind legs to go face to face with the woman's dog : so three faces : the woman's, The Pitbull, the spaniel all in a shoulder high to me 2 foot area, lunging bare fangs woman shrieking Rosie the pitbull had bit her own tonque so lots of blood ] I was first to the situation by now already out of hand : not having time to form a perfect strategy or consult the rules, it seemed that I had to go all the way into the entryway to where the woman was pinned, since the two dogs were up on their hind legs and we were all trapped in the narrow confines of the entryway - thee woman's face and the faces of two dogs forming a small triangle about shoulder high to me. Seemed I had to get all those faces away from each other quick so I did whatever I could to get a hold of the dog's collars. Brian later had mentioned possibly kneeing the dogs but neither of us were sure in this situation if that would have had any effect since one dog was being held up by a leash , and the other held up by the fence - who knows. I have said many times afterwords that the brilliant action hero move would have been to immediately reach right past all the lunging fangs and screaming , and flipped the latch of the gate up and open and then shoved the whole tangle out into the wide open space of the parking area - sorry. As it turned out the only blood was Rosie having bitten her own tongue, my hands [ the woman's dog suffered strained tendons, I don't know anything about that: I just want to stop any serious biting ] and , back behind me where people were using the proper techniques : Myra's hand.
Can't believe I've had to over this again but you keep questioning everything about my involvement in this dogfight. Which is just incredible in its' own right. Thanks had always been fine in the past.
On top everthing else : the woman and her dog were clients of mine {dogwalking} : why I would make something up about their behavior in the incident - don't know. Could, maybe I am, anything's possible : just I can't figure what my angle would be. Love of pitbulls ? I don't love them more than any other dogs but I do realy like a few of them; my dog Maddie's best friend is a pitbull. I'm a member of some pitbull concern group? I'm not. My dog is a pitbull? She's not. I always side with the viscous dog? Some would say that this is true, could be this. I don't think so. But: who knows. Then - like I said - you got that : the woman and her dog were clients of mine.
4.) I write on this site -- Marty, you have every right to write on your blog. But I will keep you honest and will insert the true facts.
Like I said above, that would be great because the park really needs some kind of dialogue between the membership and the board. This is something that has been sadly missing, some of the cause of a lot of the current tensions.
5.) New Dog Walk Rules. But they won't appy [sic] to me -- meaning you fully intend to violate the rules, including the old ones?
Not enough room here to go into the amount of old rules that have always been and continue to be broken by almost everyone day in and day out for years. The "old" dog walker rules were nevr enforced for some reason until recently. I guess the worst examples of this were back when the 2 or three vans of one particular company would bring all their dog clients at one time, and more recently : when one dog particular dog walker would bring 5 or 6 dogs at the same time - even on weekends. Nothing was said or done. I and the other of the 3 o4 four dog walkers that use the park might bring a dog or two at most to the dogpark on a weekend : almost always small, sometimes a puppy, and have never been involved in any trouble. If anything , it's been said by many, it's lucky we are there - as we are sometimes the only people there that have the experience to see trouble coming, and are often the only ones present capable of intervening - as I have done on a number of occasions.
Somehow you got on the board recently; a dog walker that the Park and the Board has struggled with for months due to their bringing too many dogs to keep an eye on - and their loud use of language too colorful for the dog park had a physical altercation with another woman : yes : two women, not dogs; I broke up a dog fight in one of the gateways, and - angered by misinterpretations: of the events, set the record straight here on this site. kept two dogs from hurting themselves seriously, and the owner of one of the dogs from getting seriously injured, wrote to protect to of the dogs from being judged wrongly by people who weren't there: all in all : no dogs or people hurt ( I was bit somewhat - all healed now), 2 dog's reputations defended . Then new rules were posted, old rules brought up for the first time in the three years I've been there. Best I can tell : lesson learned from these events : women ( not female dogs) women shouldn't fight at the entryway to the park. No old rules mentioning this were dredged up or new rules addressing this posted. Seemed clear to everyone that the bringing up of old rules and the creating of new ones was oafishly targeted at one dog walker - hence : all the whispering to me and other dog walkers not to worry - these rules didn't apply to us.
