Dog Parks Are the Third Space I Needed in These Polarizing Times

Dog Parks Are the Third Space I Needed in These Polarizing Times

In the east Toronto neighbourhood I’ve called home for eighteen years, I’ve gotten used to the way people walk stoically past each other, careful not to interrupt their neighbours’ highly practised aloneness together. I have become very good at not smiling at strangers—because a smile might invite a greeting or, God forbid, a conversation. In March, I did something that punctured that quiet. After a lifetime of wanting one, I adopted a dog. I al…