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166 - The Dr. Dog Show with Steve Darcy · The Dr. Joe Show

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How can we make the
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The Dr.
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Joe Show explores how you can make positive personal change
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Your small changes can have big effects.
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Join us now for the Dr.
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Joe Show with Mike Styles of Styles Law and your host, Dr.
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Joe Strand.
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Oh, welcome to the Dr.
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Joe Show on
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everyone.
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Everyone.
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Everyone and anyone, no matter who, where, what,
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when, why you are welcome to the Dr.
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Joe Show.
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Thank you, Mark. Styles of Style Law.
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All are welcome, including our favorite friends with four legs.
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They can listen. Yes. Yes, they sure can.
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You know that I sent Bella because we talking about dogs tonight.
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I sent Bella to our canine college recently.
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And she graduated with her doctorate.
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Oh, boy.
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Thank you. Yeah, we're starting.
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It was a howl, though, wasn't it?
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Here we. Go.
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All right, I'm going to get game on. I love it.
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I love that. They just.
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They flow.
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They flow so easily through that brilliant mind of yours.
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It's a blessing and a curse. It is.
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I don't mean to hound you with them, though.
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I don't know. Oh, boy.
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I think you dug for that one. I do.
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I think it dug.
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Dug a little deep for that one.
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I think I dug a little deeper. Yeah. Yeah.
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You dug under the fence. Yeah. Yeah.
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Now, no, I'm not going to give that one free flow.
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All right, let me. Well, let me take a pause.
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Speaking of that.
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Yeah?
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Could you or who's introducing our guest tonight?
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Mark. I'm going to introduce our guest.
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Your guest tonight, please.
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Yes, I am honored to do so.
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Doctor Joe, we have a local celebrity here with us on the Dr.
1:59
Joe Show.
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You may know him as a member of your select board in the town of Marshfield.
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Massachusetts, but he's also an achiever.
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He's a he's an individual who saw something that he wanted.
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It knew that it was good for the community.
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He knew all of the benefits that would come
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through, following through with his goal.
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And he stuck with it and he kept digging and he kept digging.
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And he recently was approved, him and his team
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to have a dog park opened in the town of Marshfield.
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And I am really fascinated with dog park.
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So I asked you, Dr.
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Joe, let's talk dogs again.
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If you recall, our number one trending episode
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for a very long time was the one when your beloved.
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Four. Dodger.
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But without further ado, Dr.
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Joe Tom, I want to introduce you to Steve Darcy, the one and only welcome, Steve.
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Yeah, thank you.
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Well, thanks. For having me, guys. Looking forward to it.
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Should be a lot of fun.
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It is a pleasure.
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Welcome, Steve. Darcy.
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So this is a long, long time.
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If you how long have you been trying to get a dog park here in Marshfield?
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It's probably been five years at this point.
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So a common joke I've been making a lot lately
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is that this project started in my twenties and will finish in my thirties.
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That's how long it's taking.
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Wow. Why?
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Why the resistance, do you think, to a dog park?
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It just seems such a logical thing.
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Yeah, I thought so.
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I thought it would be an easy sell.
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But here we are five years later,
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so, I mean, there's so many dog owners in our community.
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If you walk around your neighborhood, seems like
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every third house has a dog in it.
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So it's just a great place to take your dog to socialize
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and it's a great place for people and owners to meet and get together as well.
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So I think people are just maybe they're unaware how many dog
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owners are in town and how this would benefit a huge portion of our community.
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And then I'd think they're just some people would just don't want to have
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any taxpayer money appropriated towards a dog park,
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even though it would serve a good chunk of our town's population.
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Hmm. Well.
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Think about that, Dr. Joe.
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You know, if you were unaware and you were not part of the dog owners community,
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what do you care?
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What why why are we spending money now?
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The beauty of this, and Steve can speak to it a little bit
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more eloquently, though, is that it was a public private partnership.
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So it wasn't all town funds.
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They were required to also raise funds of their own.
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And then the amounts that are on your tax bill
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for the CPA, the Community Preservation Act, that's on your tax bill.
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Folks in Massachusetts, just depending on if your town adopted
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this wonderful statute, part of your tax
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bill goes to this to be used for things such as dog parks
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and playgrounds and open
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space and affordable housing and other wonderful things to help
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preserve your community and make your community stronger
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and they utilize those funds as well as some of their own funds. So
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but back to the person who doesn't have a dog.
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I don't want that why are we spending money on that?
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Right.
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That's that's real. Hmm.
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And yet we have a town in which
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we also have a senior center that people will spend money on
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and seawalls that people
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are willing to spend money on, that that there was resistance to that as well.
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But we were able to remind people
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that we're one town,
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you know, and I hope that that that that's that's
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sort of the message as well with this, that it's going to benefit everyone.
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So when were you first introduced to the
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the concept of a dog park, Steve?
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So I was actually on vacation in June on a ferry to Block Island.