Now, new comers to the park reading this, and people who haven't followed park social hijinks closely will wonder who might be spinning what or just making up stuff. What else could they do. But people reading this that have been at the park for some time now will recognize the various aspects of this list of events. This has nothing to do with this issue, but I was reading some of your comment a minute ago, and I just love these following lines : " Being on the board is a thankless job. Trust me. The board makes sure that there are events at the park for the enjoyment of the owners and their dogs. The board, and other members, work tirelessly.... " C'mon, you just got on the board a about 2 months ago, you'd never even been to this park till months ago: " a thankless job " C'mon, have you even emptied out one trash bag ? Ever even stand up to give a dog - not your own - some water ? "tirelessly.." I'm just saying : it sounds funny , operatic.
6.) Another dog fight . I help stop this fight -- was resolved by Brian who told Rosie's owner that Rosie may not come back to the park. (Oh, that's right, you blamed me for Rosie being gone.)
don't know what this has to do with anything
7.) Lots of screaming and yelling. " I'm gonna tell Parks & Recreation on you if you don't watch yourself" TO MY KNOWLEDGE, THOSE WORDS WERE NEVER SPOKEN BY THE BOARD. Again, you tend to twist words to make them sound as egregious as you can to incite dissension. Why I don't know.
Can't find this quote. More to the point: can't find where I attributed any version of it to The Board. Please show me where ? I did say you ended a conversation -of sorts - with this concept: Parks & recreation never wanted dog walkers. If it's really possible that I just make stuff up, or that you do : well then... were not going to get anywhere back and forth with that. Again, I'd just leave it up to people who have known me, and have had any recent dealings with you : what seems plausible.Just don't think I ever said that the board said that. Might of, doubt it, please show me where.
8.) I write more stuff on this site. Use a word far too bovine and gelatinous to describe someone. It's a real low point for me -- A real low point indeed. Apparently heavy women threaten you as I see you described Jasper's mom as huge.
Can't find the Jasper's mom is huge type of description by me anywhere. "Bovine and gelatinous" I just love using those two words together. Heavy women do not threaten me : cigars threaten me: especially when they are just cigars. You have to realize that Freud that cheap only comes in suppository form: you should use -like- Jung maybe if you want to upgrade your zingers. Large women, yes large women threaten me : for instance when that Joan Crawford float got loose from the Thanksgiving Day parade and headed up the Hudson with its' speakers blaring , " NO WIRE HANGERS ! NO WIRE HANGERS !"
9.) Oh, and I don't adhere to , and announce my intentions not to adhere to any of the new dog walker rules. How about the old ones, Marty, e.g., Dog-walker dogs must be members of the dog park.
Again, who can count the rules never strictly adhered to until recently
10.) Bark In The Park : a bust -- not sure where you get your information Marty; but a bust it was not.
Well, then you should fill us in. I'm not saying that any rule says you must : just it would be nice. Conversationally around the park it is described as not so good. Easy enough for you to post something on your website. Add to the sense of community.
AND :
1.) Don't know what to say about the treats. Board members have many opputunities over th years to say something : Zim of Brian, Isabella and Sambucca of Paula, Harley of John and Chelsea of John : all enjoy their treats: no one has mentioned anything to me in three years. I have always spent my own money, and have maybe been asked to not give atreat 3 or 4 times in three years. Can't think of the time that my treats started a fight or caused any injury to dog or person. Many time ( hundreds) that the offer of a treat has quickly diffused a tense situation. You found one incident with one dog that I took care of myself with no harm or injury to anyone. It's this constant search for the one mistake, problem, infraction that is really at the core of all these issues we're discussing. Take a casual pole : this Marty guy with the treats and photos and stopping the dogfights and knowing all the dog's names and tendencies : Good thing for the park? Bad thing ? Or just : Marty: causes lots of fights ?
