Event article


.3/18/2023 – LI-DOG Pack Walk at Southaven County Park

LI-DOG Pack Walk™ at Southaven County Park!
Sat., March 18th, 10 AM – Noon
761 Victory Ave., Yaphank, NY

Join us for our first LI-DOG Pack Walk™ of the 2023 season at Southaven County Park in Yaphank, NY! This is our first Pack Walk in this 1,300-acre Suffolk County Park that runs along the Carmans River. The trail we’ll be walking follows the Carmans River for a while before turning back onto the main trail. It is wide, mostly dirt and generally considered easy. We’ll cover about 2 miles, which takes about an hour. For more information, check out LI-DOG Pack Walk at Southaven County Park! 


03/06/2023 – LI-DOG Pack Walk Schedule 2023

 

LI-DOG Pack Walk Schedule 2023

 

Guided Group On-Leash Dog Walks in Long Island Parks!

LI-DOG Pack Walk at Sands Point Preserve Group Shot

LI-DOG Pack Walk at Sands Point Preserve June 2022 Photo Credit: Joann Garguola

LI-DOG leads group on-leash dog walks in parks around Long Island on the third weekend of the month generally from the Spring through the Fall. Check out the LI-DOG Pack Walk™ schedule below and see where we’ll be walking with our dogs next! 

 

Sat., March 18th

Southaven County Park, Yaphank

Sat., April 15th

Old Westbury Gardens, Old Westbury

Sat. May 20th

Dix Hills Park, Huntington

Sat., June 17th

Sands Point Preserve, Sands Point

Sat., July 22nd

Doggie Beach Pawty, Mud Creek Off-Leash Beach, E. Patchogue

Sat., Aug. 19th

Massapequa Preserve, Fire Road Trail, Massapequa

Sat., Sept. 23rd

Fire Island National Seashore, Bay Shore

Sat., Oct. 21st

Hempstead Lake State Park, Hempstead

Sat., Nov. 18th

Terrell River County Park, Center Moriches

 

To get a pdf of the schedule, go to Flyer Pack Walk Schedule 2023.

 


3/18/2023 – LI-DOG Pack Walk at Southaven County Park

 

Photo Credit: Bill Roberts

LI-DOG Pack Walk™ at Southaven County Park!

Saturday, March 18th, 10 AM to Noon

761 Victory Ave., Yaphank, NY

(Google Map)

How to find us:
Follow the entrance road to the main parking lot. Meet us where the trails start on the right side of the parking lot in the back.

To start off our 2023 season, please join us on Saturday, March 18th for our first-ever LI-DOG Pack Walk™ at Southaven County Park! LI-DOG Pack Walks™–group on-leash walks–are a great way to enjoy Long Island’s beautiful parks with your dog, while meeting new friends and their pups. Located in Yaphank, Suffolk County, Southaven County Park covers more than 1,300 acres of pine-oak forest and is split by the Carmans River. It is one of the first county parks opened to the public in the 1960’s.

The trail, which is generally considered easy, is a 2.8-mile loop, but we will be walking approximately 2 miles which should take us about an hour. There is a turn-off where you can make the walk shorter if you wish. In general, the trails at this park are wide, dirt and easy to follow. The one which we will be following parallels the river and then we’ll turn onto the main trail before we head back.

Please be aware that dogs must remain leashed AT ALL TIMES on the Pack Walk™. Please also make sure to bring poop bags–as clean-up is a must! Also, no retractable leashes as we’ll be walking as a group and people and dogs can get tangled. Please note the restrooms are closed at this time of year.

Please arrive at least 15 minutes early so you can sign in and we can start on time.

To RSVP:

LI-DOG on Meetup

LI-DOG on Facebook

or email us events@lidog.org

This should be a great first LI-DOG Pack Walk™ of the 2023 season. We hope you can join us at Southaven County Park on Sat., the 18th!

**In the event of inclement weather, please check our Meetup or Facebook Group as we will post any weather-related changes by 9 a.m. Saturday morning. If there is no announcement, the Pack Walk is on! **


.12/22/2022 – LI-DOG 2022 Holiday Video

 

Happy Holidays from LI-DOG to you and your pups!

