Pampered pups can rest their tails at Happy Paws pet resort, or accessorize at Doggy-Style NYC. (Eilon Paz)
FOR PULSE: Precious birthday party at Pup Hollywood at 3479 Richmond Road. Staten Island. handout (NY Post: Tamara Beckwith)
Buster models the city’s hottest canine cut: the Mohawk. (Allison Joyce)
The Yorkie is New Yorker’s No. 2 dog. (Getty Images)
Bon the dog poses as an iPhone. (Getty Images)
Ginger, the director of pet relations at Midtown’s Muse Hotel, offers amenity bags to canine guests. (Eilon Paz)
It’s a bone-anza in comfort at Jumeirah Essex House. (
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With an estimated 500,000 canine residents in the five boroughs, there is no doubt that New York loves its dogs. But which spots are the best for our four-legged friends? Here’s where your pooch can score tasty treats, luxury leashes and winning walks all over the city.
SoHo
Large lofts are ideal for the biggest of breeds, and lots of the area’s boutiques welcome canine browsers. Look for the water bowl outside the door.
RUFF SERVICES: Thanks to the upstairs space at Animal Haven (251 Centre St.), meetup groups for owners of specific breeds such as pugs and Boston terriers have flourished. The shelter and pet boutique is also one of the few venues in the city that offers agility classes, giving frisky Fidos a chance to stretch their legs and literally jump through hoops.
DOG RUNS: SoHo is more of a stroll-the-streets neighborhood, but just a few blocks north is the Washington Square Park Dog Run, one of the biggest and best in the entire city, with newly renovated runs for all dogs big and small. “Even though my little Reggie is only 7 pounds, he prefers the bustling atmosphere of the big-dog run to the sedate small-dog run,” says regular Erika Mansourian.
SHOP HOUNDS: Go to DoggyStyle NYC (73 Thompson St.) for designer dog beds and bowls. For quirky canine-themed décor, such as dachshund bookends or poodle salt-and-pepper shakers, drop by Jonathan Adler (47 Greene St.). Dogs get water and treats.
DON’T MISS: a stroll past Happy Paws day care center (corner of Houston and Lafayette streets). Peer through the windows of the playrooms to catch the day’s canine crew in full swing.
Midtown
Not every hotel welcomes four-legged guests, but Midtown is home to more than 20 pet-friendly hotels, from Holiday Inns to the Ritz-Carlton. Next time your friends and family visit New York, tell them they can bring Fido.
RUFF SERVICES: At Jumeirah Essex House (160 Central Park South), posh pets sleep in their own Wagwear pop-up tents with fleece-lined beds, and dine on homemade treats. At the Loews Regency Hotel (540 Park Ave.), dogs score amenity kits full of tags, treats and scoop bags. Pet walking and sitting services can be arranged through the concierge, and the hotel gives owners a “Puppy Pager” so staff can reach them in case of a pet emergency.
DOG RUNS: Central Park boasts 23 “dog-friendly” areas where pups can play — on-leash or off. On the southern end, head for the area between the Carousel and Wollman Rink.
SHOP HOUNDS: Head to Louis Vuitton on Fifth Avenue to buy a Baxter Dog Carrier PM ($1,480) for the trip home.
DON’T MISS: At the Muse Hotel (130 W. 46th St.) meet Ginger, director of pet relations and a cute-as-a-teacup Pomeranian (look for the leopard-print bed at the concierge desk). “Ginger takes care of needs our four-legged friends have,” says Ericka Nelson, general manager. “She tests toys, water bowls, and occasionally there’s a guest who is sad and it’s her job to make them happy.”
For Outdoorsy hounds
Staten Island
With sprawling parks and sandy beaches, Staten Island is as close to rural as Rover can get in NYC. “I can’t imagine owning a dog in a place that didn’t have as many green spaces,” says Samantha Scicchigno, owner of mixed-breed Marge. FYI: No pets are allowed on the ferry, except for those in cages and Seeing Eye dogs.
RUFF SERVICES: Pampered pups can host birthday parties with pup cakes, party hats and cheese plates for humans at Pup Hollywood (3479 Richmond Road), which also offers toys, treats and a grooming menu.
DOG RUNS: There are many to choose from, but Wolfe’s Pond Park has something for everyone. Dogs are allowed on the sand at Midland and South Beaches in the fall and winter.
SHOP HOUNDS: At Soft Paws Pet Boutique (97 New Dorp Plaza), you can find clothes, accessories and jewelry for you and your pup, as well as a memorial section with pet urns and angel-encrusted picture frames.
DON’T MISS: Regular events at the Staten Island Companion Dog Training Club, the borough’s only dog obedience and agility club. The next one’s Nov. 5, 6 and 7 — an American Kennel Club agility trial at Wolfe’s Pond. For info: sicdtc.info.
For Doggy paddlers
Upper west side
It’s hard to walk a block along Broadway without running into a bichon or a beagle. “The Upper West Side is like a slice of suburbia amidst the hustle and bustle of the city,” says Jennifer Jill Bowen, a local dog owner and walker, and co-founder of Northward Hound, a weekend getaway service for pups.