Whether I'm a paid member every year. Was always told That I got a pass on my twenty bucks because of things I do around the park. Mostly the photos. Ask around. But you have brought up the concept that here and there I could be making stuff up so... well, who knows. Nothing can ever be said about stuff like that. Ask Paula. Or wonder why no one has ever brought it up before.
Whether I'm a paid member every year. Was always told That I got a pass on my twenty bucks because of things I do around the park. Mostly the photos. Ask around. But you have brought up the concept that here and there I could be making stuff up so... well, who knows. Nothing can ever be said about stuff like that. Ask Paula. Or wonder why no one has ever brought it up before.
You mentioned a couple things about me portraying myself as the only one who stopped a number of recent fights. Think I always mentioned the other people involved. With the first incident in the entryway, I was the first one on the scene , and the woman and the two main canine combatants were were far back in the entryway pinned against the closed gate, My only option was to let them all at it or go all the way into them and separate them. Wasn't thinking of the rules or exactly what correct techniques would look right under review later. Gee, never occurred to me before there would be any review. The 2nd fight, I said that I arrived on the scene last, and found Jen, Brian and Rosie's owner already engaged in stopping the fight. I simply lifted Rosie's rear legs up in what is called "the wheelbarrow" technique and walked her back out of the fight. More importantly : when you said that I was the only one who saw the woman kicking the dogs in the first fight in the entryway : The concept of people lying when asked right after a fight : " what happened." and some one -like me says : "well, this and then that" Gee, I don't know. It's never occured to me or anyone that someone like us at the park would just make stuff up. This is just a whole new concept, a different atmosphere.
" you wrote somewhere in your comment : We just need to keep information on the dogs at the park in case something should happen. Well, isn't this ironic. If Rosie (Jenn's client) had been registered, I wouldn't have had to waste precious time gathering information from her owner. Thus, case in point."
This is actually a really good point : I immediately was talking about _ my hands actually still bleeding_ brought it up a day later to Paula, then to Brian. Paula seemed VERY angry about it, I can't remember what Brian said. But I wanted all dogs to keep their current shots on record. At least all dogs that are members. Carin and Dave of the Basenjis would remember me going on about it.
This is just another consequence of the angry confrontational atmosphere that has taken over the park. I know that many people in the park will verify that I have been a constant source of confrontation and tension, and _I admit _ an extremely oppressive presence for three years now ; okay: I have a kind of tick, a syndrome about rules that can get out of hand sometime ... so maybe it's my fault. Still : great idea who ever conceived of it. I just didn't respond to your requests for any information because I think you are something really bad for the park and will soon put an end to something that actually been pretty magical. Maybe, I'm wrong. Would be great if I was : show me something. If I ask you something : just don't scream and yell. Give it a try. We would all benefit. By the way : what is it with all the dog holes this year ? We never had so many and so deep: dangerous. New theory around the park is that it's due to the lack of chips ? Where are the chips this year? Rain ruin them? Between us : who do you think put the little flags next to all the poops? Joke was : I told the person who picked them all up and threw them away : that they missed an opportunity : I would have taken a lot of poop bags and placed them over each flag to show I had also been there and not picked up any poops.
Many people speak about why not have a volunteer park clean up day ?
JULY 14 : So, John has resigned as park president. No announcement or anything . What I've heard is that Brian (current or former vice president) is now the new president.