Please enjoy LI-DOG’s 2022 Holiday Video of  dozens of LI dogs in the holiday spirit! Thanks to our talented colleague Joann Garguola for creating this wonderful video. And, thanks to all of you for joining us for our dog-friendly events this year and your support for our NYS beach access campaign! We’ll see you and your pups in 2023!

 


12/1/2022 – Show Us Your Pups in Their Holiday Finest

 

Show Us Your Pups in Their Holiday Finest!

Please share photos of your beautiful dogs in their Holiday finest so we can make a video for everyone to enjoy!
Just go to the LI-DOG Facebook Group and add your photo as a comment to our post: Show Us Your Pups! If you can, please include your pet’s name. That’s adorable Harry from last year’s photo submissions. Last year’s video was extremely popular. You don’t want to miss out! Besides, we can never have too many pictures of all our LI-DOG dogs! P.S. If you don’t have access to FB, send your photo to events@lidog.org.

 


.11/06/2022 – LI-DOG Howl-o-Ween Pawty 2022Final

Frankie the Pilot and his Pilot and Flight Attendant Parents

Best Pet/Pet Parent Duo Winners

LI-DOG’s Howl-o-Ween Pawty a Barking Success!

Good boys and girls performed Tricks for Treats and competed in close match-ups for best costume at LI-DOG’s Howl-o-Ween Pawty at Off-Key Tikki in Patchogue in early November! Nearly 100 people and almost as many four-legged party goers celebrated all things wonderful about the holiday and canine companionship at Off-Key Tikki’s fun, tropically-themed waterfront venue. Besides the three contests in which more than 9 winners were awarded prizes, there was music, free food provided by Off-Key Tikki, drink specials, a Paw Print printing booth, a Photo booth, and numerous raffles for people to bid on and win including, for the first time, a Grand Prize three-night getaway to Myrtle Beach! The event was LI-DOG’s most important fundraiser of the year. To see photos, lists of winners, and links to all the businesses and individuals who generously donated to the event, go to LI-DOG Howl-o-Ween Pawty 2022!


11/06/2022 – LI-DOG Howl-o-Ween Pawty 2022Final

LI-DOG’s Dog Costume Pawty a Barking Success!

BY SAM DESMOND

Leia, Obi Wan and Their Ewok bulldogs. Best Pet/Pet Parent Duo Winners. Photo Credit: Feng Sherri Hsiu

Frankie the Pilot and his Pilot and Flight Attendant Parents

Jr. Pilot Frankie with his Pilot and Flight Attendant Parents, 1st Place Best Pet/Pet Parent Duo

Jurassic Bark Dinosaurs and Scientist Parents Best Pet/Pet Parent Duo Winners

Good boys and girls performed tricks for treats and competed in close match-ups for best costume on Sunday, November 6th at Off-Key Tiki in Patchogue at the Long Island Dog Owners Group’s (LI-DOG) Howl-o-Ween Celebration.
With nearly 100 people in attendance (and almost as many four-legged party goers), the event celebrated all things wonderful about the holiday and canine companionship. “When we see dogs at an event like this, it shows that they’re an important part of people’s families and that people feel they belong in public spaces,” said LI-DOG President Ginny Munger Kahn.

As a testament to the greater Long Island community’s love of dogs, there were over 20 generous gift baskets donated for Howl-o-Ween raffles from businesses all over Nassau and Suffolk. This included an anonymous donation of a Grand Prize of a three-night getaway to Myrtle Beach at a condo.

Other notable donations included: a hand drawing of your dog by artist Alan Meschkow; his wife Gail donated a hand-knit sweater for your dog and matching hat for you;
IHOP in Oceanside donated once a month pancakes for a year, plus there were several wine donations and beautiful hand-painted wine glasses.

Click on the Sponsors Collage (below) to see a full list of business and individual sponsors.

Of course, the biggest supporter of the event was Off-Key Tiki, which has been sponsoring fundraising events for LI-DOG for nearly ten years. In that time, hundreds of canines have fallen in love with the “beach” area and fire pit while surrounded by live music. The puppers generally sit and enjoy the ambiance much like being at home on the couch with the TV on. Each year, Off-Key Tiki has provided free hot dogs and hamburgers for the human attendees (much to the envy of their four-legged companions). This year, Off Key Tikki also donated gift certificates for the top three contest winners.

