Alex Manos attempts to get the dogs to back away from the entrance and exit to the temporary dog park when Michael Dmytrow, 13, shows up with his dog Reef, 1. Photos by Rachel S. O’Hara/The Coastal Star
Related: PHOTOS: The Poodle Gang
By Ron Hayes
When the Maddock Park dog park in Lantana closed on Aug. 21 with only three days’ warning, its dogs had a bone to pick with the town.
Now where would Winston, Rusty, Penny, Boo and all their canine pals meet most evenings to romp, roll, fetch and sniff?
The park will reopen come October, with almost $180,000 in new fencing and benches, even some canine-friendly exercise equipment. But try telling that to a dog.
Winston’s humans, former Mayor Dave Stewart and his wife, Pam, invited several of the parkless dogs over to Pam’s late mother’s backyard the Saturday after the park closed.
Dorothy Ranney’s yard is fenced in, so while their humans snacked on nachos, dips and drinks, the dogs frolicked.
It wasn’t the town’s dog park, but it would do as a weekly substitute until the real park reopened.
That plan lasted a single Saturday.
“Some of the people from the park started calling the mayor,” Dave Stewart recalled.
In an age when citizens love to castigate government inefficiency, Lantana’s public servants heard the voters’ bark and acted quickly. In less than two weeks, temporary fencing had been put up near the closed park, a few benches added, and by Sept. 3 the dogs were back in Maddock Park.
To passers-by, they may seem only a pack of happy yappers, but chat with some of their humans and you’ll soon agree that each dog is as individual as the Lantana dog lovers who brought them here.
They’ve been dubbed the Poodle Gang, but poodle blood is not required to join.
On a recent Wednesday evening, only three of the eight dogs enjoying the temporary park were poodles. The rest are considered “honorary poodles,” in addition to whatever breed nature made them.
Stewart’s dog Winston, 2½, is a goldendoodle, a mix of golden retriever and poodle.
Dave Stewart gets some extra love from Mila, 11 months, as Penny, 1, enjoys a freshly poured bowl of water.
“He’s the greeter and sergeant-at-arms,” Stewart boasted. “He greets the other dogs as they arrive. But he doesn’t welcome them all. If they’re too aggressive, he barks.”
Winston’s best friend is 5-year-old Rusty, whose human is Kim Giles.
“We think he’s a labradoodle,” Giles said, “but if he has any Labrador in him, the retriever part’s broken. He’s full-on poodle.
“He was homeless and didn’t know how to play. Through this park he now has friends. If we pass Winston in the car, they cry and yell for each other.”
Former town councilman Philip Aridas’ 2-year-old Boston terrier, Mylow, is bilingual.
“He was born in California and came here, so when his family had to move back, we took him,” Aridas explained. “They were Hispanic, so he’s bilingual. He understands both Spanish and English.”
At least two of the gang are experienced airline passengers.
Brynn and Alex Manos got Penny, their goldendoodle, after her mother in Ohio spotted someone on Facebook whose dog had experienced “an accidental litter” of nine.
They flew to Ohio and adopted one of the nine.
“We flew her back in a carry-on bag under the seat in front of us,” Alex Manos said. “It cost $50.”
Since joining the Poodle Gang, Penny has earned the nickname “Penny Pincher.”
“She jumps on the other dogs’ backs and hugs them,” Manos explained. “It drives Rusty nuts.”
Eevee, a 7-year-old Belgian malinois, is a transatlantic flier.
“She flew in a bag under the seat all the way from Vienna to Miami and never barked,” Eszter Gyarfas said. “And I didn’t even give her a Xanax.”
Rodve Syllne also has a Belgian malinois, Xena, who’s only 1 year old and already working as a personal trainer.
“We play tug where she has the rope in her teeth,” Syllne said, “and she’s so strong sometimes I use her to do my bicep exercises.”
Michael Dmytrow’s year-old Weimaraner, Reef, earned his name as part of a team, almost.
“I have a pet bearded dragon named Atlantic,” Dmytrow explained, “so we were going to get a girl dog and name her Coral, then a boy and name him Reef, so we’d have three pets named Atlantic Coral Reef. We got Reef first, but he’s really hyper, and we only have so much room at home, so we never got Coral. So, we just have Atlantic Reef.”
Kim Giles laughs after getting slobbered on by Boo, 7.
And then there’s Boo, Linda Pollog’s 7-year-old white boxer. Or perhaps he should be called Boo Two.
“Boo One died seven years ago,” Pollog begins, “and I was miserable. He was a white boxer, and I scoured from Miami to Hobe Sound looking for another white boxer.”
Finally, her sister found one, in Alabama, only 3 weeks old. Pollog drove up and brought him home.
“It cut down on the trauma I was having, and I love him,” she said. “He’s my Boo. Did you know that in Ebonics boo means boyfriend?”
Boo is also the fastest, leapingest, most aggressively affectionate non-poodle in the whole Poodle Gang. Take care or he’ll throw himself into your lap and try to French kiss you with a terrifyingly long tongue.
Pollog knows this but is unperturbed.
“Yeah, he’s a drooler,” she admits. “I’ve got to clean the slobber off the walls twice a month. But I love him. What are you going to do?”
Comments