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I was reading the Boston Globe and there was a story in the Globe's
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South section about a town north of us, the town of Air,
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and how they had built a dog park with a grant from a Stand Foundation
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and so I just couldn't believe the dollar figure attached that they got.
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So you get up to 250,000 for a grant and a Stand Foundation
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that goes towards the construction of the park
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and then getting the design ready for for bid.
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So I thought it would be an easy sell that we had a private grant
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that would help finance a good chunk of this
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and it's the hardest part along the way was finding a location.
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But that's when I first got started.
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I was on the recreation commission at the time looking for a project
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that would improve our town that fell under the purview of recreation.
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So it seemed like a good logical fit.
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And, you know, taking my dog to growing up to Dog Park
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really helped socialize her and get her good exercise and mental stimulation.
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So something I wanted to do for the town.
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So you had dog parks when you were a kid.
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So I would travel all the way to hang them to starters neck.
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So that's like a 40 minute drive from where I lived at the time.
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So that was, that was before such a wood existed.
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So before Situates
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Park, I would go all the way ahead and take my dog to a dog park on the weekends.
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Yeah, because Dr.
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Joe, I never really understood or saw the need for dog parks,
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and I've been a dog owner forever, but I've always taken my dogs
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to the trails until it wasn't a great place for Rudy.
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Because, as you know, he started to lose his eyesight,
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and being the friendliest specimen on the planet would started
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going up to kids and barking at them when he never it was always
7:50
Say hello, stick your head down, get a parrot, move on.
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But you know, he didn't know if they were kids or bears or other dogs or what.
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So that's when I was introduced to the dog park.
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And it's been unbelievable.
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And the community within dog parks, it's it's really fascinating
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because if you are a dog owner, everyone in there's a dog owner,
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right?
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So you're in that community.
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You know, we've talked about community a lot Dr.
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Joe. And, you know, you brought it up again with the 11 community
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when other people, you know, in that community don't own dogs.
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But the subset of that community that does own dogs.
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Really interesting.
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Yeah. And it's it's not confined.
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You know, it's not like an admission
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requirement that you have to have a dog if you want to just go and check it out.
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I highly recommend it.
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It is a remarkable culture.
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But you also you get to see
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the personality of these dogs.
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You have dogs who had dogs?
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Yes, I have two dogs currently and.
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And what what was the appeal of a dog park for you?
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Have you been to the one in Scituate?
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You traveled 40 minutes to go to another one.
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Why would you take your dogs for dogs.
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Sure.
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I mean just seeing how happy it makes them is worth the price of admission.
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But also to I mean, if I take them on a leash walk,
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as you know, versus a dog park, the mental stimulation they get from
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the park is so much bigger and better and it really tuckers them out more, too.
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So I can guarantee you that the busiest day of the week
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will be the Sunday morning before a Patriots game.
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You won't be able to relax and enjoy the game, but the dogs are
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happiest can be it's
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like going to Disney World for them and they get kind of stimulation
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that they need.
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And Tucker's way more than at least walk does it.
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So true.
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Just just to just to clarify, it was a turn of phrase, price of admission.
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There is no price for admission.
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But what you do need to do is bring a poop bag
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just in case many of the places have them, though, right?
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Yeah. As well.
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Yes. So we'll have poop bags.
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I'm sure it has them.
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And then they're nonprofit.
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They're friends of the Situate Dog Park.
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They have a private company that picks up anything
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that gets missed and also will restock and replenish those bags, too.
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Yeah.
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So people don't need to worry that there's like piles of dog poop around it.
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Is absolutely pristine in that way.
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And the dogs,
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it's it is magic watching this.
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We were in Chicago when we saw our first dog
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park in Chicago on the lake.
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And it was
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I mean, there were dozens and dozens and dozens of dogs, people
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just hanging around the lake, having their, you know, their picnics.
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The dogs develop their own society.
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You know, and they there wasn't anybody,
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any dog like growling and annoyed with another.
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They were just running in and out of the water.
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Then when we walked further down the lake,
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people were bringing their dogs and you could see how excited
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these dogs were knowing, oh, man, it's going to be so much fun.
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It's going to be so much fun.
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You know, they were they just couldn't wait to get there.
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It is a remarkable experience.
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I mean, dogs dogs are remarkably social animals.
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We know that.
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But there is something watching
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these dogs just learning how to play with each other.
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You know, and the personalities that come through from the dogs.
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You know, Mark sent me a video today of two dogs
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sort of lying down when I describe that.
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That was quite a one. Yeah, it was funny.
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So so the other added benefit to the dog park
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is, you know, we have puppies SEATO we rescued from Puerto Rico
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and he's been challenging at
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is a nice way to to explain the
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the challenge of of of raising this dog but
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the ability to train him within the confines
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of other understanding people and dogs right
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it's a it's an open arena to you know
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nail down some of the the commands but
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it was something I had never seen him do before.