RUFF SERVICES: The area has the largest number of dog-walking/sitting businesses in the city, including two outlets of Biscuits and Bath doggy day care centers and special services like Blue Sky Dogs, which takes city dogs on country day trips upstate. “There are always new dogs in the neighborhood and someone always who needs pet-sitting, walking or training,” says Bowen. “Everyone knows everyone and we help each other out.”
DOG RUNS: Riverside Park and Central Park have the busiest dog runs and off-leash areas in the ’hood. But if you want to spot celebrities doing their dog doo-doo duty, head to Theodore Roosevelt Park near the Museum of Natural History. Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick, and Billy Baldwin have all been spotted here with their pooches.
SHOP HOUNDS: The city’s first Unleashed by Petco (159 Columbus Ave.) store, a smaller boutique version of the chain, sells premium, organic and raw pet food. Pups gravitate toward the treat bar.
DON’T MISS: Brunch with a view of the Hudson and your dog by your side at the 79th Street Boat Basin Café (79th Street at the river). The popular dog-friendly outdoor spot closes for the season at the end of October, so you have one week left to enjoy!
For Doggy paddlers
Park Slope
Enter Prospect Park along Prospect Park West and follow the barking through the Long Meadow, and you’ll land at the Dog Beach, a section of the lake where dogs can swim during off-leash hours (before 9 a.m. and after 9 p.m.). In nearby Prospect Heights, both Joyce and Milk Bar on Vanderbilt Avenue are pet-friendly.
RUFF SERVICES: Groomer Rodrigo Leite of Home Doggy (105 Prospect Park West) also offers house calls to give pooches expert cuts. Terriers with wire coats are “hand stripped” — Leite plucks dead hair out by hand to protect the coat.
DOG RUNS: Most owners opt for walks in Prospect Park. “The park is my dog Joe’s oasis in the city,” says Prospect Heights resident Jenny Moore. Mount Prospect Park, by the Brooklyn Public Library, has off-leash hours.
SHOP HOUNDS: Sweet Charity (411 Seventh Ave.) stocks dog accessories and a portion of the profits is donated to Best Friends animal sanctuary in Utah.
DON’T MISS: Chatting at Fido Coffee Barks, in Prospect Park’s Long Meadow, by the Picnic House. Regulars gather 7 to 9 a.m. on the first Saturday of every month.
For petite precious pups
Upper East side
If Fifi can fit in a Marc Jacobs tote, Madison Avenue is hers for the taking. Well-behaved dogs are allowed inside Bloomingdale’s, Bergdorf and boutiques for both pet and human labelistas.
RUFF SERVICES: The Animal Medical Center (510 E. 62nd St.) has a team of more than 80 vets and is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Specialists here include canine dentists, neurologists, cardiologists and oncologists. There’s also a rehab center with underwater treadmills to help dogs recover from injuries.
DOG RUNS: Aside from the dog-friendly parts of Central Park, there are well-maintained dog runs near Gracie Mansion and the East River at Carl Schurz Park, on East 86th Street at East End Avenue.
SHOP HOUNDS: Raising Rover & Baby (1428 Lexington Ave.), a fave of Pet Product News mag, sells matching outfits for tots and pups.
DON’T MISS: The William Secord Gallery (52 E 76th St.), which specializes in fine 19th- and 20th-century paintings of dogs. Your pup can come too — and chomp on a doggy biscuit while you check out the art.
Groomer has it
Pet owners don’t save outlandish dog styles just for Halloween. The hottest haircut for pooches now? The mohawk, as seen here on Buster, who just got a fur-real one at Salty Paw grooming spa near the South Street Seaport.
“People in New York like to make fashion statements, and our dogs are like an extension of ourselves,” says Amanda Byron Zink, owner of Salty Paw. “Edgy or fancy haircuts are popular.”
Byron Zink says the return of ’80s fashion is to thank for the return of the mohawk, which is pup-ular with Pomeranians, poodles and schnauzers. “We see it on the catwalks, in pop icons like Lady Gaga and Rihanna, on the streets — and now, of course, we see it on our dogs.”
Some clients opt for a mohawk just on the head — but others go for the full-body version, the “fu-hawk,” which can take a full hour. At Salty Paw, the cut starts at $25, on top of regular grooming charges (which vary based on the dog’s size and coat).
NYC’S top breeds
The most common breeds in the city, ranked in order of popularity according to dog-license stats from the NYC Health Department.
1. Mixed Breed
2. Yorkshire Terrier (above)
3. Shih Tzu
4. Chihuahua
5. Maltese
6. Labrador Retriever
7. American Pit Bull Terrier/Pit Bull
8. Cocker Spaniel
9. Pomeranian
10. Labrador Retriever Mix
Halloween hound parade!
The 20th Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade begins today at noon. Tons of prizes will be awarded, including an iPod for the Best in Show. Admission’s free for dogs, $5 for humans.