The Dogs of Central Park
Last week I had a lay over in New York for 24 hours and took a walk through the city’s beautiful Central Park. I was struck by how many dogs there were, in every shape and size. They filled me with joy and inspired this photo series of the dogs of Central Park.
I, unfortunately, don’t have a dog. I would like one, but it would be hard to combine with flying. A dog brings companionship, makes you get out everyday for walks and you find yourself having friendly, spontaneous chats with other dog owners. I discovered all of this when I photographed these beauties.
1) Emma
I met Emma as I walked into Central Park. She immediately reminded me of Elizabeth Taylor Goldenblatt, the dog belonging to Charlotte in “Sex and the City”. Emma was wearing fashionable red shoes – there was a lot of snow in Central Park.
2) Bleecker and Houston.
Inspiration for a cool and fun names for your dog can be found everywhere on the streets of New York. Check out these two bundles of joy: Bleecker (named after Bleecker Street/West Village) and Houston. The street’s name is pronounced “HOUSE-ton”, unlike that of the city Houston in Texas, which is pronounced “HUGH’s-ton”. This is because the street was named after William Houstoun, whereas the city was named after Sam Houston. How funny: “Houston, Bleecker, come here!”
3) Roxy, Tiffany and Kudo.
Roxy is a real New York City Girl. Tiffany is a from my home country, the Netherlands! Her pale blue eyes are amazing. Kudo is from the UK. Tiffany and Kudo are both service dogs. Service dogs are specially trained to help people who have disabilities, such as visual or hearing impairments, autism, or mental illness. Jonathan, who was proudly taking these ladies for a walk, explained this to me and showed me more pictures of them on his smartphone.
4) Manny
Manny is three year’s old. His name is short for Manhattan. The owner, Jade, walks Manny every day in Central Park, unless it’s raining. Manny hates the rain. When it rains, Manny firmly sets his shoulders in a position that says “No! Please don’t take me”. He’s loving and calm, but doesn’t enjoy giving kisses unless you’ve just eaten and left food around your mouth. Manny plays with all dogs, but loves big dogs especially. For Jade and her fiancé, Manny is the love of their life, she said.
5) Dakota
John, Dakota’s owner, showed me how well he had trained Dakota so I could take this picture. Later that morning I saw them together at a coffee place. John’s wife had joined them. I found out he had told his wife about this blog and I thought that was so nice. It was lovely to meet them!
6) Odie
Odie was a great model. She posed in her cute red jacket just like America’s next dog model. A lot of the dogs in Central Park are warmly dressed in winter. Odie really liked the camera I guess… this is one of my favourite shots.
7) Cash
Such a cool name for a little fellow!
8) Rocco & Bruno
Rocco is ten and Bruno is eight. “Dad” Brian told me that he and his husband met years ago at a Manhattan club called “Roxy”. So “Rocco” is in honour of that club. They also love the irony of giving a tough-guy name to such a tiny, six-pound dog. Bruno continued the tradition with another classic tough-guy name.
Rocco and Bruno get along very well, but never really play together. Bruno is very protective of Rocco and doesn’t allow other dogs or people to come near him in the park – I had noticed:) Central Park is the only park in the city where dogs are allowed on the grass. There’s only one place Rocco and Bruno love more than the park and that’s the beach!
9) Neruda
Named after the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who’s famous for his love poems. The owner of this beauty is a lovely lady with South American roots.
“But I love your feet
only because they walked
upon the earth and upon
the wind and upon the waters,
until they found me.”
~ Pablo Neruda
10) Teddy
Nice to know: Closer to 59th Street there are big rings on the baseball fields, where everyone meets to let their dogs off to run around. Teddy is a real teddy. So soft and adorable. What a beauty!
11) Ruby
By following a little advice from Ruby’s owner, I was able to take this picture of a great dog smile… “Say treat” seems to have the same effect as “Say Cheese”!
Thank you to all the owners for letting me take pictures of their lovely dogs. It was wonderful to meet you all.
Are you traveling to New York soon and want to partake in the dog-craziness in Central Park? There are some useful tips on traveling with pets on the KLM website.
And while you are petting your dog… you could listen to this ‘doggy’ playlist I made. ;)
