After lots of residents complaining, Brookdale Park's doggie domain got a revamp. Here, dogs and their owners try out their redone digs, from the Star Ledger...
There was some growling, but it was largely from the canines as the park entered its first full week since the re-opening. On Monday morning, Peter Gargiulo of Bloomfield gathered with Ser and other canine owners at the park and sized up the makeover."It's not as roomy," he said, accompanied by his chow-husky-retriever mix, Ayla, in the large-dog run. "The dogs probably don't mind as much as we do."
In February, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. met with neighbors at Toni LeQuire-Schott's Montclair home on Chester Road and unveiled a compromise plan to move the dog park opened just a few months earlier.
Her dead-end street had become a magnet for dog owners seeking a parking spot nearby, and her home and others were within earshot of what was described as incessant barking.
"We cannot handle the noise," said LeQuire-Schott, who has "Animal Friendly" license plates and three canines of her own.
On the first morning of the work week, the dog park was as much an impromptu meeting place of like-minded people as it was a place for canines to run, jump and -- occasionally -- spar.Bill Wright was sharing tips about Coryann, a Catahoula named after a Louisiana parish and that southern state's official state dog. "If you have little children in the house, these are the greatest protectors," he said.
He marveled too at the newest Essex County dog park, praising DiVincenzo. "This is fantastic, this idea," Wright said. "I give the guy a lot of credit for putting this up. It took a lot of guts to do this."
But Richie Chevat, standing just outside the park with his Löwchen, Sprocket, had some issues with the dog park's steel archway, its ornamental brick pavers, its playground apparatus and "Time Out Area" for misbehaving canines.
"Totally overdone," he said. "The temple to Doggiedom."
Maybe this is the time on Sprocket when we dance. Meanwhile, if your pup is one of those behaving badly and getting too many timeouts, there's always this.
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"Woof," he whispered.