Dog's Den Closed By NYC Marshal

image: Here Is Park SlopeAfter some crazy Kennel cough outbreak, Dog's Den has apparently been seized, shut down by the NYC Marshal (whatever the hell that is), and is now for rent.

Back when we first moved to Park Slope several years ago, we needed a daycare solution for Oliver and Dog's Den had just opened. It was sort of the only game in town, and the facilities looked pretty OK, so we started sending him there. But we quickly realized that the place sucked a gigantic dizzle.

Here's some reasons why:

• It didn't take long for the place to start smelling like a piss factory...on a hot day in the middle of summer....during the middle of a piss storm. It was never ever ever never clean in there. 
• They had a "puppy cam" that was supposed to allow you to watch your dog every day. First they told me it would only work with PC's...then I heard it was "broken." It pretty  much stayed that way for the duration of our time going there (8 mos or so).
• One day when I was picking up Oliver I was privy to an "interview" meeting that the owner was having with a potential new employee. Why the eff he felt it appropriate to conduct this meeting in front of me, I do not know. The dude did not ask this person what his experience with animals was, how he felt about animals, if he was a pet owner. He basically just emphasized that it was a minimum wage job and "not very much fun." This attitude was very evident with most of the employees who (with the exception of one or two) were not people who were there because they loved dogs...they were just there cause they needed a paycheck.
• I go to pick up Oliver one night and they bring him up to me with a bloody cut on his nose. I ask what happened and they tell me that "Oliver got into it" with one of the other dogs. We've had Oliver for 9 years now, and had never once have seen O-town "get into it" with any other dog. They didn't really have much more of an explanation. He looked to me at the time like he needed stitches so we took him to vet (for an emergency after hours appt, thank you very much). As it turned out, he didn't need stitches, but he does now have a permanent scar from the incident, ruining his chances forever at a John Casablancas modeling contract.

It was soon after that we decided WE'RE NEVER STEPPING FOOT INTO THAT HELL HOLE AGAIN.

How rad would it be if some responsible, conscientious, Doggie Daycare owners took the place over, changed the name, cleaned it the fuck up and turned it into a rad Doggie Daycare facility?? Cause the Slope desperately needs one and I'm pretty sure that with all the dogs around here, it could make about a billion dollars.

(via Here Is Park Slope)

Who Gives A Shit: Doggie Daycare?

DOGS, DOGS, DOGZ, DOGZ, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.

Yet another thing to add to our growing list of shit Park Slope needs badly: a KILLER doggie daycare.

Now look, before we knew any better, we used to take Oliver to Dog's Den...BAD IDEA JEANS. The dude now has a scar on his nose to remind him of that horrible time, thanks to some bitch assed dog that got into a fight with him one day and tried to chomp his nose off.

Also, everyone who works there (MOSTLY) could care fuck all about dogs. They need a job and that's it (and in case you're wondering, they get paid minimum wage...and I know this because one day when I was waiting for my dog to be brought up, someone thought it was a good idea to conduct an interview in the mothefucking waiting room out front). I actually think I saw a job listing for this place once, and nowhere does it say: MUST LOVE DOGS. They don't really give a crap and it shows.

Paws in Paradise is actually way the fuck nicer...and everyone who works there is very nice. And in fairness, Oliver has been there a few times and seemed to enjoy himself. But for some reason, there seem to mostly be smaller dogs there...and its just not very big...and I just always get the sense that when I drop Oliver off he's like: AYFKMWTS??? WHERE IS THE A-C-T-I-O-N.

I went once to look at that Place on Douglass (I don't even care enough to google the name right now) and it looked disgusting, so I never went back.

Man, we went to this place back when we lived in the city called The Paw Spot, and it was amazeballs. It was clean and beautiful, and everyone who worked there was crazytown about dogs. You got the sense that if they were not working at a daycare, they'd be at a vet's office, or a pet store, or somewhere where they could just be around dogs all day. So yeah...I'm not really so thrilled with the Park Slope doggie daycare sitch.

What about you? Do you doggie daycare it?

Hawt Dogs

photo: Gabi Porter for MetromixDogs, dogs, dogs, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Yeah...I know. But suck it the fuck up.

After a hot assed, romp filled Saturday a few weekends ago down at Dog Beach in Prospect Park, Oliver and a bunch of other FIPS-y pups were recently featured in Metromix's new pet-friendly section, Petromix.

Check out all the action HERE and enjoy a few of our faves below:

Allison's long standing wish to pit Oliver up against Ziggy to see who's cuter finally came true...and true confessions: Ziggy *does* look pretty hawt:

image: Gabi Porter for Metromix@allgrownsup's chihuahua Magdalena Gran Reina de Caninas Orozco pretty much stole the whole friggin show.

Gabi Porter for MetromixDo your remember Lexie? The dog who got mugged? He's recovering nicely, and has since joined a motorcycle gang:

Gabi Porter for MetromixThere's way more where that came from in Petromix's rad NYC guide for Pet owners.

Oliver Gets Stoop'd

So Spike Lee collab'd with Absolut on a new flavored vodka, Absolut Brooklyn. Have you seen this shit?

True confessions: I've yet to taste it, but the bottle itself looks pretty damn cool. It's supposedly a nod to the stoop where Lee grew up. "Harkening back to the decades-long notion that the stoop is truly the epicenter of creativity, culture and community, the bottle serves as an homage to that Brooklyn ideal of stoop life--where memories are made and ideas are sparked through conversation and camraderie."

Ok, I don't know about all that, cause my ass doesn't have a stoop. But we live in a neighborhood with a shitload of stoops and I often walk by and get all jel of the people sitting on them. And weirdly, Oliver often tries to walk up and sit on other people's stoops. So all this talk about stoops got me thinking: LET'S TAKE SOME PICS OF OLIVER ON STOOPS! YAY STOOPS! YAY OLIVER! YAY BROOKLYN!

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Meet the REAL Dog Owners of Park Slope

So, I've had a calamitous two weeks. Let it just be said that it's ironic (yes, i said it cupcake man!) that i would be quoted in New York magazine demanding a retraction on that Park Slope as city's greatest hood designation at this moment in time. And, by the way, I want to redouble my call to douchey Manhattanites to stay put.

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