I talked to a super-friendly man who owned an older female black lab, and he explained to me that there are three "meadows" for off-leash recreation at the park: one lies fallow (and, indeed, "Meadow 2" was closed with ongoing maintenance underway), one is open for dogs under thirty pounds, and one is open for dogs over thirty pounds.

Shortly after we arrived, a young couple came into the over-thirty-pound meadow with their thirty-pound German Short-haired pointer puppy. They hadn't been sure if their dog was supposed to be in the under-thirty-pound or the over-thirty-pound meadow, but after letting him in the under-thirty-pound meadow it became clear that neither he nor the other small dogs were happy with each other, and he was clearly in his element with the other big dogs.

What impressed me most at this public rural dog park was how everyone there on a weekday afternoon, the eve of Thanksgiving, was so well-versed in off-leash etiquette and how vigilantly welcoming everyone was. And when I say impressed, I don't mean surprised: people who enjoy the benefits of socializing and exercising their dogs off-leash in public open space are usually friendly, community-minded people. They care about their pets, they care about their park, and they really want everyone to be safe and well and to have a great time.

Welcome to John Rudy County Park

Entrance to Meadow 3 (open to dogs over 30 lbs.)

Meadow 1 (open to dogs under 30 lbs)

Marisol ran away from her dog-walking group in the Fells near Hutchins Rd. in Medford (behind Lawrence Memorial) on Tuesday, November 2, at about 2 pm after being attacked by another dog. She is a spayed, 20-25 lb, copper- and cream-colored mutt (a Puerto Rican street dog, a Sato). She looks like a big fox.

Her owners ask, on the advice of an expert with whom they are working, that searchers and sighters NOT call or yell her name, chase her, make a lot of noise or try to catch her.

If you see or think you've seen Marisol call or text her owners as soon as possible, any time, 24/7: 617-383-9228.

That's Strummer, outside the Lowell Street Fire House, but that's not Strummer's owner.

When Strummer and I arrived at the polling location for Ward 2, Precinct 3, yesterday, we were greeted by the volunteers that we have gotten to know over the years. One of them pulled a dog biscuit out of his pocket and gave it to Strummer. (He was certainly prepared for dogs at the polls.) Then one of the other volunteers, who was checking voters off the registered voter list, reminded him that they had been told "No Dogs." Fortunately, one of my neighbors, Robert Bonvie, was voting at the same time and offered to wait outside with Strummer while I voted. That's him in the picture.

Somerville dog owners have been getting out the vote since August 2005, when, on the eve of the the special state primary election for the 2nd Middlesex District senate seat on August 30, I contacted the Somerville Elections Department to ask if voters may bring our dogs with us to the polls. I was told that dogs must be on leash, must remain close to their owner, and must not bother other voters.

We have voted with our dogs in every election since then:

September 13, 2005 - preliminary municipal election for Ward 3 Alderman

September 27, 2005 - special state election for the 2nd Middlesex District senate seat

November 8, 2005 - municipal elections

Febraury 7, 2005 - special state election for the 27th Middlesex District house seat

September 19, 2006 - state primary election

November 7, 2006 - state election

April 10, 2007 - special preliminary election for vacant at-large seat on the Somerville Board of Aldermen

November 6, 2007 - municipal elections

November 4, 2008 - state election

November 3, 2009 - municipal elections

December 7, 2009 - special primary election for the U.S. Senate

January 19, 2010 - special election for the U.S. Senate

April 13, 2010 - special state election for the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex District senate seat

Yesterday morning I received an e-mail from a voter who reported that, at the Capuano School, the polling location for Ward 1, Precinct 1, the police officer on detail approached him "very aggressively" and told him he could not vote with his dogs. The voter explained to the officer that the City's Election Department allows people to vote with their dogs, but the officer didn't believe him.

I have searched both the Massachusetts General Laws (M.G.L) and the Code of Massachusetts Regulations (C.M.R.) for laws or regulations banning dogs at polling places, but have found nothing. Nonetheless Acting Chief Michael Cabral told me in an e-mail yesterday that "dogs are not allowed to enter polling places." I have asked Cabral to direct me to the law that says this. Due to the very sad circumstances of a Somerville police officer having been shot and wounded in the line of duty, yesterday, however, I have not yet received a response.

Please share your experiences at the polls yesterday. Did you bring your dog with you to the polls? We're you allowed to vote with your dog? If you were not allowed to vote with your dog, what did you do? Please include your polling location and the breed of your dog. You may comment here, or, if you prefer, e-mail your comments to canisfamiliaris - AT - somervilledog.com.

