Serving Brooklyn's Off-Leash Community

FIDO In Prospect Park's commitment is to ensure that Prospect Park is a safe and healthy place for dogs; that responsible supervision of dogs will enhance opportunities for off-leash activity. Please make a serious effort to monitor your dog's interactions whether it be on the sidewalk or in the park itself.

Next Coffee Bark - 2nd Sat, July 11th; 7 a.m. - 9 a.m.
New date because of July 4th weekend.

Pupnic 2009 Picture Preview

Lepto Kills Dog In Williamsburg (see "Barkings" below)

Park Garbage - Had Enough?

First Things First - Lost Items - Barkings & Growls - Support Off-Leash - Off-Leash Rules - Our E-mailings - Memorial Tree - Contact Us Upcoming... Next Coffee Bark - 2nd Sat, July 11th; 7 a.m. - 9 a.m. New date because of July 4th weekend. Long Meadow beside the Picnic House What's Coffee Bark?

PROSPECT PARK OFF-LEASH AREAS: 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. -- 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. Long Meadow; Nethermead & Peninsula... See map off-leash rules explained ALL other Times & Areas, you MUST leash up! Responsible Ownership Means Always Respect The Law

First Things First... FIDO Video portrays Prospect Park's off-leash advocates Dog Beach Video: NYC Parks Dept It's Your Park FIDO 2010 Calendar now in production. See us at PUPNIC (june 26th) Put your beast in our 2010 Calendar! Do it yourself or let us help you... Reserve ahead! Note that two months are now over half-pledged. The calendar may well close before August. One does not have to wait for Coffee Bark to tie a day down - see above link. Sending money and a wish list suffices but with closing date coming faster than we thought, you should follow through. Join FIDO Be part of a select community who cares about owning a well mannered, socialized dog that anyone would be happy to approach. see membership Come Run With The Pack T-shirts FREE with $25.00 membership to FIDO 1 for $15.00 2 for $25.00 See us at Coffee Bark!   In The News ... New York Post - Sunday May 10th, 2009 Read about Orrin Tilevitz and his anti-offleash jihad in Prospect Park (and other parks) Daily News -April 29th Dog Breed and Weight Specific Ban in NYC Public Housing To go into effect Friday, May 1st, 2009 See our commentary and the link No dogs over 25lbs? No more than one cat? Oh, my! Daily News -April 21st Running with the Boro's Big Dogs - two pages about Coffee Bark

