And indeed, here there seemed to be no entry code except a dog (and even that wasn't a strict rule, hey, people were talking to me, and I was canine-less). Also, one elderly lady, the eccentric kind whose lipstick is bright 1960's pink and painted in a crooked line in the general vicinity of her mouth, was going around just petting all the dogs and no one seemed to mind; it was kinda' sweet. So it seems a love of dogs is all you need to hang out at the runs, except on Sundays when they're extra packed. If you don't have a dog on Sundays you'd better not take up prime bench space; but other than that it's cool.

People at the run hang out with their dogs like they're taking their kids to the park, they love to show off their dogs and they talk about them in that way too, like Suzy said of Kelsea: "My dog kind of ignores me when we get in here, it's kind of like I'm her parent and she's saying 'I'm not with you.'" Wendy Kahn and Laura Dyer were there with Oz and Sammy, black and champagne colored mixed breeds respectively, and they said they couldn't think of a better place to be on a beautiful day. They posed for pictures happily, cooing to their dogs like stage moms: "Anything to make you famous."

As the day went on the scenery changed, with an endlessly rotating cast of characters; all I had to do was hang out and soon there was someone new to talk to and another dog to pet or play catch with. Towards sunset Emma, an attractive young woman, showed up with Sophie, an equally pretty dalmation. After a bit of chatting, I broached the delicate topic of dating, since this run does have quite a reputation for being a pick-up zone, so much so that guys trying to get in on the action will go so far as to borrow a dog and come down to meet women. When I asked about it, she laughed, and almost blushed. I didn't press for details. Soon, however, I saw the dog run charm in action, some girls came by and were talking to a guy about his dog through the fence, soon he strutted back to his bench and the people he'd been hanging out with and proudly announced: "Hey, I gave that girl my number!"

Not to suggest that the run is strictly a pick-up scene, the park was filled with couples of every variety: boy/boy, girl/girl, boy/girl, boy/girl with kids and dogs, etc. Two men sat and read while their dogs played for hours, a girl and boy came to the run for the very first time with a darling pit bull, and another married looking traditional couple leaned over the fence and exchanged talk about their basset hound with Liz Logan, an editor from Metrobeat who was there with her dog Francis.