Heidi Weber
According to Mary Lee Nitschke, a Linfield College psychology professor who specializes in human-animal bonds, pets naturally increase your odds of meeting people. This makes the dog park a particularly fitting setting for romance -- and not just around Valentine's Day. "Someone walking a dog is more likely to have opportunities for social interaction," says Nitschke. "Pets attract comments, and that opens the door for conversation."
Andrew Seidenfeld took advantage of that open door 10 years ago, when he met the woman who would become his wife at the dog park near his home in Lincoln Park, New Jersey.
"I met my wife at the park down the street," Seidenfeld tells Paw Nation. "I would walk my dog, and frequently I'd see this beautiful woman, also walking her dog. Finally I got up the nerve to talk to her by asking if her dog was friendly."
The dog's lovely owner, it turns out, was also friendly. "We went out for three years and got married," says Seidenfeld. Though the pooches that brought them together have since passed away, the couple (now married seven years) still has four cats.
Heidi Weber of Saratoga Springs, New York, never imagined she'd meet her future-husband through her beloved mutt, Nelson. In fact, she got a dog because she was tired of the dating game and wanted a loyal companion. But a late morning visit to a Schenectady, New York, dog park in May 2007 eased her back onto the playing field.
"I'm not sure how long I was at the park, but at one point, in strolled a cute guy and his handsome dog, Hunter, half Lab/half Plotthound," Weber tells Paw Nation. "Our dogs hit it off right away and began playing together. Pete and I struck up a conversation and I learned he was in the Navy and had just returned from Italy."
Weber worked up the courage to suggest they get coffee sometime. Pete called her the next day.
"We began dating, and we often took our dogs to a park in Albany, followed by cocktails at various pet-friendly establishments," says Weber. "We went on picnics and hikes.
"Five months later, he and Hunter moved in with me, Nelson and my cat, Misty. We got engaged on Christmas Eve and married October 12, 2008," says Weber, pictured above with Pete and their dogs on their wedding day. "Our dogs served as our ring bearers. It wouldn't have been right if we didn't include them."
The story doesn't end there, though -- they're expecting a baby next month, and Weber says, "[We] fully expect our daughter to be a dog lover, too!"
Alison Larkins
Even if they've met elsewhere, some pet lovers find that the dog park makes for an ideal first date. Hilary Reiter of Park City, Utah, connected with a recent date online, but decided to meet him for the first time at the local dog park. "He had three dogs and I have two, so it seemed like a logical place to meet and not much of a time commitment," Reiter tells Paw Nation. "A love of dogs provides a right-off-the-bat commonality, and watching them wrestle and chase each other tends to stimulate conversation."
Meeting at the dog park can also lessen the awkwardness of that moment when potential dates discover there's not much chemistry between them. "It's a good distraction if you're not digging the person," says Reiter. "Plus, if your dogs don't like your date (or vice versa) or the dogs don't like each other, you know it's not going to work out!"
The problems arise when a dog park romance fizzles, but both owners still want to bring their dogs to the park, says Paw Nation contributor Rose Martelli who met her (now ex-) boyfriend at her neighborhood's unofficial dog park.
At the beginning, the connection was strong. "Our dogs got along famously," she says. Fast-forward three years to the break-up, which drove Martelli into avoiding the park she used to frequent with her pooch. "My entire life revolved around not running into him with his dog," Martelli recalls. "Not only did we have the dog park at the end of the block, but our street had one of those grassy islands in the middle where we used to play fetch with the dogs, so I'd actually spy outside my window every time I wanted to go out to make sure he wasn't already on the island.
"My dog couldn't understand why our walks navigated away from the dog park. After about a month, I decided it was easier to move all the way across town, so I did."
Grace Cleaves
"I had just made the requisite poop pick-up," Cleaves recalls, "when Mike dropped to his knee and asked me to marry him. Doggie detritus in hand, I said yes. The wedding is May 23rd."
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Sure makes me wish we had a dog park in my town!
Dog parks can be great social places, but you really have to be careful about who you socialize with. You never know who has or hasn't had their shots and in my area coyotes scrounge around ours at night looking for something to eat...most of our coyotes have mange right now which is extremely contageous! Be very careful using the parks!!
BUY A DOG...
