One sure sign that summer is winding down is when the dogs take over the Secaucus Swim Club. The town pool closed to humans on Sept. 12, the Saturday after Labor Day. On Sunday, the dogs moved in.
Dog Day Afternoon is a fundraising event for the Secaucus Animal Shelter. At $10 a pop, dogs get to frolic in the children’s pool for the afternoon. And frolic they did, with about 60 dogs visiting between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. to splash through the water, chase each other around the fenced-in area, give each other the occasional stink-eye over coveted toys, and deposit, you know, a present or two on the grass, which owners quickly scooped up and whisked away.
“After this, we shut the pool,” said Mayor Michael Gonnelli, attending the second annual event as the human guest of Charlie, his Shih-tzu/Maltese mix. Charlie was a bit tentative about the whole affair. “Charlie’s not a water guy. He’s never been in the water. I put him in and he paddled.”
Besito (meaning “little kiss”) was another first-timer at the pool, although she was no newcomer to the water. “We brought her to the beach but at the beach you couldn’t take them off the leash,” said Caitlin Wolf. “She swam right out and came back. And she loved the sand so she would just lay there in the sun.”
An 11-month old adoptee from the Secaucus Animal Shelter, Besito kept to the shallower end of the pool, cavorting with her fellow pooches. “She knows most of them: Charlie, Brooke, Mercedes,” said Wolf (who, despite the name, is actually human, in case you were wondering). “Every day we go to the park on Hudson. We have a group that goes there at 6:30, 7 at night.”
Animal shelter alumni
“The best part about this is seeing the dogs we’ve adopted out, now that they’re all grown up,” said Adam Reeves, animal control officer at the shelter.
“At least half the dogs here today are rescues,” added Councilwoman Susan Pirro, the town liaison with the shelter. “I saw at least 10 from our shelter.”
Sadie, a Labrador mix, was among the adoptees from the shelter. “We picked her up when she was four and a half months old, last November,” said Teddy Morrissette, attending with wife Jessie. “It was love at first sight. We walked into the shelter, they let her loose in the yard and that was it. I said I want her.”
Teddy is what you call a dog person. He has a tattoo in progress on his arm depicting Gizmo and Princess, his two sadly departed Cocker Spaniels, under the words “All Dogs Go to Heaven.”
“We found Princess,” he said. “Somebody just left her in an abandoned lot. So we took her in.”
Lucky the Pomeranian was another pup with a checkered past. “Someone threw him out in a box at five months old,” said Helen Vesta. “They didn’t want him so they threw him out.”
“Somebody was walking by and heard him crying in the box,” said Jimmy Vesta. The couple adopted Lucky from the Husky House rescue service in Matawan. A bit timid around other dogs and dubious about the water, Lucky stuck close by his humans, hanging out on the deck of the pirate ship in the kids’ play area. “He eats steak,” said Jimmy about the dog, who clearly deserved his name. “I eat hamburger.”
Puppy love
Henry Truong and Rei Deleon were driving by on their way to Hoboken when they spotted the activity at the pool and immediately brought Appa out to play. Named for a character in the TV cartoon show “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” Appa the pure white Samoyed was thrilled to cavort with the canines for the afternoon.
“He’s never been around water like this,” said Deleon. “We go to the dog park but never around water.”
Tank the Boston Terrier was an old hand around water. “We have an in-ground pool,” said Dennis Vallone, attending with his wife Roseann. “He dives in and climbs up the ladder. He taught himself. I have it on Facebook, on Instagram, because people think I’m kidding.”
Among the humans hanging out by the pool was one who arrived in a bathing suit and made herself at home in the water with the pups. Six-year-old Lenna Haran got nose-to-nose with the critters.
“We don’t have a dog and she loves dogs,” said her dad, Hari. “So we have come to this both years. Last time she was going crazy because some of the dogs were so playful. She has no fear. We have a neighbor who has this dangerous-looking boxer. The dog has a habit of taking its leash in its mouth and tries to run. And she pulls it out. That’s their game.”
So why don’t they have a dog at home? “We have a cat and we live in a small apartment,” said Hari. “And it’s a big decision. You need the space and the yard and things like that. Maybe someday.”
“We moved here from Hoboken about two years ago,” said Nica Gabarro, attending with her husband Steven as guests of Hannah, a Labrador/Malamut/Husky mix. “Hoboken’s a great town, but properties there are really getting very expensive. And if you have a dog there’s just not a lot of space for them.”
Hannah, a rescue from Bideawee in New York, had been swimming before in Vermont and obviously loved the water, as well as being around other dogs. She couldn’t sit still for an instant, charging through the pool and around the yard with her new friends.
Helping out at the event were eight sorority sisters from Mu Sigma Upsilon, the first multicultural sorority, founded in 1981 out of Rutgers in New Brunswick. “The abbreviation MSU stands for ‘mujeres siempre unidas,’ which is ‘women always united,’” said Patricia Berganasco. “Our three goals are academic excellence, unity amongst all women, and community service. We seek to help any community, not just specific to the areas where our schools are located.”
The girls, representing eight different universities in North Jersey, volunteered to help at the event by registering attendees, watching the dogs, and handing out flyers and free Freshpet food at the end.
Judging by the smiling faces and the wagging tails, the event was a huge success, and raised $660 for the Animal Shelter.
Also upcoming is the Halloween Costume Dinner Dance to benefit the shelter. Held on Friday, Oct. 30 from 7:30 to 11:30 at La Reggia Restaurant, the tremendously festive and enjoyable event features dinner, beer and wine, music, dancing, raffle prizes, a costume contest, and much more. Tickets are $55 per person, tax deductible, with all proceeds benefiting the shelter. For information call Sue at (201) 563-2161.
The annual flea market has been postponed from Oct. 4 to a date TBD in the spring.
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.