Located next door to the Dyker Beach Golf Course, the dog run offers animals a wide area in which to run, walk, play and enjoy nature.

“There’s even a water fountain just for man’s best friend!” said Gentile, who worked with the Council to make sure the $600,000 that it cost the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to repair the formerly run-down area was put into the city budget.

The dog run, which has been in existence for several years, was closed for a year while the Parks Dept. renovated the area. The agency installed new, environmentally-friendly gravel, erected new fences and put in plantings and new benches – all to create a comfortable space for pooches and the people who love them.

A handful of local residents brought their dogs to the ceremony. Rick Gimeranez came to the park with his British bull dog, Otter.

“I tell people, ‘He’s my two year old.’ It’s like having a kid,” Gimeranez told the Brooklyn Eagle. Gimeranez was impressed by the newly renovated dog run. “There’s lots of room for Otter to roam around,” he said.

Kate Cucco, chief of staff to Assemblymember Alec Brook-Krasny, brought Bella, her English cocker spaniel. Bella calmly sat in a chair, looking almost human, as the audience awaited the start of the ceremony. “She does that at the vet, too,” Cucco confided to the Eagle.

“We’re all smiling. For some reason, I can’t stop smiling today,” Jeffrey said. He urged dog owners to pitch in and help keep the dog park clean. “We really need you to help maintain it,” he said.

Gentile, a dog lover who had a pet beagle named Cindy when he was a child, said he was pleased with the job done by the Parks Dept. The agency worked with the community, he said. During the planning stages, a series of public hearings took place to solicit opinions from local dog owners on what they wanted to see in the dog run. “We made sure we were barking up the right tree,” he said.

Brook-Krasny (D-Bay Ridge-Coney Island) didn’t bring his dog Lola to the ceremony, but urged people to think about becoming a pet owner. “Consider adopting a dog or a cat,’’ he said.

All during the ceremony, dogs were happily prancing around the park. After the ribbon cutting, the famous Baha Men song “Who Let The Dogs Out?” could be heard over the sound system.

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