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I wasn't going to video it for you.
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I was videoing it because I was going to send it
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to the kids and say, you know, look what puppies either is doing.
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But he he got down and got down real low as the other dog was approaching.
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I've seen other dogs do this, but I've never seen puppies either do it.
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But then the dog that was approaching also got down really low
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and it was like a standoff.
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They were both eyeballing each other.
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And then the dog entering
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and kind of got up slow, meandered over to Papa Sito,
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got right up close to him, realized he wasn't going to do anything
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and kind of jumped at him like, let's go play now.
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We're all right now.
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And it was really it was fascinating.
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It was really, really interesting.
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But my dogs, they go they start they can sense
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we're getting close to the place and they start going nuts.
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And it's, you know, as much as we could get them to
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to stop barking and other places, they used, it's not you don't even try.
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That's that's a battle.
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You simply let let continue because they see
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the Disney Disney World out there that they're about to get to.
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And it's it's absolutely exciting.
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So I'm excited that you persevered and pushed through and
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and were able to get this for our our local town
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so we don't have to cross borders and go into those other communities. We
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got to think of a community theme.
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I guess that's the job the dog community and the dog lover community
13:41
and the local communities.
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Yes, it's great.
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Yeah. They're remarkable.
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Steve, you you emailed us something.
13:49
You do you have access to that
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wonderful piece that you emailed us today.
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I do, yes.
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Can you read some of that to us?
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It was just wonderful.
14:01
It's from how long ago?
14:03
From the 1800s.
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So basically a neighbor
14:07
was suing another neighbor for shooting and killing his dog.
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And it's funny because the lawyer that he hired later became a US senator
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and I'm pretty sure it might have been Missouri.
14:19
I could be wrong, but he was also one of the few Southern senators
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to oppose the Civil War because he wanted to keep the union together. So
14:28
but basically
14:29
this is an excerpt from his closing argument in the case
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and it's just my favorite quotation about dogs because it just kind
14:35
of captures their essence so perfectly and in why we love them.
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So I'm glad you got a kick out of it.
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Let me see as I can read the whole thing
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or just an excerpt because I'm sure we're in a nursing time.
14:47
Can you go right ahead?
14:49
We got we got a few minutes.
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That's let's read this. All right. Perfect.
14:54
All right.
14:54
So it starts with a gentleman on the jury.
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The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy.
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His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful.
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Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust
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with our happiness and our good name may become traitors to their faith.
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The money that a man has, he may lose.
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It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most.
15:20
A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill considered action.
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The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor
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when successes with us may be the first to throw the stones
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of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads.
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The one absolutely unselfish friend
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that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him,
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the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.
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A man's dog stands by him
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in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness.
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He will sleep on the cold ground where the wintry winds blow in.
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The snow drives fierce.
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If only he may be near his master's side.
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He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer.
16:05
He will lack the wounds
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and sores that come from encounters with the practice of the world.
16:10
He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince.
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When all other friends desert, he remains
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when riches take wane and reputation falls to pieces.
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He is as constant in his love as the sun is in its journey through the heavens.
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If fortune drives the master forth and outcast in the world,
16:29
friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege
16:33
than that of his company to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies.
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And when the last scene of all comes and death takes the master in his embrace
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and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter
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if all other friends pursue their way, thereby his grave side
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or the noble dog be found his head between his paws, his eyes sad
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but open and alert watchfulness faithful and true.
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Even in. Death.
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He and needless to say, they won the case.
17:06
Yeah,
17:07
it's so true, isn't it?
17:09
It's remarkable.
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That faithfulness.
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Yeah, our God.
17:15
It's like that.
17:16
Story of that dog in Japan that would.
17:19
Wait at the train.
17:20
Station every day until it died when his owner
17:25
died on a business trip once and never came home.
17:29
They have a statue of that dog, I said.
17:31
Translation I. Wish I remember the man is.
17:34
A statue outside the Missouri 12 right of the courthouse
17:38
that you were reading from.
17:41
They have a statute of the dog there as well.
17:44
That was a good story.
17:46
Yeah.
17:47
I think we want to get like a rock with that quotation engraved on it,
17:51
like the ashes of the park. I think that'll be pretty cool.
17:53
But you're right, they do have that in front of the courthouse, Missouri,
17:56
which is pretty awesome.
17:57
I'm glad you brought that up. And you found it.
17:59
Yeah, no, it's nice.
18:00
It was a great story. You then. Yeah.
18:03
I mean, the faithfulness of dogs is unparalleled.
18:07
So Steve Darcy is our guest,
18:10
and he has been able to put together the
18:14
the platform, basically, and the votes for the dog park.
18:19
Was it close?
18:20
It seems kind of close.
18:24
Yes. So there are two articles at the most recent town meeting.
