Sledding at Hillside Dog Park Gives Us Perfect Opportunity to Write a Kids Vs. Dogs Story

By on March 1, 2010 10:43 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Kids, Lame Excuses, Pets

Sure January and February may have been slow news months and the only headlines we had going for us were weather related.  Nope, Jan/Feb didn’t yield a new Slappaccino Dad story or a rhubarb over parking.  Ah, but wonderful March has already  bestowed this wonderful sure-to-be-discussed-forever tidbit from the New York Times (an electronic newspaper now run by college interns) via Pardon Me For Asking upon us:

NYT Cityroom: This delicate dance can be a joy to watch, but it becomes infinitely more complicated when a wild card — in the form of a frisky-in-the-snow dog — is thrown into the mix. Such was the case at the Hillside Dog Park in Brooklyn Heights on Friday, according to one reader of Pardon Me For Asking, as sledders took to the slope inside of the run. The reader, and puppy owner,took umbrage at being chastised by parents for the puppy’s behavior:

… We brought our 5-month-old puppy to Hillside Dog Run in Brooklyn Heights, which was covered in snow. As usual dozens of parents show up with dozens of kids to sled down the hill inside the dog run. My very well behaved, if not excitable, puppy, got enthused by the action and at one point, playfully nipped at a kids arm. To which the obnoxious parent tells me that my dog should be trained to not bite children!!! And of course, explaining to this person that his child is SLEDDING IN A DOG RUN, so he should maybe expect that to happen some times, because dogs are trained while on leads, NOT WHILE RUNNING OFF-LEASH IN A DOG RUN WHERE YOU’RE LITTLE BRAT SHOULDN’T BE SLEDDING IN THE FIRST PLACE.

This advice was seconded by a Yelp reviewer of the dog park, Robin G., who gave the park five out of five stars (!) but also cautioned, “I would be slightly careful with a kid in the dog park, since there are wild rumpus moments where a kid could get knocked over by some enthusiastic mutt.”

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  • soulman

    Thanks Matt. Folks, I was there several times during the snowfest. Last year my dog Izzy, a border collie, tried to herd the sledders and we left. This year it was fine, but as was pointed out, the park has never been as filthy with wrecked ‘sleds”, bottles, etc. left by the sledders. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful, old-time neighborhood scene. We even ran into (and after) some of my middle-school students.

    As to the poop-obsessed among you – 99% of the dog-owners around here do curb their dogs and clean up after them both on the sidewalk and in the park. It’s probably no more contaminated than any other patch of park land in the city.

    NEVERTHELESS, IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL, OLD-TIME NEIGHBORHOOD SCENE. i EVEN RUN ITO SEVERAL OF MY MIDDLE-SCHOOL STUDENTS

  • Sticky

    This park has undergone some changes over the years. Though the “dog run” is probably the most disgusting of them all. Nevertheless, people have let their dogs off the leash in the park for a long time anyway so the Parks Department might has well made the area officially feces filled.

    For a child sledding is fun. But for a child to sled down the park and to fall into a pile of poop, that is not fun at all. I am amazed as all the high brow parents to take their children there. Don’t let your children go to school with black children, but let them fall face down in shit.

    Alas i am just ranting simply because it is fun to do. Please fellow residents do not feel I was fingering you out by saying “I am not racist.” In the end, this park was great in the mid 90s when there would be about 50 women sunbathing. I am sure workers at the Watchtower loved it!

  • soulman

    So are you sticky from the poop or from your solo efforts thinking about the sunbathers? Just askin’.

  • my2cents

    “fingering you out” is a phrase that should be expurgated from this blog.

  • The Where

    Sticky I am with you.

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