PLEASE ADOPT do not perpetuate the hell
those puppy mills and breeders are profiting from
Growing up, my parents always had dogs, no cats but dogs. We would have two
dogs at a time. Since I've been on my own (20+ years), I still haven't bought a dog! I've had 5 cats since then and four of them have sadly died through the years. I now have one cat and I'm happy with that. The problems with dogs, I cannot begin to tell you! Dogs smell, they chew on anything and everything in sight. You can't leave them alone for more than 4 hours. They bark, and bark and
bark, until your neighbors either call the cops or someone else anonymously sends you a muzzle in the mail, trying desperately to get your attention on the matter. With my cat I can leave for several days and my cat will be fine with his cat box available, and extra cat food and water! It's really a no-brainer, on whether
to get a dog or a cat. Yes dogs are supposedly man's best friend, but there's nothing like a cat's purr. I swear it will always bring me up, when I'm down. And experts don't know why a cat's purr makes people feel better - it just does!!! Cats
rule and dogs drool!!! lol
Hey Suzy, For not having a dog for 20+ years, you sure seem to have them labeled in a misguided way. MY dog does not drool, she has NEVER chewed on anything other than a toy, she doesn't bark, and I can leave her for up to 12 hours (however I rarely have to do that!)...
It just sounds like your cats purr is drowning out the loneliness in your life, lets pick another topic you don't have first hand experience with, so you can judge...that is what you really want right? To be alone with your cat and the purr, and to judge things you have no clue about. Enjoy your fur ball puking cat...think of my beautiful perfect dog the next time you pick up a nice juicy clump of cat hair and partly digested cat food!!! CIAO
Well... maybe if you knew how to train a dog you wouldn't have these issues. Unlike cats, dogs are trainable and get you out of the house, but I guess not everyone enjoys fresh air and exercise.
Syzy: from your comments, I am doubtful that you should have a pet at all. I have four rescued dogs and two rescued cats. My attitude is that you work with each one on bahvioral aspects that will make everyone happy and clean my house and bath the animals when the "need" it (most vets agree that they don't need it as often as their human owners think they do). YOU must be willing to put in the time, energy, love, verternary care, feeding, exercise and MOST of all love and companionship that dogs for the most part (but even most cats need some form of your comforting presence) - selecting a companion animal/pet/member of your family solely based on how long you can leave them behind sounds like you are an aweful pet parent, dogs are definitely not appropriate based on THIER needs, not your "preferences". You sound very selfish. I hope you don't have children, or if you do, you look at them differenty. Please remember that our animals, most especially those rescued from kill and/or non-kill shelters have pasts that require loving attention and a regaining of trust and sometimes retraining. You must be willing to give taht to them, from your heart. Companion animals are not accessories in our lives and you must recognize that they return 1,000% more to us than we can ever hope to give them, vet bills and all.
Annette, I think you're being a little harsh on Suzy. When I was single and doing a lot of performing, I chose to adopt cats because my schedule made it impossilbe to take care of dogs properly. I worked a full-time job and then was in rehearsal or performance almost every night. My cats were there when I got home and not desperate to go out. They had plenty of food, water and I always kept TWO litter boxes so that they were fine.
And yes, there were times I was away for a few days. I had very little money to board them, so the fact that I could use my perpetual feeder and my perpetual waterer and an extra litter box was truly helpful. All of my vacation time in those days went toward seeing my parents.
I now have three children and they are treated just fine, thank you. I am a stay-at-home mother and spend many hours working at the youngest one's school in addition to being a Brownie troop leader, going to college part-time and performing in four different singing groups. We have no pets right now because we are living in a two bedroom apartment and don't think it would be fair to any animal to be in such crowded conditions and when I can give so little time to them.
Your assumption that Suzy is a terrible pet owner and would be a bad parent was really unfair. You need to read what someone says and try to put yourself in their shoes. And really, if she feels that she can't deal with the extra effort a dog requires and so doesn't get a dog, doesn't that show her to be a caring pet owner? Shouldn't you praise her for not getting a dog when she can't make the commitment for whatever reason? Too many people buy animals they can't afford to treat properly (financially, emotionally, timewise), and here you criticize a woman who has made a conscious effort NOT to do that? You owe Suzy an apology.
Suzy
If the dog displays all of the "bad behaviors" that you mentioned. Someone isn't training them or loving them for that matter.
Suzy, you really need to get a life. I am an all around animal lover growing up with dogs and cats and many other animals. We now have 2 dogs and we had a cat that has since passed. Before you make judgements about dogs maybe you should use the brain that God gave you.
Suzy,
I am glad you do not have a dog because they derserve so much more then what you can offer. I have two Goldens and they are my world. They only bark when something is wrong as in DANGER exactly what would your CAT do if someone broke into your home? Dogs protect who they love, plain and simple your cat will purr at a intruder, good luck with that. All dogs when thay are puppies go through a chewing stage it does not last, neither of mine chew anything but their chew toys & chew bones. My Goldens go with on vacation and I cannot imagine leaving them for days at a time, your cat derserves better then that. Drooling is only an issue with a few breeds, even a non-dog person such as yourself should now that. My older Golden Kincaid saved my life last year, something I will never forget. We were at the beach and swimming less then ten feet from the beach, my daughter and husband had gotten out with our other Golden and were resting on the beach. I was swimming with Kincaid and I had him on a long leash, he swam at me took the slack of the lesh in him mouth and swam towards the shore frantically pulling me with him. When I saw what he was doing I swam fast to get out with him, after about two minutes we heard people yelling beside us " Look Shark" sure enough we looked up and there was the fin circling where I had just been. I am sure you love your cat but take it easy on dogs they are more them "mans best friend.