Banfield has not returned my calls, but I had the opportunity to ask Strummer's vet about rodentcides. Dr. Adam Parker, of Porter Square Veterinarian, explained that while a rat could, theoretically, eat any type of poison, there are two main types of rodenticides. "The most common by far is an anticoagulant that would cause fatal internal (or external) bleeding. There is a less common type that would cause neurologic signs such as seizures." "Any poison exposure from a dead rat," however, "would be through ingestion of its remains and not exposure to any kind of gases produced."

It is common practice during construction projects to use toxic bait to mitigate the public health risks of displacing rats by disturbing their homes. The City of Somerville takes care to bait for rats in such a way that people and pets are not directly exposed to the poison. With several major construction projects underway in the city, however, pet owners should be careful to prevent their pets from ingesting the remains of dead rats. If you do find the remains of a dead rat on the street or sidewalk or in a park or other public way, please call 311 (617-666-3311 from a mobile phone) to report it so that the Department of Public Works may dispose of it safely.

If your dog ordinarily comes enthusiastically on command, but on a hot summer day stands or lies down where s/he is and stares at you, don't get mad, get your dog out of the sun and get water.

Somerville dog blogger MuttStuff recently posted about heatstroke. Sadly at least one dog has died this summer because of heat exposure. Melissa C. McCue, Certified Pet Dog Trainer [CPDT] compiles a lot of important information about heat stroke: signs of; what to do if your dog is a victim of, and how to prevent.

Remember that your parked car—even with the windows cracked—is not a safe place for your pet in the summer. If you see an unattended animal (or a child for that matter) in a car, please notify the authorities: the Somerville police (911), Somerville Animal Control (311), even a local business owner.

Strummer participated in two experiments, one studying whether dogs are reading the intentions of a human pointing, and another exploring whether dogs have a sense of fairness. Of course, because of her training and good manners, Strummer, again, didn't get past the warm-up exercises.

I would have been really interested to see Strummer performing in the experiment on fairness. When I give another dog a treat in Strummer's presence, my sense of equity prompts me to offer her a treat, too. If Strummer has a sense of equity, however, I don't think it's as simple as if-another-dog-gets-a-treat-it's-only-fair-that-I-get-one-too. For one thing, she doesn't necessarily accept a treat that is offered just because I offered one to another dog. On the other hand, when we are visiting my parents, if my father gives his younger, larger male German Shepherd Dog, Shadow, a treat, Strummer will cock her head and raise her ears. But then my dad is a pez dispenser, so it may not be so much that Strummer thinks it's fair that he give her a treat, too; she may have been trained to expect one.

I wonder if Strummer would feel that a young male didn't deserve the food as much as she deserved it. Would she use access to food to demonstrate her seniority to another female? I expect that she would probably defer to another dog if she felt the food were his—just as she always defers to other dogs when chasing balls or sticks: When she's playing it doesn't matter who gets the toy as long as everyone gets to keep playing.

But, alas, Strummer is not the dog that will reveal the secrets of canine cognition in a controlled experiment.

I did appreciate learning that one of the papers that the Lab is trying to get published is about dogs' behavior during the warm-up exercises as a predictor for their behavior in the experiments. I'm sure that Strummer's work is central to that study!

Also, when I told Dan that I would be posting (and had posted before) about the Canine Cognition Lab on the somerville dog weblog, he mentioned that a lot of Somerville dogs participate in the studies! Somerville dogs are contributing to science!

In an e-mail to members of the public yesterday morning, Tom Keppeler, Associate Director of Public Relations for the School, outlined the plan for public access to the field going forward: all people who wish to visit the field for recreational purposes will need to register; people with dogs will be issued an identification tag that their pets will be required to wear in the field; "the agricultural portion of the field will be strictly on-leash only." In addition to these new policies and enforcement, the School will be convening an advisory body "to discuss issues at the field."

People with whom I've spoken who attended the meeting were pleased with the outcome and were especially appreciative of Dean Kochevar's emphasis on the importance of educating the public about responsible dog handling.

Kochevar's comments on identifying problematic behavior in dogs are quoted in the Daily Schrewsbury article:

"As an educational institution, we feel it's important to help you evaluate whether your pet should be on a public field," said Kochevar. "If you know your pet has been aggressive before, dog on dog, dog on person, you probably shouldn't be in that public venue."

Kochevar owns a Rhodesian Ridgeback.