What Has Happened : a dogwalker has been bringing lots of dogs for over a year now and tends to be loud and confrontational, there was fight both verbal and physical between two women at one of the entry gates a couple of weekends ago involving the famed wisp of a dogwalker and a long time dogpark member: yep, two women - not the dogs,
A Weekend Later the woman who had been in the fight with legendary dogwalker returned, and as she was opening the gate a number of dogs charged into the entryway - as we see them do all the time - but she began in a panic screaming and kicking the dogs : 2 of which were pitbulls... ahem... well: I jumped into the fray and, with the help of Myra & Brian, separated all the dogs , and the woman , there was only blood from one pitbull's mouth 'cause she had bitten her own tongue, and my hands were a bloody mess from a number of bites from a number of the dogs . I took exception to how the events were being described - mostly by people that were not there , and wrote about it here on this site;
Somehow : this led to a number of new dogwalker rules ( remember, though not legendary , I am a dogwalker) I'm not real clear on the connection : The first fight between the two women involved a dogwalker, the 2nd incident involved a woman who had fought with a dogwalker and I - a dogwalker- ended that fight before much carnage could occur... something like that;
I Tell The Park Government that I won't be following any of these new rules, and they tell me that that's okay : they're not meant for me anyway ;
Believe It Or Not : a week or so later : the same pitbull girl from the prior fight who had bit her own tongue was involved in another fight ( eyewitnesses have it that she didn't start it - but I'd have to say that she's too powerful to be that touchy) I was standing nearby again .... even the legendary dogwalker girl from the original fight of this story : the one with the woman at the entryway was there , and -again- Brian the vice president of the park from the recent dogfight.. uh huh... I got there as everyone was reaching for the heads or collars of the two dogs... the pit girl finally sunk her teeth into the other dog's back, I stepped back : there were the two legs of the pit girl right under me: I picked them up like a wheel barrow, gave a tug, another tug, she released and I walked her backwards out of there; at that point a lot of screaming and yelling and fingerpointing and blaming began and went on for the next twenty minutes or so : a real low for park behavior : somewhere in there is a version where I'm mostly to blame Because : take your pick: I had defended the pitbull weeks earlier because I thought that the woman should not have been kicking her , and I was the only one she bit... OR : I pulled the pitbull off of the other dog in the wrong way : this is a real trippy bizarre theory worthy of a great comedy act;
Some Of The Screaming and yelling after this fight involved a new board member of the park threatening my livelyhood by explaining that " the parks and recreation department does not want dogwalkers here." Not sure what that had to do with the dogfight and sad behavior after it ... but I understood it to mean basicly that I had better just shut up and stay out of everything ( I quess including stopping dog fights) or I'll see what I've got coming.: something like that.
So, Once Again I wrote a bunch of stuff on this site: laying out what I knew of the events that had taken place: in this case though I did step over the line and use an overly appropriate word to describe someone because they had so enraged me;
And That Would Be The Final Piece Of The Puzzle : the new board member. A board member resigned and a new person was appointed in their place: for many reasons there has been an undercurrent of dislike of this person mostly because of their attempts to exercise too much power ( strange word - huh, for a dogpark) from such a relentlessly posterior position, but _ I think _ this unease is kept too a whisper whereas I have recently made my disgust - trumpets blaring - more then evident.
And, I Almost Forgot, I heard that the BARK IN THE PARKthis summer was a bit of a bust. Could of been all the rain delays, could have been the sour atmosphere in the park. Who knows.
1.) new board member
2.) girl fight at gate
3.) Dog fight at gate. I stop the fight. Get bit.
4.) I write on this site
5.) New Dog Walk Rules. But they won't appy to me.
6.) Another dog fight . I help stop this fight.
7.) Lots of screaming and yelling. " I'm gonna tell Parks & Recreation on you if you don't watch yourself"
8.) I write more stuff on this site. Use a word far too bovine and gelatinous to describe someone. It's a real low point for me .
9.) Oh, and I don't adhere to , and announce my intentions not to adhere to any of the new dog walker rules.
10.) Bark In The Park : a bust.
I'm sure there's lots of stuff I'm missing: things behind the scenes, personal things... but these are the big events I'm aware of.
John Resigns as President. .
