The Boston Globe
Dogs of all breeds ran around Park-9 at The Station in Fenway on a warm Friday evening.
Small and large dogs played with each other at the dog park bar as their owners sat back and relaxed with drinks. Craig McNulty, 39, who works at Cahill Swift, a management consulting firm, said he brings his dog, Gronk, to the Park-9 at least four times a week.
“Fenway lacks a fenced in dog park. This is fantastic for us. There’s no traffic or anything like that. This is just a wonderful time to bring our dog here and meet all his dog friends,” said McNulty as he pet Gronk.
In a city where socializing and pet care often vie for attention, Park-9 offers a solution. The company opened a venue in Everett last year that combines a dog park and a bar so people can have fun with their friends without having to worry about leaving their pet at home. Park-9 recently launched the Fenway pop-up which will be open through the end of October. The group plans to have the pop-up again next spring.
Park-9′s Everett location has both outdoor and indoor dog parks, a bar that offers beer, wine, cocktails, and a doggie daycare. The Fenway venue is outdoors. Both spaces employ park rangers who separate dogs if they get too frisky.
Dog bars have been popping up all over the country from Missouri, Oklahoma, Maryland, Nebraska, Washington, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Colorado and Florida. Each location has a dog park, a bar, and sometimes even a full-service restaurant.
Park-9 was founded by Emily Gusse, a Harvard College alum, her wife Tess Kohanki, who received a master’s degree from Boston University, and her brother Chris Kohanski.
The company got its start because the three wanted to bring the dog park bar idea to New England for their dog, Nora.
Nora is a golden retriever who loves spending time outdoors but overheats easily, which causes her to seize. She doesn’t handle running around most dog parks well because of their hot pavement.
On a road trip to Minnesota with Nora, Gusse and Kohanski wanted to stop somewhere the dog could cool off. They spotted a dog park that seemed different then most.
It was a dog park bar that had dogs running around without a leash while owners were relaxing and socializing over a drink.
Guesse wondered why a similar dog park bar didn’t exist in New England. The idea to create Park-9 was born.
The Park-9 chain of dog-bars is different from “dog-friendly” bars since pups are allowed to run about without a leash. Most bars and dog parks in Massachusetts require a dog to be on a leash, mainly for safety reasons. The Parks Rules and Regulations say leashes are allowed up to a length of eight feet, permitting dogs to run while the owner retains control over their pet.
“There’s nowhere you can legally have a dog out without a leash on between the Commons and here,” said Alex Rossetti, 27, who works at Boston IT Service.
In Fenway, Rossetti said he gets ticketed if he lets his dog run around. Once, he got one for $125.
The exceptions for leashes are in the designated Dog Recreation Spaces, such as the Downer Avenue Playground, Garvey Playground, Ronan Park in Dorchester, Peters Park in the South End, and DeFilippo Playground in the North End. Downtown, there’s The Friends of the Public Garden, which has a sub-group called Common Canine. The Common Canine, located at the Boston Commons, is an off-leash space and it rotates to different sections of the park.
While the list of places to let your dog freely move without restriction is expanding, Park-9 is the only in the area to incorporate a treat for the humans as well as the pups.
“It’s really interesting and fun to grab a beer and watch a dog,” said McNulty.
It is also one of the only places that have resources to prevent dogs from overheating during extreme temperatures such as having a swimming pool, sun coverings, and air-conditioning in the Everett location.
On that Friday evening, Jessica Amanambu’s dog, Roman, wagged his tail and ran across the park to play with the other dogs. Amanambu, 24, said she drives 20 minutes from Dorchester to bring her dog to Park-9 because she likes the bar’s environment.
Amanambu, a project manager and scientist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, said her miniature dachshund Roman can jump around with the other dogs and play more freely because the park is fenced in.
“There’s no dog park like Park-9,” said Amanambu. “It’s not a real dog park because it’s closed off, staff helps and there’s drinks to relax.”
Mat Giladi, 25, an incoming student at Stanford University’s business school, said Park-9′s rangers make the park safe so he doesn’t have to constantly be monitoring his dog. Giladi, who currently lives in the South End, said he can work on his laptop while his girlfriend talks to her mom on the phone.
He brings Basel, their eight month year old Bernese mountain dog, to Park-9 because it’s a perfect place where dog owners get their responsibility of walking their dog out of the way, while also making time to hang with friends.
“I don’t need to sacrifice one for the other,” said Giladi.
As the day fades and the owners begin to tire, the dogs are still buzzing with energy, sprinting from one end of Park-9 to the other.