Music and announcements were provided by MC Mike Kaplow (himself a husky aficionado) who played a variety of music from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s throughout the event.

And proving what a democratic gathering Howl-o-Ween is, there were dogs of all sizes and breeds attending the party. “There was quite the diversity of small, medium, and large dogs, who were well-behaved and greeted new people and new dogs in a comfortable way,” said  Munger Kahn.

The main draw of the event though were all the adorable dogs in costume. “It was unbelievable the creativity and care people put into their costumes,” said Munger Kahn.

Three contests were held: two Costume Contests, plus a Tricks for Treat contest.

Chocolate Labradoodle Best Tricks Winner

Best Tricks Winner Oliver

The winner of the Tricks for Treats contest was Oliver, a chocolate-colored Labradoodle, who proudly wore his 1st Place medal the rest of the event. “It was the originality and the interaction between presenter and dog we were looking for,” said Judge Alan Meschkow. “With Oliver and his presenter, you could just see how good the eye contact was and how bonded the handler and the dog were,” Meschkow said. Coming in a close second was Cosmo, a Corgi, with Bulldog Riley coming in a close third.

 

 

With 29 contestants, it was fierce competition for the two costume contests showdown–Best Pet and Best Pet/Pet Parent duo.

 

Best Standalone Pet Winners Harley and Cassie Photo Credit: Joann Garguola

The winners of the Best Standalone Pet Costume contest were: 

First Place – Harley and Cassie, the Magician and his rabbit

Second Place – Percy, the T-Rex

Third Place – Gidget, the Unicorn.

 

 

 

 

Jr. Pilot Frankie in His Plane Photo Credit: Diane Mezz

The winners of the Best Pet/Pet Parent Duo were:

First Place – Jr. Pilot Frankie with his parents Mike and Lucy, pilot and flight attendant (in a remote-controlled airplane!)

Second Place – Toby & Clover, the dinosaurs, with Dena and Bryan, Dr. Sattler and Dr. Hammond from Jurassic Park

Third Place – Lexi, Phoebe and Coco as Ewoks with their parents Sherri and Nick as Leia and Obi-Wan

 

 

 

 

Yorkie 911 Volunteer and Pup Photo Credit: Diane Mezz

Rescue organization Yorkie911 came with several of their adoptable pups and Bond Vet, the animal hospital and veterinary services outfit, came to hand out freebies and goodies for the dogs.

There was a paw print printing booth where people could stamp their pups’ paw on a sheet of paper and then make flowers or other designs around the paw print. For additional canine posterity, there was also a photo booth where people could pose their dogs.

 

 

More than a dozen volunteers were also on hand to set up, welcome guests, sell raffle tickets, and judge the contests.

This was LI-DOG’s most important fundraiser of the year, noted Munger Kahn. The money raised supports LI-DOG’s work to get more access to LI parks and beaches for dog owners and their dogs. Right now, LI-DOG’s main campaign is getting access to non-swimming NYS beaches.

 

 

“We want to congratulate all the winners of our raffle baskets and our contests,” said Munger Kahn.

Paw Print Organizer and Winning Raffle Basket Winner Nikki

Raffle Basket Winner and Paw Print Booth Organizer Nikki

Raffle Basket Winner and His Pup Photo Credit: Joann Garguola

Raffle Basket Winner and Her Dog Photo Credit: Joann Garguola

“The event was a lot of fun and we want to thank everyone, including our amazing volunteers, who joined us with their dogs and made it happen!”

To see all the photos of people and their pups enjoying our Howl-o-Ween Pawty, check out LI-DOG on Facebook and LI-DOG on Meetup. Feel free to tag yourself and your dog!

 

 

Sam Desmond is a Contributing Editor to the Long Island Advance, The Suffolk County News and several other Long Island newspapers. She can be reached at: snd.scribe@gmail.com.