STILL THINK they should have someone on the board who has a modicum of dog knowledge. Someone who has at least dabbled in dog training, has shown some small amount of curiosity involving the current literature, research, trends in canine behavior. Wendy of Guiding Eyes & Best Friends seems to be the closest thing the park has to a person with some qualifications and experience in this regard.
At least the powers that be that congeal over by the water fountain have ceased their obsession with dogs at the entryways. Their panicky weirdness was bound to start the first actual fight at the entryway : I don't count human girl on human girl or fights started by kicking dogs.
I do think that they ( 3 of them now) or we should put our minds to figuring a system of stopping the dog dug holes. It really is getting to be a danger. So many and so deep that some one ( even a dog ) is going to break an ankle or leg. Myself : I don't favor the yelling at the dogs more and blaming each other for not being hyper vigilant enough. We should be able to come up with some system to fix the problem. I , at least , tried the other day to fill in a number of holes and spray the fill dirt with that bitter apple spray used to keep dogs off of stuff. Didn't work at all , but at least it was an attempt. Maybe a different substance,. NOT CAYENNE PEPPER. Or at least some alternative to turning the chairs over on top of the holes. Some kind boards or a some thing of hard plastic - slightly domed - bright and colorful.
Pleasantville Dog Park has a nice idea with the big drawings by children hung on the fence around the park.Might be a good idea to have children draw illustrations of important rules of the dog park. " Take your dog off leash in the park."
JULY 11 : * Beautiful day at the park yesterday, weatherwise. * So many little mini canine events : EBBERSTON THE RIDGEBACKwho grew up here at the dog park but tends to go to Greenburgh park now paid us a visit. * His owner Cathy of Jeff & Cathy is about 6 months on her way to a baby boy. * For the 2nd time but the first time I saw them : Puppy girls DIXIE & GINGER met and were inseperable. Theory is that because they look so much alike and were gotten from the same shelter at the same time they may have been litter mates. For months they've been coming to the park never meeting always just missing each other. * BUBBA the boxer boy was back with Allison for the first time in awhile. * Little ROCKYChiweiler continues to jump up onto the igloo : a trick he finally learned about two days ago after two weeks and 20 pounds of treats. * Though some of the new Meanies were back after allowing the park some respite from weirdness no one suffered , no issues were escalated, no doggie spats personalized. Though I foresee some fun new rules coming our ( read : "my " ) way. * Guess that Friday Nite Barbecues are over now that some are using threats of going to the Parks & Recreation Department to try... and .. ?... well, gee, I don't know what they're trying to do. * Ongoing whispered joke has to do with winner of "best social dog park" of Dog Fancy Magazine being such an oppressive factional horror show all of a sudden. * LEO the rescued Llasa Apso boy was back last night with his new brother Shakespeare the Llasa Apso. Sad, it turns out that after the terrible route through his childhood he had to take to get here, he has a lot of trouble playing. Pretty sure he'll figure it out : long as we keep him feeling safe. * Sad news of MAX of WENDY having more tumors discovered in his abdomen. Trying to figure out some sort of fundraiser after we get all the diagnosis in. This will be tough given the new sour social atmosphere at the park. What happened to the spirit of " Puppies Of The Caribbean " only last Autumn ? What has changed?
JUNE 28 : Have an idea about THE MEDICAL KIT WE SHOULD HAVE AT THE PARK. We don't have a medical kit at the park I've been told because it keeps getting stolen. But we really SHOULD have a medical kit at the park. People can't seem to think up away to keep a Medical kit there in a way that is quickly accessable but at the same time not so easily stolen . But HOW MUCH DOES A MEDICAL KIT COST? I gotta figure the math on this : cotton balls, alcohol , peroxide, bandaids, ointment; a bog or bag to keep it all in. Can't really cost all that much. How often does it get stolen. What does it cost to keep replacing it now and then for a year. Maybe a local vet would donate some funds or materials with their name on the box or bag?
