Imagine yourself walking across the Boston Common just after dark. You spot a hulking figure in a sweatshirt with a hood hiding his face. He’s lingering on the path ahead of you. Your city senses begin to tingle and you look around to see just how alone you are.
Suddenly a beautiful chocolate Lab runs up to the figure and deposits a ball at his feet and you breathe a sigh of relief.
People with dogs bring activity and added security to our sidewalks and parks all year long, at all hours, and in all weather conditions. That hulking figure may have been making use of the Boston Common Off-Leash Dog Program. The Friends of the Public Garden who initiated the program in 2013 describe it as, “... the first approved off-leash area in a city park that does not fence off and designate a single-use restricted space in this historically open park of shared use.”
Since the hours for use of the space are 6 am to 11 pm, those people using the area do add to the number of neighbors who are around during the dark, early morning and evening hours this time of year. In fact, that hulking figure may never have caught your attention because you may have felt secure walking by a group of people chatting and playing with their dogs.
Introductions
We live in a large, dog-friendly building. Often we are among the first to meet new neighbors with dogs. Our pets are the perfect reason to introduce ourselves and, once we know the new family, we can introduce them to dog-less neighbors.
Beyond our building, we meet many neighbors and engage with them because of a connection we make via dogs. A neighbor, walking the dog because his partner was sick, once said to us, “No wonder Michael knows everyone and I don’t. He walks Jewels.”
Official K-9 officers are not the only dogs who help deter and respond to criminal activity.
Neighborhood Stewards
As a group, dog walkers spend a lot of time out and about and may notice things that other neighbors miss or ignore. This makes them excellent stewards of our neighborhoods.
In Boston, anyone with the 311 app on their phone can quickly report anything from trash left out at the wrong time or in the wrong place, to dangerous, dangling tree branches.
We were among a group of dog families who attended an instructional meeting on how to spot and report any suspicion of Long Horned Asian Beetles in our area trees. Many dog walkers have taken the time to learn about the symptoms of Dutch Elm disease and can report sightings.
Since we have bags in hand, you will often see someone with a dog picking up not only after their own dog, but also after a scofflaw who failed to pick up. Some dog walkers carry an extra bag and pick up litter left by other park users.
We have often referred to members of the dog community as an informal but key crime watch team. We know what is normal and not normal on our blocks. Criminals tend to ignore us, so we can often report that person walking down the street checking car doors to see if one is unlocked, or someone stealing packages off front stairways.
Kudos to all those out and about with dogs who add far more value to our neighborhoods than the few people who don’t pick up or don’t control their dogs, take away.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: © 2011-2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino top photo istockphoto.
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