18:27
The first was approval of the new location,
18:30
and that was close because that required a two thirds vote
18:33
and then thankfully for the CPC, additional funding, that was 50% plus one.
18:37
But yeah, so I thought we had a pretty solid lead
18:40
when I watched all the guys stand up to be counted.
18:43
And then as I saw the no tallies start to tick up, I was the goal was semi tight
18:47
and I think ended up being maybe 73% and we needed 67.
18:52
So, but it was, it was close, there were not a lot of folks there.
18:55
So just a small number of vote changes that could have been the difference.
19:00
Yeah, it's just remarkable to me that people don't understand
19:05
and I actually will admit I got up and spoke in favor of it and
19:11
one of the things that is really fascinating
19:13
is the psychology that goes along with having a dog
19:18
and how during COVID, if you had a dog
19:22
you actually less likely to get sick
19:25
and like yeah, to struggle.
19:28
There was a there's a really interesting article, you know, dogs, there's
19:30
this chemical called oxytocin, not OxyContin, oxytocin,
19:35
which is basically the neuro hormone of love and trust dogs
19:39
and humans just like feel that with each other crazy.
19:43
So your dog is helping
19:46
you feel so loved and valued just, you know, it's remarkable
19:51
what an item is about.
19:53
But there's another really interesting thing that happens.
19:56
Sorry, I'm getting
19:57
kind of shrinking and scientists on this, but this is fascinating
20:01
when you take your dog for a walk,
20:04
it's not oxytocin that is increasing.
20:08
It's actually GABA and GABA variance.
20:11
GABA is a chemical
20:15
that relaxes people and stresses.
20:19
So when you're taking a dog for a walk, it's not just exercising.
20:22
You're really just sort of de-stressing.
20:26
And I hope people can understand
20:29
why it's so important to have dog parks because we have ordinances
20:34
in our town where you're not allowed to take your dog certain places.
20:38
And that makes sense.
20:39
You know, because dogs, they're dogs.
20:41
They don't understand always the social nuance and expectation.
20:45
So they may
20:46
they may do what they need to do someplace
20:48
that they probably shouldn't
20:52
but having a dog park,
20:55
it's a place where
20:57
there's an expectation.
21:00
But I found out also that doesn't
21:02
increase your property values in a town.
21:05
Did you know that that your property values in the whole town go up
21:09
where there's a dog park
21:12
yeah.
21:12
That makes sense because another amenity that our town offers that a lot don't.
21:17
Yeah.
21:18
That's so interesting.
21:20
So again, I want to come back to to you, Steve,
21:24
because you you were really determined to get this done.
21:29
Was there ever a time that you that you doubted was going to happen?
21:35
Yes, there were many times
21:37
where it seemed like we just were never going to find the parcel
21:40
and just along the way, you know, we thought we identified one
21:44
and then someone found a restriction or we thought we had a good site.
21:47
And then there's an old restriction that someone discovered that was not top
21:51
of mind for people who thought, you know, they could go ahead and approve it.
21:55
So, for example,
21:57
I had a committee meeting where I thought they were going to vote to approve it.
22:00
And then probably 5 hours before the meeting,
22:02
I got a heads up that they found this restriction.
22:04
It wasn't it wasn't going to go through.
22:05
So that was like our second or third option that fell through.
22:09
And then we finally got some land.
22:11
And then the cost that came back, the estimate was just astronomical.
22:15
So then I thought we were dead at that point.
22:17
And then thankfully this site became available
22:20
so probably at least five different times over the last five years.
22:23
I thought we were we were in rough shape and that might not happen,
22:26
but thankfully our team never gave up and kept pushing forward.
22:29
And you know, we're lucky to have the team that we do.
22:31
But can you talk about that?
22:33
Because that not giving up part is so important.
22:36
How did you find that that faith that confidence in the goal?
22:42
Yeah,
22:43
so I'm I'm a big believer and there's a few variations on this call,
22:46
but I think that luck favors the well prepared or lucky is
22:50
what happens when opportunity meets preparation.
22:53
So I was just kind of hoping that we kept plugging away and never gave up.
22:56
And, you know,
22:56
there were so many people in our community who have been so supportive
23:00
throughout all these setbacks.
23:01
I didn't want to let them down.
23:02
So that kind of helped me continue to move forward in that
23:06
it helped having a great team where you could do each other
23:09
and bounce ideas off it.
23:10
But our team was optimistic, too, and that became very infectious.
23:15
But that is also a part of the I am
23:19
is you know, even though you're at your current maximum potential,
23:22
we have these systems,
23:24
these communities is what, you know, Mark's been talking about as well.
23:28
How did you find the people to to join you in this?
23:32
It was funny because it all happened very organically.
23:35
People would reach out through Facebook or they'd get my number from someone else
23:39
and shoot me a text.
23:40
So I basically it was just me way back in the beginning.
23:43
I made a Facebook page for the dog park and people started reaching out that way.