Barkings... & Growls Download FIDO Newsletters going back to Spring 2003 NEW! Summer 2009 available for download   Barkings... Lost & Found Items (Contact FIDO Lost & Found) DON'T leave your dog unattended on a parking meter! Even though you may be able to see your dog through the shop window, a moment's distraction is all it takes! Stolen dogs have been held for ransom or reward right here in Park Slope. Size doesn't matter - there are people out there who will roll your dog through the doorway of a minivan without a moment's hesitation. Worse still, you dog may end up in a research laboratory or sold to an out of state pet store. Patronize dog friendly stores only; have a friend watch your dog or better still, leave your dog home when you're shopping. Does Your Dog Have a City Dog Tag/Rabies Tag? New City Health Department Dog Licence on-line registry - painless! An alternative is to download their PDF application and mail it in. Takes a few weeks! See your veterinarian for rabies tags. Know that a lost dog can be traced back to the veterinarian who issued the rabies tag. Health... Hot Weather Tips Leptospirosis? critical that you do the research! FIDO Health Section - vaccinate your dog! See AM New York Article, June 1st See FIDO Newsletter Summer 2009 - interview (pdf) Lyme Disease summery Note FIDO has a great "Health" section with all kinds of tips & links for canine park users. Growls... Garbage! Out of control... Obviously Prospect Park's administration is overwhelmed when it comes to dealing with garbage. On weekdays, the workers make a supreme effort to pre-bag everything for truck collection but come Monday mornings, overflowing garbage cans dot the landscape while picnic tables sit abandoned, paper plates in place; the entire menu pungently displayed for everyone to gag at. By Tuesday, everything is mostly picked up, thanks to a Herculean effort by clean up staff. Sound like last summer? The summer before? For the past ten years, FIDO has contributed fifty garbage cans a year - seemingly insufficient in light of the attitude of Prospect Park's picnickers & barbequers. Memorial Day... Sunday morning, the Long Meadow was shaped up by 8 a.m., thanks to a clean up team who went on the clock at 6! But ever they ask: why in Hell would anyone leave a wooden cabinet among the scattered debris of a impromptu picnic site? Cleaning up garbage in the Long Meadow is made all the more difficult in that night time revelers vandalize trash bags just for the fun of it - well after the close of park hours.       The Bottom Line... Here's the question: should we be content to just clean every week or attack the problem? There are State Parks in the USA where you won't find a garbage can because the policy is... "you bag it in, you bag it out." It works! Here's a suggestion: establish dumpster stations at strategic sites around the meadows, complete with garbage bag dispensers that are filled every weekend. Send out volunteer groups with garbage bags and fliers promoting the stations. Do public service announcements aimed at kids (who can shame their parents) using celebrities singing their own versions of "Bag it in, Bag it out." Can we change Brooklyn culture? What we can change is the way we complain about it. FIDO suggests that instead of wasting our time with 311 or bothering Tupper's office, we should e-mail our City Council Person and Federal Representatives: demand a shake up on how the park deals with garbage clean up and especially enforcement. Suggest they come out to the park on a Monday morning for a personal tour. City Council... Much of Park Slope falls into the 39th Council District, the seat currently held by Bil De Blasio who is running for Public Advocate. Currently Running for CD 39 is David Pechefsky, Green Party, Josh Skaller, Brad Lander and Bob Zuckerman among others. And not to forget Brooklyn Boro President, Marty Markowitz Ask them what they think? What they are going to do about it! Lastly, our Congress people: demand they get Prospect Park federal grants to cover costs for the first year! We're talking THIS year! Federal... Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Representative Yvette Clarke (D-NY) Representative Nydia M. Velazquez (D-NY) Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY) Representative Edolphus Towns (D-NY) Support Off-Leash Can't get up in the morning? Official Dog Runs (extended hours) Park Slope: Washington Park - 3rd Street btw 4th & 5th Aves Brooklyn Heights: Hillside Park - near Old Fulton Ferry See complete list: NYC Off-Leash Areas & Dog Runs One of FIDO's most Frequently Asked Question: how come we lost the 5 p.m. Winter and Summer off-leash privileges? Where the difficulty lies is that when the Health Department code was rewritten, "9 p.m. to 9 a.m." language was dropped in minutes before the vote was taken by the Health Department representatives. Up to that point, there had been no mention of specific hours; hours that were to have been left to the discretion of the Park's Commissioner. The way the code is now written, exceptions cannot be made without a change in the law. FIDO has consulted with attorneys familiar with the case and their opinion is it that there isn't the desire or the will on the part of the Bloomberg administration to further change the code - to make afternoon hour exceptions for individual parks. We have sense that Prospect Park's Administration is still on our side, that the value of responsible off-leash has gone a long way to make Prospect Park a safe healthy place for dogs and their people as well as other park goers. For over ten years, 5 p.m. weekday afternoon hours in the Nethermead were considered more than a courtesy. People were coming out with their dogs anyway after work, why not have an isolated meadow where the park administration knew where everyone was? It was a plan carefully worked out by the Prospect Park Alliance, Henry Stern, the then Park's Commissioner and FIDO in Prospect Park. There were hardly ever more than twenty dogs on that one hillside of the Nethermead at any one time. At no time were passersby threatened - many even detoured out of their way across the park to watch the dogs at play. Please Remember... What made FIDO in Prospect Park viable ten years ago was that a committed bunch of dog owners gathered together with Park administration to work out the basic off-leash rules that were essentially the rules we know today. The trick was to live by them.  By becoming a MEMBER of FIDO, dog owners felt empowered to apply peer pressure to those who still "didn't get it"!  