somerville dog: a weblog

As part of the Mezzo Design Lofts project, the developers created a neighborhood park for people and pets on Caldwell Street in Charlestown. The park is just over the Somerville City Line at the end of Broadway, in the shadow of I-93.

The developers are to be commended for improving public open space in the neighborhood. Strummer checked out the park on Labor Day, and, we found some problems that will have to be addressed for the park to succeed. I made a little video documenting the problems.

I learned about the park from friends who live in East Somerville with two small dogs. When they told me about the park, they raised concerns for the safety of their dogs: There are gaps in the park's fencing through which a small dog could easily escape to the heavy traffic of Broadway.

About one-quarter to one-third of the off-leash recreational area is landscaped with low plantings and small trees. The landscaping limits the space that can be used for off-leash recreation; Moreover, the grasses, shrubs and flowers will not withstand the use of the area by dogs, and will become an eyesore.

Posted by Michèle at 4:29 PM
Categories: Development and Open Space, Dogs and Business, Massachusetts, Off-Leash Recreational Areas—i.e. "Dog Parks", Somerville, Strummer
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Viewers of City Tails on City Cable are familiar with a regular segment in which host Rob Auffrey asks people around the city to guess a local mutt's breed background.

Auffrey's own mixed-breed dog, Max, was one of three mutts featured in an article on breed-identification DNA testing online on the Dog Channel.

Max had two DNA tests: The Canine Heritage XL Breed Test, which which detects 108 breeds and is conducted by a painless cheek swab, and the Wisdom Panel MX Mixed Breed Analysis test, which detects 134 breeds and requires a simple blood test by a participating vet.

What breeds are in Max?
a) Samoyed, Alaskan Malamute, Greyhound
b) Pomeranian, Keeshond, Poodle
c) Dachshund, Miniature Schnauzer
d) English Bulldog, German Pinscher, Harrier

Answer.

Posted by Michèle at 8:52 PM
Categories: Dogs and Business, Dogs and Culture, Dogs in the News, Somerville Dogs, Your Dog's Health
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Saturday afternoon we went to Conway Park to see a skate demo by local youth and to sign a petition supporting a Somerville Skate Park.

I spoke with a mom from West Somerville who was at Conway Park with her dog, a broken coated Jack Russell Terrier, appropriately named "Ollie," cheering on her three sons. Her oldest, who is a junior at Somerville High School this year, helped start the petition. Her youngest let my daughter ride his skateboard!

We spent about an hour-and-a-half at the street-hockey rink and watched kids from age five to twenty-five doing tricks on home-made ramps, platforms and rails. Though it looked like a free-for-all, with people approaching the platforms and the jumps from different directions, it was clear that an etiquette was being observed. I didn't see any collisions; Several times I watched guys approach a platform and skate away to let someone else do a stunt.

It is clear that there is a need for a skate park in Somerville. I don't think that there is any other recreational activity (with the exception of off-leash recreation, of course) that five-year-olds can enjoy with twenty-five-year-olds. They can't play basket ball together, they can't play soccer together, they can't play street hockey together, but at Conway Park on Saturday afternoon, they were playing together, learning how to do amazing things with their bodies and learning the rules of the street (if not the rules of the road).

One suggestion I have for building support for a skate park more broadly in the community: helmets. When I bring my daughter to see the "big kids" who fascinate her, I'd prefer her to see her role models wearing helmets!

The skate demo (also billed as the the somer session) was sponsored by Save Our Somerville.

Posted by Michèle at 8:59 PM
Categories: Somerville
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