23:47
And then our team kind of organically built up and formed through that.
23:51
And then once people joined our board, they would think of people
23:54
they were friends with who might be a good fit,
23:56
and they'd recruit folks that way, too.
23:57
So it happened pretty organically.
23:59
Yeah, it's important because I think there may be other towns
24:03
that face,
24:04
you know, the desire to have dog park and some of the obstacles that you face
24:08
which which were the greatest obstacles that you had to overcome.
24:12
Yes, for us it was finding our location, I would say.
24:16
And, you know, all the parts of Marshfield that could be developed
24:20
have been, you know, and we had to find town on land, too.
24:23
So that's the hard part.
24:24
That's a requirement for this dam foundation.
24:26
Granted, it has to be town on land
24:28
because they want it to be available to the public.
24:30
So find the location was the hardest part it seemed like every time
24:34
we did find a location, it would fall through
24:36
or there would be another setback for another reason.
24:39
So that was the hardest part for us.
24:42
And maybe for other towns that would be fundraising or things of that nature.
24:45
But I think it's always finding a location.
24:47
And then you got to worry about the NIMBY factor.
24:49
So finding the right spot is tricky.
24:52
People may not know what NIMBY means when I've just shown.
24:56
Not not in my backyard.
24:58
Not in my backyard.
25:00
You face that even when it looked like it was going to get passed, right.
25:03
There was people came up, said, Well, it's too close to this.
25:07
It's too close to their hamlet.
25:10
Is there like a standard size for dog park?
25:16
I would say most, most the ones that I've seen in the Stand
25:19
Foundation website, they're usually about an acre or less.
25:23
So ours, I think we'll have about two acres to work with.
25:26
And I have a small dog area and a large dog area, which will be good.
25:29
But I would say about an acre, maybe the average.
25:32
But in Boston,
25:33
some of them are as small as half an acre or even point three, five acres.
25:37
And some, you know, suburban towns have over one and a half acres.
25:40
But I'd say once the average.
25:43
You're going to have
25:44
different sections for small dogs and big dogs. Yes.
25:49
And they'll each have their own independent entrance
25:51
and it will be like dual gate entry to.
25:54
So you open one gate, you come in, close it behind you and open up
25:57
to get to the parks.
25:58
That way, no dogs
25:59
are escaping in the parking lot off leash and things of that nature.
26:02
I'm curious about that.
26:03
Why why the decision to have
26:06
parks based on dog size
26:09
sure.
26:10
I think
26:10
part of it is people who want a small dog might be worried about an interaction
26:14
with a dog that could be like ten times their size and their weight.
26:17
And then some big dogs, they're perfectly playful,
26:19
but they don't realize how big they are and they can kind of get a little rough
26:23
with some of the smaller dogs.
26:24
So it's mostly just kind of keep them safe.
26:26
And if you watch the smaller dogs, too, they're usually the ones
26:29
who are more reactive to size differentials than the big dogs are.
26:35
Interesting, interesting.
26:37
That makes a lot of sense.
26:38
But what about the mid-sized dog?
26:42
How will they decide which place to go?
26:45
Maybe they get cable.
26:47
Yeah, exactly.
26:48
So we're going to ask people to use their discretion and see what might work best.
26:52
So if you have a really timid dog, you know, maybe they're a better spot
26:55
if they're medium size to go in the small dog area.
26:57
But if you have a medium sized dog who is very outgoing
27:00
doesn't care that you'd probably take him to a large dog area.
27:02
But we hope that people use their discretion and exercise it wisely.
27:08
It really is interesting, the culture market.
27:10
We're going to say something.
27:11
I was going to ask, does the foundation give you a guidance with
27:14
with that type of thought process and design and such? Yes.
27:19
And so this question has come up before with other parks.
27:22
So situate this is actually in the newspaper a couple of years ago.
27:26
And basically their friends group said, hey, if your dogs medium size,
27:29
use your discretion for what you think is the best fit based on their personality.
27:35
But they never built a small dog park.
27:38
Correct? Yep.
27:39
So at the time, this is like right on the heels of their initial victory
27:43
at town meeting and then they had some cost overruns, too.
27:46
So you're right that they only built one big area, but at their most recent town
27:50
meeting, they just got another 75,000 from CPC
27:54
so they can finally add on and complete the small dog area.
27:58
Nice,
28:00
nice.
28:01
What are you going to say, Dr. Joe.
28:03
Just how how did the dog park
28:07
culture sort of creates its own boundaries?
28:10
I mean, Mark and I would go to the dog park, you know, with some frequency.
28:15
Both have dogs and watching,
28:19
not just, you know, the way the dogs interacted, but the way
28:21
that people interacted and how sometimes if there was a dog
28:25
that was like just seemed really uncool,
28:29
the the
28:30
owners would would get together and try to intervene.
28:34
There was one time where one guy got really, really angry.
28:39
You remember that, Mark? I do.