I could agree less with Suzy's comments. I am an animal lover. We had 2 dogs when I was younger and they both had passed. My mom said cats were easier, and we had many. "My" cat was named Sydney and even though he was the family cat, he always knew he was mine. When I moved into my now husbands apartment it would not have been fair to have a dog, so we got a cat. She was and still is not the nicest cat in the world, but we loved her. A friend of mine was looking to find one of his dogs a new home as him and his partner could not keep 4 dogs in a small apartment. We were given the most sweet little girl that anyone could have asked for. She was raised in a cage just popping out puppies. We only had her for a short time as she got sick and we had her put to sleep. It still hurts. We now have 2 puggles and they are the sweetest, craziest dogs ever, but would not have it any other way. We had one from a puppy and he did his share of chewing, but that was a long time ago. They bark when they know something is not right. Can a cat do that? NO. Cats may be happy when you come home, but the feeling of having a dog get so excited to see you even when you may have been gone only 10 minutes is the greatest feeling in the world. They cannot get to you quick enough and shower you with so many kisses. Actually they greet our family and friends when they come to visit. I always tell people that the dogs think you are here to see them and not us. If they don't like to be greeted by them, then they can just stay away
Walking my dogs (Miniature Schnauzers) also gives me clues about other dog owners I do NOT want to meet: Pit bull owners, for starters. What kind of screwed up person owns such a dangerous dog? And in an apartment?!?! Idiots.
You are an IDIOT...... I have a pit bull, my parents have a pit bull, most of my friends have pit bulls... we all have small kidsl.... I won't let any other breed around my kids BUT a pittie. They were named second most well behaved and 2 most obidiant by the American Kennel Club. There is no such thing as a bad pittie, just a bad owner.......... my pittie is 5 years old, originally bread to fight, but he didn't have the personality. Infact, only 1 pittie out of every 4 litters has the personality to fight. We rescued him. He has never barked, growled, snipped, bitten or in any wayharmed my children or anyone else. The only problem we have with him is convincing him he is NOT a lap dog........ You need dto get your facts before you go bashing a breed.
I dont think that is the way to act toward all Pit Bull owners. These dogs are taught, just like any other dog, to be aggressive. I personaly never owned a Pit Bull but have been around them and they are the sweetest dogs that you can find. These dogs are given a bad name because of the way they are raised. Dont balme the dog, blame the owner!!!
I have 2 pit bulls and a terrior mix, you should be more scared of the terrior. All pit bulls are not mean and aggressive. You should judge them individually just like people. Don't pass judgement just because they are pit bulls!
Are you actually that ignorant about dogs? If so, you should not own one. Pits are wonderful dogs. The fact that they are so strong and sensitive makes them easy prey for BAD dog owners. No dog is a bad breed. Cesar Milan owns a pit, Daddy. There are tons of pits in animal shelters all over because of irresponsible breeders and dog fighting rings. The fact that the jaws are strong makes them a breed especially liked by these horrible people. THERE ARE NO BAD DOGS, JUST BAD OWNERS.
actually, though i love pit bulls the bottom line is that there are a lot of bad pit bull owners - they are a special breed of dog and require careful training, something not a lot of people do. unfortunately most of the pit bulls that you will meet have owners, so regardless of how good of a dog they can potentially be i have to agree with the there are no bad dogs just bad people in both ways.
i never hesitate approaching one if i'm alone but i don't like them around my dog until i've met it first and asked its owner how it is around other dogs. a lot of people get these dogs as tough guy dogs, and yeah it's unfortunate that you have to be wary around them but it's only realistic. i love my dog and i don't want him hurt because some ass wants to walk around with a weapon and not a companion.
I am NOT a screwed up person..WE have always owned a dog...usually labs or humane society dogs. My son rescued a little white dog from a man throwing them out his car window...as the car was moving!!!! He brought Jager home and she has grown up into one of the friendliest, lap sittingness...love of my life!!! At 80 lbs, Jager is frightening to look at, but the old lady's border collie across the street wont even allow me to get my mail if she is outside! THERE ARE ROTTEN DOGS...as well as ROTTEN PEOPLE!!! Get off the pit bull thing...go after the ROTTEN PEOPLE who throw puppies out their car windows!