Having control of your dog at all times is basic; it's still our number one priority today. If you are serious about responsible off-leash, we ask that you become a member of FIDO. We currently have about four hundred members which was certainly enough to inspire some twenty thousand plus New York City dog owners two year ago to make their voices known through petitions and letters when the City beat back the lawsuit by the Juniper Hill Civic association to end off-leash privileges. Instead off-leash privileges became off-leash law! Let's double our membership. Membership means you have a say in all manner of things "off-leash". Membership is a commitment to your fellow dog-owners as well as other park users. Membership is for one year. The  amount? Simply whatever you can afford from a few dollars on up. You can even join on-line. What's in it for me? Until everyone gets serious about standing up as a LARGE group committed to responsible off-leash rules, we're going to lose more and more off-leash space. Join FIDO; make yourself count. And don't forget to sign the Nethermead Petition 5 to 9 off-leash privileges. On-line petition Off-leash Rules ...     Official Parks Department Off-Leash Rules       Off-Leash Rules Explained, Ad Nauseam... We share the Park with lots of others: people, birds, critters, and plants.  It's a big park but heavily used. Please remember these few points - they can save you a bunch of money (like $100 per dog!) and be sure to tell your friends: PROSPECT PARK OFF-LEASH AREAS: 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. - 5 a.m to 9 a.m. Long Meadow; Nethermead & Peninsula ... See Map Leash Up - While off-leash rules extend from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m; 5 a.m to 9 a.m., it is mandatory that you leash your dog upon request of a person of authority whether it's off-leash hours or not. It makes good sense and may defuse a situation that would otherwise cost you a fine for whatever the perceived reason. Prospect Park is technically closed to all after 1a.m.. It reopens at 5 a.m. BALLFIELDS The ball fields are officially OFF LIMITS no matter the season, hour, on-leash or not. This is a ruling by the City Parks Department that came with the legalization of a city wide off-leash - a kind of one rule "fits all" policy. Ball fields extend from the horse corral to the 9th Street path beside the Tennis House. FAQ: Does "ball fields" include the center swath of grass down the middle? Is it OK to be on-leash on the ball fields? A: Off means OFF. Park Policy says that dogs must be on-leash, on the paths, even while going around the ball fields until you reach the Ninth Street path leading to the Dog Beach. This also means that dogs on leash are NOT allowed on the swath between ball fields. The reason for this is that off-leash dogs running anywhere along the perimeter have the potential to run into the ball field play area and poop; or leave a puddle on the concrete bench areas, hence, dogs must be on-leash, on the paths, until they reach the Long Meadow Proper - the path beside the Tennis House, leading directly down to the Dog Beach... Pee Wee Teams are active after April Opening Day - especially on weekends. As a courtesy and for your own enjoyment of the Long Meadow, give them another fifty yards of space - dogs and balls don't mix! DOG BEACH Dogs are NEVER, EVER allowed off leash in the water after off-leash hours. We know it's tempting, especially on weekends, but there are far too many passersby & children - many of whom would rather not encounter off-leash dogs. Be considerate of others! Swimming is allowed from the off-leash area known as the Peninsula but only during off-leash hours. PARK WORKERS There may be workfare crews cleaning up picnicker's garbage before 9 a.m., though mostly during summer months. They have a job to do which shouldn't have to include sweeping up OUR dog poop! Be aware that some of them would rather not meet off-leash dogs, so we should make an effort to keep our dogs away at all times. HORSES Horses are spooky critters and any encounter with dogs may lead to serious injury to the rider. DO NOT think introducing your dog to a horse will lead to a "fun" relationship. Avoid the bridle paths, PLEASE! Wooded areas, pathways, bridle paths and  roads are never OK for off-leash. Running your dog in the horse corral is a BIG no, no and the bridle path near the Nethermead is a particular sore point with the horseback riders - dogs could run across the road and hassle the horses. Anticipate trouble - KEEP Your Dog Away! SQUIRRELS It's against everything FIDO stands for to let your dog chase them - and it's a big, big NO as far as the Park Rangers are concerned. Letting your dog pursue squirrels is having a dog that's out of control - a major serious issue. NESTING AREAS - (woods as well as along waterways) Dogs must be on leash in these areas anyway. Some of these areas are fenced in, you say? There are more than a few park users who are nervous about encountering off-leash dogs within the confines of a trail. Put yourself in other peoples' shoes. Your dog must be on leash, ALL the time! PLAYGROUNDS Please, don't even think about it! MOMS WITH DOGS & TODDLERS Stay alert. There's always the danger of a little one being toppled by exuberant playful dogs... Remember that the water at the Dog Beach gets VERY deep, VERY quickly. It is NOT a toddler pool! USE COMMON SENSE! Where Are My...   Where Are my Fido E-mailings? You're a bonifide member of Fido but have never received any e-mail? | We batch e-mail Fido lost dog alerts/notices several times a month so if you haven't received any of these, could be we're on your spam list. FIDO alerts & notices are mailed from bob@exitfive.com. FIDO is always included in the "subject" line. Often we are unable to make out the handwriting on the membership applications - all the more reason to renew your membership on-line. See the "join Fido" button on our menu. If you think you're current member, then let Garry (Membership) know by e-mail: grosgoodATverizon.NET (transpose this into e-mail speak) Note to Earthlink/Yahoo/Verizon Members: We get a great number bounced back to us - chance are we're in your spam list of blocked e-mail. Go to the blocked mail folder and look for an address entitled "bob@exitfive.com". He sends out our batch mail since fidobrooklyn.org is blocked at the server level for mass e-mailing... Memorial Tree...   The Canine Memorial Tree In Prospect Park     You're welcome to list your dog on our web pages as well in a special Memorial Tree Book to be kept at Prospect Park's Audubon Center Contact FIDO...   e-mail fidobrooklyn@gmail.com Our Phone Number (voice mail) - Not for Lost/Found Dogs! Lost & Found Items including dogs: e-mail bipcar@gmail.com 1-888-604-3422 Snail Mail FIDO 230 Seventh Avenue, #157 Brooklyn, NY 11215 Complaints We happy to listen, especially when it concerns dog issues related to Prospect Park. Often, if your concern falls under "quality of life", like a neighbor's nosy dogs or street poop, you may get a better response out of the City's 311 hot line   "You're sure Coffee Bark is today, Sulu?"