JUNE 28 : LITTLE JOJO THE FOSTER PUP found a home Friday BUT WAS RETURNED Saturday after barking and pooping all over the house. What a great little dog: he knew he was in the wrong home. Anybody who can return a puppy because it was barking and pooping on its' first night at a new home does not deserve a dog like JOJO.I'm sure the longer he waits for his new home , the better it's gonna be.
JUNE 28 : OLIVER who was bit pretty bad in the big altercation a few days ago is home now and slowly recovering, on painkillers and not eating well but I was told there's definitely an improvement. Hopefully the wound will heal up well.
JUNE 28 : Got an eMail that said that " NAMECALLING " distracted from some of the good points I might be making. I totally agree. I don't think it's good behavior on my part, and is inappropriate in any case, is beneath me, and diminishes me as a credible person. Shows you how angry the recent events have made me. Here's some of what I wrote back :
It's just a small outlet for the "rage" I feel at someone lording it over the weaker and confused. I've seen many good situations , groups, stores, restaurants, theaters, galleries ruined and then ended by people barging into power and behaving exactly the same way as what's going on at the dogpark now. It's always reverted me back to my old neighborhood street fighting, corner status days. I'm really not proud of it. But these Nurse Ratchet types : I just wanna ping their ear lobes and put glue on their chairseat. It started when I got a call from this little dog Dakota's owner. She was in tears , telling me how this huge woman told her there was something wrong with her aggressive dog, and she should get her out of the park. It was these nutjob people ( their dog is Jasper) that had already alarmed a few in the park with their hysterical reactions to dogs looking at their dog the wrong way. This only minutes after I had been yelled at across the park and parking lot as to how I had left a soda can on a table; I was actually only leaving for a minute and would be back, but - yo: once in awhile we grownups forget things: take care of my little mistakes, and sometimes I'll take care of yours. Don't be yelling across distances about whether someone has a "hall pass" or not. Oooooo, it makes me so bad. "Gunkies! I tell you ! They are 'Gunkies!" But you are right. Marty
JUNE 27 : Got a sweet note from ROSEY the pitbull's owner today. Said she never meant to make it sound like they were blaming me for anything. ROSEY is pretty dinged up herself: "Her face is very beat up from the original bite that started the fight. Her eye is tore up and swollen shut and she has bite marks on her head and ears. She also has swelling to her back and back right leg. She is traumatized and shaking and is afraid to be alone in fear that she will be attacked again."
JUNE 27 : Kid you not, I heard today (saturday) that some people went to the park last night ( fri.) after the rains, and saw that someone had placed irridescent little flag by every unpicked up pile of poo in the park. I'm gonna recheck that they really saw this, and weren't dreaming. Afew other people were there and saw the flags. Whew. Scary stuff , boys and girls. Only so many candidates for this sort of behavior ?
JUNE 26 : Be interesting to see what the turn out is at BARK IN THE PARK is tomorrow with all the postponements and rain and the horrible morale at the park. I wasn't gonna go anyway - so fed up with the whole scene : though it is fun to be actually "fed up," but now I got some dogs to walk. Probably take them to the park , and get thrown out by the great BLUBBASOURUS herself since the new dogwalk rules don't allow dogwalking in the park on weekends. They can't really throw you out because it's a public park so they'll have to call the police, and have me and the little puppy Cleo removed. Watch for photos. Be the first event of the parks' that I haven't photographed in a long time.
JUNE 26 : Oh, I forgot to say that when I was asking the new park boss, the great BLUBBASAURUS herself if she'd list for me the incidents she mentioned that ROSEY had been involved in : 'cause she had said there were a lot : she ended by reminding me that the "parks department doesn't want dog walkers in here anyway." A clear threat to my lively hood and others; a kind of you better just shut up and watch yourself type of thing. That's the atmosphere around the park. It's totally : well, BLUBBASAURIAN.
tailboot 22 (C)