28:41
I haven't seen that person since, which was which is interesting.
28:45
But you bring up a really good point because, you know, going to
28:49
these dog parks is an event in and of itself.
28:53
Right?
28:53
There's people that you're going to recognize there.
28:56
There's new faces.
28:57
And what do you always say, Doctor Joe?
28:59
Every friend was once a stranger.
29:01
That's right.
29:01
It there's this commonality of everybody who's there.
29:05
And it's it's an immediate icebreaker, right?
29:08
So, you know, the dog walks up and breaks the ice, typically right.
29:12
And they're going to walk up and you're going to pat them. And
29:15
I think it's it's a really interesting
29:19
you know,
29:21
it's it's interesting to go and watch people
29:24
if you're into people watching, it's a great place, the venue to do that
29:28
because it's almost like an adult playground, if you will.
29:32
Right.
29:33
So you had the little kids at the playground and then the adults
29:36
are now watching their next generation of kids.
29:41
And it's really interesting how they how people interact with one another.
29:45
And yeah, it's it's it's a really interesting community.
29:51
It really is. And
29:54
my my kids are improvisers as well.
29:57
And they thought it'd be great to do it.
30:00
You know how, you know, you're walking down the road with the dog
30:03
and somebody will just come up and say, oh, what if you talk,
30:06
you know, nice to see.
30:08
And imagine if that was like with husbands, right?
30:11
So your husband is on the leash.
30:13
And so oh, what a what a cute guy.
30:17
That's great to see. What is it? A sit.
30:19
Oh, that's so good.
30:20
So I thought it would be actually really nice Saturday Night
30:23
Live skit about, you know, showing how how dogs just allow to socialization.
30:30
So is they are ice breakers, as Mark says, they just break the ice.
30:34
You know, you got to know your dog whether you should let somebody come up
30:39
and pop them or not.
30:40
And, you know, if the person is dog savvy, they will ask first
30:45
if I could get my dog but sometimes, you know,
30:48
you just need to be aware of some of the rules and restrictions
30:52
and some of the interesting nuances that go along with dogs.
30:57
Steve, we were talking off air, you know, as a community.
31:00
It's also it's it's like a pickup spot for single people, right?
31:05
Yes, definitely.
31:06
You meet someone with similar interest in hobbies and it take off from there.
31:13
Are you single, Steve?
31:14
Yeah.
31:14
I was going to say you didn't say
31:15
very much about that, Steve, when I read on that a little bit there.
31:20
Sure. Yep.
31:20
I am currently a free agent and
31:24
hope that I've got some good karma coming my way.
31:26
But yeah, so but it is it is a great place to meet people and,
31:30
you know, potentially, you know, pick someone up.
31:32
We do have a slightly older demographic here in Marshfield.
31:35
So but if you go on a regular basis, you're bound to find someone.
31:40
Yeah, that's true.
31:42
And you have something in common.
31:43
I mean, there is something about being, you know, a person who has a dog.
31:48
I mean, we call them dog owners because, you know, we're the ones who are paying
31:52
for everything.
31:52
But, my goodness, they give so much back in return.
31:56
It is it is amazing.
31:59
It's amazing. Steve.
32:01
Yeah, it kind of ties into what you were saying earlier with AM.
32:04
Right.
32:04
One thing we all have in common is
32:06
we want to feel valued and dogs certainly make us feel valued.
32:10
So I know people love to joke about how the dogs don't work
32:12
and don't pay any bills, but you're right that they give us so much back in return.
32:16
And I wonder what we did to deserve dogs.
32:19
I don't know what it was, but I'm definitely lucky that we have around.
32:23
Yeah, nobody you.
32:24
Nobody's really welcome to me at the house quite like the dogs do.
32:27
You know.
32:27
It's as if.
32:29
You know, everybody welcomes you that same way.
32:31
I mean, wow, what a wonderful world this would be.
32:34
Yeah, exactly.
32:36
I think gone. Gone.
32:38
I think another point in the corner for dog show is
32:40
wasn't it cheaper to send Bella to college than it was your kids?
32:43
Very true.
32:44
Yeah, very true. Yeah.
32:47
But have you been to these dog training classes yeah.
32:51
Fascinating as well, the culture there.
32:54
Yeah, they are a lot of fun.
32:56
And and Bella, I mean, I'm really proud of her.
32:59
She's she really is a smart dog and she picks up on things and she's so aware.
33:06
But at the expressions that she has now, this is an interesting
33:12
evolutionary part, you know, that the dogs have developed
33:16
muscles in their eyebrows that wolves do not have and she did.
33:20
You know that.
33:21
You probably didn't know it. Yeah.
33:23
So so wolves are, are pack animals in themselves,
33:29
but very difficult to really get that sort of sense of connectedness with the wolf.
33:35
The dog, the domestic dog has developed muscles in their eyebrows
33:40
that allows them to almost look like they're
33:42
giving a human expression.
