Where can I hang out with a friendly medium to large doggo in NYC?
January 29, 2021 11:52 PM   Subscribe

I just finished a month split between working on a COVID ICU and pretty soul crushing exploitation on a different hospital service. I’m burnt out. Thankfully, as of today, I’m on vacation for the month! If I didn’t regularly work 80 hours a week, I would have a dog. But since I do have time this month, maybe I could hang out with a dog? I’m in NYC. Help me figure out how.
posted by ocherdraco to Pets & Animals (18 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Do you have a car and would you be willing to drive out of the city to hang out with a dog?
posted by sciencegeek at 4:36 AM on January 30, 2021


Response by poster: Yes!
posted by ocherdraco at 5:02 AM on January 30, 2021


Over here, animal shelters use volunteers to socialize with and walk their dogs. Maybe it's the same in NYC? Or do you want to hang out with one individual doggo, not random shelter doggos?
posted by Zumbador at 5:38 AM on January 30, 2021


Check the pet stores and shelters for adoption events. They will happily let you take the dogs for a walk.
posted by COD at 6:14 AM on January 30, 2021


So, we're in STL (and have a medium-large dog and Mr. Meat worked as the "covid intubation guy" for a while in the spring) and I'd love to let you do this.

But since you're in NYC, serious question: Are there other hospital employees who have such a dog? I'd ask the resident chiefs if they know any, or the recruiter, or the wellness person. If you find one dog person, they might have connections to more. Or a rover person might have a connection. We have friends who foster and might have connections, too.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 7:24 AM on January 30, 2021 [2 favorites]


Maeve Higgins's book (memoir/essay collection) has a chapter in which "borrowing" (i.e. volunteering to walk) dogs from a NYC no-kill shelter was presented as a routinely done thing, though it doesn't name the shelter.
posted by wreckingball at 7:25 AM on January 30, 2021 [1 favorite]


Make your way over to the nearest dog run and hang out? I take my small-medium dog over to the local dog run where she makes friends with all the other dog owners and I occasionally play with the other, bigger dogs. I wouldn’t find it weird if there was someone there who liked to dog watch but didn’t have a dog of their own.
posted by A Blue Moon at 7:30 AM on January 30, 2021 [2 favorites]


I have borrowed so many pets by offering free petsitting.
posted by aniola at 8:14 AM on January 30, 2021 [3 favorites]


I will DM you in a bit. Messaging with my lovely besties who are in Manhattan and have dogs.
posted by gaspode at 8:55 AM on January 30, 2021 [6 favorites]


Post on Facebook or whatever your social media of choice is to see if you have any friends who’d like to lend you their dog for an afternoon or a weekend. I adore my dog but sometimes it’s nice to get a break from the routine of walks/feeding/giving him his meds/having him stare at me while I work from home, and if a trusted friend wanted to borrow him for a few days I’d be down.

Otherwise I agree with the commenter above who suggested visiting a dog run. Busy times are weekends and before/after work. NYC has so many and they are really nice! It’s unusual to go without a dog but not weird.
posted by lunasol at 9:10 AM on January 30, 2021


Sean Casey Animal Rescue in Brooklyn allows you to wakl their dogs - minimum 15 minutes, maximum 45.

Will also DM you to see if you're interested in meeting my dog - we're trying to socialize him with more humans!
posted by Drowsy Philosopher at 9:34 AM on January 30, 2021 [5 favorites]


Borrow My Doggy does exactly this in the UK, looks like it's not elsewhere yet, but you can sign up with your location so they can notify you if and when they do spring up near you - might be worth doing for possible future dog borrowing opportunities.
posted by penguin pie at 9:36 AM on January 30, 2021


I had more thoughts because I'm really rooting for this to happen for you:

- One of our local shelters has "slumber pawties" where you can borrow a shelter dog for a night or two to give them a break from the stressful shelter. There may be other short-term fostering options near you.

- Therapy dogs, like the dogs who visit colleges during stressful exam times for a break. I know the local hospitals (and the crisis nursery where I volunteered in the before times) have therapy dogs come visit. YOU QUALIFY. This may be something that the hospital wellness person might be able to help you arrange.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 9:55 AM on January 30, 2021 [1 favorite]


Animal Care Center's Boroughbreak sounds like exactly what you are looking for! Spots go fast but I believe there are refreshes at certain times throughout the week, maybe you can ask them when.

FYI: Volunteers at ACC (city shelter) need to work their way up to dog-walking so I wouldn't recommend that route.
posted by joeyjoejoejr at 10:22 AM on January 30, 2021 [1 favorite]


FWIW my experience as a person in dog parks (though I’ve generally been there with a dog or with a friend who has a dog) is that most dogs are often pretty busy playing with the other dogs and it’s hard to get the sort of adoring overenthusiastic attention that the same dog would probably shower you with if you were in a different, less distracting environment. I wouldn’t rule it out, but I’ve been disappointed.
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:11 AM on January 30, 2021 [2 favorites]


I work a farmers market on saturdays in Bk, and I bring my newly adopted border collie/elkhound mix with me. She would love to hang. (And actually, she could use some help getting used to Brooklyn!)
posted by functionequalsform at 1:31 PM on January 30, 2021


Response by poster: So many awesome offers and suggestions! My heart is full with it. I’m going to try to do as many as I can. ❤️
posted by ocherdraco at 8:31 PM on January 30, 2021 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: And I’ve gotten enough offers that it might take me a while to work through and respond to each of them! Thanks so much, everyone!
posted by ocherdraco at 8:36 PM on January 30, 2021 [2 favorites]


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