I followed up this morning with Keppeler to find out more about the provisions for responsible dog owner education in the School's plans for the off-leash recreation area. Keppeler explained that, in her comments, Kochevar went on to discuss the opportunity that the mandatory behavior evaluations will afford the School to direct members of the community to resources, including the Behavior Clinic at the Foster Hospital for Small Animals, for addressing behavioral problems so that they can enjoy the benefits of socializing and exercising their dogs off-leash in public open space. When dogs are well-socialized with other dogs and with people, we can all better enjoy living with them in our communities.

By providing an area for off-leash recreation, the School is providing a real service the towns of Grafton and Westborough: When people have safe and legal options for off-leash recreation, in other parks and open spaces there are fewer violations of the leash law.

When the Tufts School of Arts and Sciences is ready to follow the example of the Cummings School and provide a fenced-in area for off-leash recreation at its Somerville campus, the Somerville Dog Owners Group will be pleased to work with the Administration!

On Saturday, June 26, participants in the Powder House Camera Project had their portraits taken by (not next to, but by means of) the powder house.

Smidt had covered all openings through which light could enter with the exception of a "pinhole" (about one-inch square) in the window of the powder house door. Through the pinhole the scene outside was projected on a screen inside.

Inside the powder house, as our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we could see the scene outside projected (upside down and backwards) on the screen. First the dark trees against the bright sky, then the park sloping down to College Avenue where, occasionally, cars would pass by. Finally the eerie figures of people outside the powder house appeared, their voices, muffled by the stone walls, moving in the opposite direction of their bodies.

Jake, an Irish Setter who lives in Ten Hills, had his photo taken with his people Alan and Elaine. Inside the powder house Smidt took digital photos of the image on the screen. Each photo had a six-second exposure.

Annie's photos—the ones she took using the Powder House Camera—will be available soon on the Powder House Project website.

Other free-standing camera obcuras include Foredown Tower in in Portslade, England; the Giant Camera of San Francisco at Ocean Beach, and the camera obscura at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Please help this dog get home! He was found in Foss Park this morning with no collar. A caring Somerville Dog Owner has taken him home. Contact me if you know whom he belongs to!

Fast forward to 2010. About two weeks ago brand new blue signs were posted at all the entrances to Norton’s Woods listing prohibited activities. The first item on the new signs is “No Pets.”

Since then Strummer and I have been stopped by Harvard police officers twice and told that dogs are no longer allowed in Norton's Woods.

To ban pets from open space is to ban people with pets from open space. There is nothing prima facie unreasonable about access to and use of open space by families with pets.

Since I adopted Strummer in the spring of 2004, we have been walking through Norton's Woods on our way to and from my office every day. The Woods have always had blue signs posted at all of the entrances listing prohibited activities. The first item on the old signs used to be “No Dogs,” but, shortly after we started visiting Norton's Woods, "No Dogs" was painted over.

The community of people who enjoy Norton’s Woods together with their dogs already won the battle five years ago to get the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to allow families with dogs access to and use of Norton’s Woods. So, what's with the new signs?

Yesterday the Cambridge City Council heard two hours of public comment, about half of which was dedicated to new restrictions on public access to Norton's Woods, according to an article today in Cambridge Day, "Restrictions anger neighbors used to walking academy’s woods," by Marc Levy. City Councillor Marjorie Decker had a Policy Order on the City Council Agenda:

That the City Manager is requested to report back to the City Council on the property known as the Norton Woods that has been reopened after being closed due to flooding with a newly instituted no dogs policy.

Vice Mayor Davis, Councillor Kelley, Mayor Maher, Councillor Reeves, Councillor Seidel, Councillor Simmons and Councillor Toomey also signed the order.

In Arlington, dog owners are celebrating a bylaw change, which will allow for early morning off-leash hours at certain, as yet undetermined, parks.

And in Newton, there will be a public hearing on June 14 where residents will have a chance to comment on a proposal for off-leash recreational areas at three parks, in addition to the existing OLRA at Old Cold Spring Park:

• Claflin Playground
• Currently used by dog owners as an off leash recreation area
• Fence already in place
• McGrath Park
• Almost fully enclosed
• Area between Washington Street and the west side tennis courts (other areas for limited hours)
• Norumbega
• Heavily used by dog owners as an off leash recreation area
• Almost fully enclosed

Being a dog owner in greater Boston keeps getting better and better!

A Ronan Park dog owner made a video showing the transformation of the an underused area of Ronan Park into a beautiful space for people and pets:

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