33:45
And we've all seen that.
33:47
And that's what triggers in us this mirror neuron effect
33:52
where we respond to our dog very often in kind.
33:57
You asked a bit about deserving dogs.
34:00
It is a really interesting evolution
34:04
of the domestic dog in humans and how this all happened.
34:09
And it's I mean, it's a show unto itself, honestly, because there's there's
34:13
so many nuances to it, but there's something amazing.
34:17
So having a dog park,
34:20
I hope we're going to call it the dog bark.
34:22
I hope we're going to.
34:24
I thought it was the bark bark.
34:26
The bark bark.
34:27
I like that bark bark. Is good.
34:29
Yeah, that's good.
34:31
And we'll only have like hot dog vendors around.
34:35
Yeah, exactly.
34:38
But when we have the dog park,
34:43
how do you think that potentially affects
34:46
our sense of community in Marshfield?
34:50
Yeah, I'm really glad that you both raised this point
34:52
because I think it's an excellent point
34:53
and it certainly deserves more oxygen where it is a huge benefit for people too.
34:57
So I know that Scituate, they've actually started bussing
35:00
in seniors to their dog park to get them some socialization and interaction,
35:05
you know, during their week.
35:06
So I think it's a huge benefit for so many people.
35:10
We have the retirement community right in that area,
35:13
and I think there are people who live there with small dogs and you know,
35:16
they probably aren't
35:17
in the kind of condition to take them for at least walks regularly,
35:20
but they can come walk over the dog park and set their dogs loose.
35:24
So I think it's a good benefit for the senior community but it really is.
35:27
You'll meet the nicest people in the world at a dog park.
35:31
And you learn a lot, too.
35:33
I mean, I've met really experienced dog owners
35:35
and I've learned tips and tricks from them.
35:36
And you know what things about dog behavior.
35:39
But it is it really is.
35:40
I'm excited for how it's going to be a big part of our community.
35:43
And I genuinely believe it's going to be a great community space.
35:47
Yeah.
35:48
I agree.
35:49
And it's really thoughtfully located to near
35:53
a lot of other places where people would go with their dogs.
35:57
So soccer fields, right?
35:59
The family is rushing around.
36:01
We didn't get a chance to walk the dog, but it's a soccer game.
36:04
So let's kill two birds.
36:06
One stone, for lack of a better term, and let little Suzy
36:10
get out there and play some soccer.
36:12
Well, you know,
36:14
patch
36:15
Patch gets to run around and get all tuckered out.
36:18
As Steve was saying,
36:19
it stuck it out and has a good night's sleep as opposed to pacing around.
36:23
And it's a really, really thoughtfully placed
36:27
park, too.
36:28
So I think it's I think it's going be great.
36:30
I'm very excited about it.
36:32
Yeah, I really am, too.
36:35
So when does all this happen?
36:39
So we have a building committee for the dog park,
36:42
and basically we're going to get together pretty soon with the landscape architect.
36:46
And he has the design already, but it was for the previous location.
36:49
So he's basically going to superimpose on the New Castle
36:52
and make some tweaks and adjustments because it's a new location.
36:55
So we're going to get together with him and kind of give him our final feedback.
36:58
And then at that point, you know, we have 90% ready to bid documents
37:03
for the dog park and there's just a back and forth with a standard foundation.
37:07
And once they sign off on the design, we go off to bid.
37:10
So we're hoping that we can go out to bid in June or July.
37:12
And if, you know, it's a hot market right now, as we all know, but
37:16
if the bids come back favorably, we can probably open in November.
37:20
But if the bids come back really high because it's foundation, tell us
37:23
the market's pretty high right now, we might go out to bid again in the fall.
37:29
But right now things are lining up pretty nicely where we're hoping
37:31
that we can break ground in the fall and open the park officially.
37:34
How much money are we looking at for this?
37:38
So the estimate we have before
37:40
in kind contributions to chip away at it is like 500,000 for the new location.
37:46
And the reason this location was better, it's good.
37:48
It's nice flat parcel.
37:50
There's existing parking which cuts down on costs and there's trees
37:52
that are already sort of cuts down the number of plantings.
37:54
But and I'm in the same boat as a lot of folks
37:57
who say how the fact that it cost so much to go the dog park
38:00
and I'm not a construction expert so I reached out to some people
38:03
who work in construction in town
38:05
and also some engineers and basically the members check out
38:09
and the way they broke it down was it's really just a function of diesel in time
38:13
so you're probably looking at about maybe two weeks of land
38:16
prep work to kind of get it out and level it and things of that nature.
38:20
And it's the cosmetic is really high, but
38:22
because it's a public project, you have to pay prevailing wages.
38:25
That's $0.40 on every dollar as well.
38:27
So it's this host of different factors that come together.
38:29
But I'm as surprised as anyone, but we did verify the numbers in about 5000.
