The Dog (and People) Park
Harley, one of my best friends, with one of his, at Lincoln Park in Washington, D.C.
Every four years in Washington, D.C., January offers a transition of some kind; I landed on Capitol Hill in the last days of the Clinton administration. Harley, my Newfoundland buddy, loved those cold winters. Over Inauguration Day weekend in 2001 a chill wind from the south cooled some warming trends among mutts of all kinds, two- and four-legged.
Eleven blocks east of the U.S. Capitol, Harley and I knew all the dogs, if not all the people. Nearly every morning and night, for over 11 years, we intersected with neighbors and visitors. I knew everything about Scout’s ACL surgery, Henry’s storied Vizsla heritage, and Mystic, the fostered Great Dane with albinism. One neighbor I saw daily for nearly a decade turned out to be a U.S. attorney in the local courts, discovered during jury duty one day. I didn’t ask about how Bailey emerged from eating the pan of brownies the day before; and didn’t want to delay or compromise justice during voire dire, disclosing that I knew his dog pretty well, but not really him.
After decades in D.C., specifically my neighborhood park, I saw the ways that dog populations reflected the administrations — and functioned as a background community and anchor, through political shifts.
In shorthand, my life with a dog on Capitol Hill:
Clinton years = Fairly small groups of dogs early and later in the day alongside relatively few people active in the park, no playgrounds for kids, and occasional crime. My late summer nights were spent with other (mostly big) dogs waiting for the day to cool down. An existing and growing cohort of dog-owning neighbors and parents helped stabilize the neighborhood and streets, being out and about, and I always felt safe, with my 150lbs friend.
Bush years = Lots of purebreds — sporting, hunting, and herding dogs — nearly always on leash, mostly unfamiliar with open parks (vs. fenced yards). Young couples, many southern. Two playgrounds emerged to anchor the east end of the park. The neighborhood was growing in popularity and amenities.
Obama years = so many more people, and dogs, mostly mutts and mostly off leash. During peak early and late hours it was typical to engage with romping mobs of 20-40 pooches, (sadly) destroying the grass with running and rough-and-tumbling. The weekends were packed with dogs and people picnicking, hosting birthday parties, and visiting with each other. Suddenly I saw kids 6-15years old everywhere; only in their presence did I fully recognize their absence, in the years before, when you would see infants and toddlers, but rarely tweens or teens.
I moved away from the Hill after Obama, and returned during Biden. At this point Lincoln Park has evolved to become a vibrant, stable neighborhood, full of families and folks of all ages and backgrounds, and dogs of all shapes and sizes, with lots more amenities and more expensive housing. I can’t speak for the ways the current administration has impacted dogs in D.C., and, I’m grateful for the abundance of green spaces, and four-legged friends, all over the city.
