Greenbrook residents have a ball at dog park

There’s an exclusive club at the Greenbrook Adventure Park. You need a fob, a four-legged pet and a human with a great sense of humor to join. 

“We’re here every day,” Darrel Jacobs said. “We solve all the world’s problems.” 

One of them being unfriendly and unruly dogs. Those are weeded out of the mix fairly quickly.

“We file for divorce,” Bill Musgrave said. 

The day before Thanksgiving was a slow day at the dog park, but there were still about a dozen humans and one or two dogs accompanying each. The group gathers around 8 a.m. every day. 

“The two things she lives for is going to get the paper in the morning and the dog park,” Jim Fogo said. “She’ll be in my grill all morning until I bring her down here.” 

Fogo is referring to his 9-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever named Maddie, but it’s hard to tell who looks forward to the meetup more, the people or the dogs.

“You get to know all the people that come out here, and that’s part of the fun,” Bruce Baldwin said.

Only Greenbrook residents have access to the dog park, so it's a great way to meet neighbors. For the dogs, too, the fun is found in the pack. Regulars know to “watch your knees.” 

“Once you get a pack of them, and they’re moving around quickly, they don’t necessarily stop,” Mark Lee said. “They’ve taken a few people down at times.”  

As the resident orthopedist, Baldwin joked that the two greatest sources of injuries in the Lakewood Ranch area are dog parks and pickleball. 

“Both of them are very good for business,” he said.