38:35
So we're looking at.
38:37
And Stanton Foundation is contributing how much.
38:40
To 25.
38:42
And one of the architects that we talked to you said five years ago
38:46
this park would have cost half that amount.
38:48
But yeah, this is the world we live in right now.
38:50
We had a stance taken in to 25 which was very helpful.
38:52
And then we got the additional 175 from C.p.s., which was very helpful as well.
38:57
So we're looking to raise how much funds then.
39:01
Are to get to 500.
39:03
So we have about 37,000 in the friends account right now,
39:08
and now we have another 50,000 from C.p.s.
39:11
from two or three years ago.
39:13
So we're just about there.
39:14
But one thing, for example, right,
39:16
there's a line item in the budget for $75,000 for wood chips.
39:20
We've had two different folks anonymously come forward to take care of that.
39:24
So that helps a lot.
39:25
So just stuff like that.
39:26
I know that we're there in terms of the numbers
39:30
and there's more things that folks are coming forward to donate as well.
39:33
But that's kind of where we are.
39:34
Yeah. And the wood chips is a perfect
39:38
flooring for the park too, as that.
39:40
So it situates doing it where it really works.
39:44
Yeah, yeah. Yes.
39:45
Because that was a big debate too is what service to go with that grass
39:48
just won't survive with just the trampoline and then female
39:51
dog year and in particular it's destructive to grass.
39:54
So wood chips seem to be the way to go.
39:56
Yeah.
39:57
Makes so much sense to you.
39:58
And it does mean clay and things like that.
40:02
And it makes it really easy to pick up the the dog's poop.
40:07
Right? Yeah, exactly.
40:08
You get all of that when it's done.
40:09
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
40:12
So we're coming to the end of the show.
40:17
Really?
40:17
The show is based on the I am approach.
40:19
The idea that we're all doing the best we can.
40:22
And here we are a community, a social domain
40:25
that has really come together to help many, many individuals
40:31
because the four
40:32
domains of the home, the social, the biological, me,
40:35
I see, how I see myself, how I think other people see me
40:38
because they interact a small change can have a big effect.
40:43
So see what small change can you recommend to our listeners
40:46
when it comes to dogs and dog parks?
40:50
Yeah.
40:51
So one thing
40:51
I would say that that's helped me a lot is if I can make the time in the morning
40:54
to walk my dogs before work, it just kind of carries through
40:58
with some positive momentum and progress throughout the rest of the day.
41:02
And it's also good too, because then I know that
41:04
the dogs can at least get tuckered out and rest while I'm away at work.
41:08
So I feel very guilty when they're at home and I'm at work,
41:10
but also it's good to get myself exercise as well.
41:12
So I think even as 50 minutes, you go to bed, take your dogs for a 50 minute
41:16
walk, they're happy,
41:18
you're happy, and it kind of carries through the rest of your day.
41:20
So that would be my little tweak suggestion.
41:23
It's a great, great thing if the Secure Dog Park is a track
41:27
like a walking track around a Central Park where the dogs pose, they're going to
41:30
be something like that.
41:32
Yes. So
41:33
there will be stone dust like passed around the park. Yes.
41:36
Yeah.
41:36
So you can you can also walk even while your dogs are playing.
41:40
Exactly.
41:41
The second truth of the game is everybody's got one.
41:44
Everybody's interested in what you think or feel about them.
41:48
Which will have an effect on their biological domain
41:50
because, you know, it feels different when you feel respect or disrespected.
41:54
This means you control no one,
41:57
that you influence everyone.
42:00
You get to choose the kind of influence you want to be.
42:02
Steve Darcy, what kind of influence do you want to be?
42:07
I just want to be a positive influence for the town
42:09
and and leave it in better shape than when I found it.
42:13
I feel like I kind of hit the cosmic lottery growing up here.
42:16
I'd be an asterisk given a lot to me.
42:18
So I just want to be a positive influence
42:19
and try to improve the town and help out good people.
42:23
Yeah, well, we are fortunate to have you here as part of our town team
42:28
as well as Mark and Tom, and we have some remarkable leadership here in Marshfield.
42:33
I hope every town has that opportunity as well to support their leaders.
42:39
Remember, small changes have big effects.
42:43
You control no one.
42:44
You influence everyone.
42:45
That means your vote matters.
42:49
So please go out there.
42:51
Vote for what you believe in, what you believe in.
42:55
Thanks.
42:55
Thanks so much, Steve.
42:58
Great to have you in our leadership here at the town.
43:01
Thanks for having me, guys.
43:02
Appreciate the kind words.
43:03
Thanks, Steve.
43:05
You folks don't forget unleashing the power of respect and I am reproach
43:09
in all bookstores and Amazon.
43:13
Thank you, Mark.
43:14
My folks, see you next week.
43:16
Go go.
43:23
Marilyn Monroe.
43:24
Well, well, that should do it.
43:28
Through.