11/6/2022 – LI-DOG HowloWeen Pawty Sponsors Thank You

 

 

 

Thanks SO MUCH to all the businesses and individuals who donated to LI-DOG’s Howl-o-Ween Pawty raffles–BarkBox, Brutus Bone BrothCapo RistoranteChipotleCraft Kitchen & Tap House, Earth BathEarth Rated1/2 Off Cards of WantaghIHOP/OceansideJones Natural Chews, Kwong Ming of WantaghLido Kosher DeliLong Island Bagel CaféMatty’s Toy Stop, PalominosPindar Vineyards, PizzaiolaSangria 71, and Total Wine & More. Plus, many thanks to Alan Meschkow for donating a custom pencil sketch of YOUR dog, Gail Meschkow for a beautiful handknit sweater for your pup with a matching hat for you, and Bailey Applebee Dog for donations of kids crafts and other fun stuff for you and your dog!

An especially big thank you to Off Key Tikki Waterside Bar and Grill for donating their big, fun, tropically-themed waterfront patio and “beach” for our fundraising pawty, plus gift certificates for our top three contest winners and free food for all our guests!

 


.11/19/2022 – LI-DOG Pack Walk at Fire Island National Seashore 2022

 

LI-DOG Pack Walk™ at Fire Island National Seashore!

Sat., Nov. 19th, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Fire Island Lighthouse Beach, Bay Shore
Join LI-DOG for  our final LI-DOG Pack Walk™ of the 2022 season at the beautiful Fire Island National Seashore. Meet us at the far eastern end of Field 5 at Robert Moses State Park and then walk with us over to the Lighthouse and Fire Island from there. Choose either a 1.5-mile walk that will take about 45 minutes or a little longer 2.5-mile walk. Either way, you’ll be walking with your dog along the shore with wide open views of sea, sand and sky! For details and links to RSVP, go to LI-DOG Pack Walk™ at Fire Island National Seashore!

 


11/19/2022 – LI-DOG Pack Walk at Fire Island National Seashore 2022

 

LI-DOG Pack Walk Nov. 2021

LI-DOG Pack Walk™ at Fire Island National Seashore!

 

Sat., November 19th, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Fire Island Lighthouse Beach

(Google Maps) 

How to find us: Meet us at the far eastern end of Parking Field 5 at Robt. Moses State Park. We’ll walk over to Fire Island National Seashore from there.

On Saturday, Nov 19th, please join LI-DOG for our LI-DOG Pack Walk™ along beautiful Fire Island National Seashore! Our Pack Walks–group on-leash walks–are a great way for you and your dog to socialize with other pet parents and their pups while enjoying some of Long Island’s beautiful parks and beaches.

For this, our final LI-DOG Pack Walk™ of the 2022 season, we’ll meet at the far eastern end of Parking Field 5 at Robert Moses State Park. Please note that dogs are not allowed on the beach at Robert Moses. To get to Fire Island National Seashore, we’ll walk north and east along the broad grassy shoulder of Robert Moses Parkway and then onto the dirt road that runs south of the lighthouse. There are great views of the lighthouse from the dirt road and the main path to the lighthouse.

Opposite the sign for the Fire Island Lighthouse, we’ll cross over the dunes on a pre-made path to the ocean beach. At that point, you’ll be able either to turn right and head back along the ocean to Robert Moses or if you want to do a bit longer walk, you’ll be able to turn left and walk further East towards Kismet, before doubling back towards Robert Moses. The shorter walk will cover about 1.5 miles and take about 45 minutes, the longer walk will be closer to 2.5 miles. In either case, you will be walking along the shore with your dog enjoying wide open views of sea, sand and sky!

Please be aware that dogs must remain leashed AT ALL TIMES on the Pack Walk. Please also make sure to bring poop bags–as clean-up is a must! Also, no retractable leashes as we’ll be walking as a group and people and dogs can get tangled.

Please arrive 15 minutes early so you can sign in and we can start on time.

To RSVP, go to:

LI-DOG on Meetup

LI-DOG on Facebook

or email us at lidog_news@yahoo.com

This should be a great final LI-DOG Pack Walk™ of the 2022 season! We hope you can join us at Fire Island National Seashore on Sat., the 19th!

***In the event of inclement weather, please check our Meetup or Facebook Group as we will post any weather-related changes by 9 am Saturday morning. If there is no announcement, the Pack Walk is on! ***