By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Peanut, Penny and Lucy were taking a leisurely walk Saturday morning, but suddenly began excitedly tugging on their leashes when they approached the Sea Isle City fire station.
Waiting for the three friendly dogs with treats in hand was Ron Taylor, who has been dubbed the “dog whisperer” of Sea Isle’s Volunteer Fire Department.
“We know the dogs that have already been here before, because when they’re coming up the street or sidewalk, they start pulling their owners. Their owners don’t have a choice but to stop here,” Taylor said with a laugh while explaining how the dogs insist on getting a treat at the firehouse.
While Dalmatians are the dogs traditionally associated with fire departments, four-legged visitors of all breeds are greeted at Sea Isle’s fire station with treats and affectionate pats on the head given to them by Taylor and other dog-loving firefighters.
“I remember all of their names,” Taylor said of why he is known as the fire station’s dog whisperer.
Sea Isle’s firefighters began handing out dog treats last year. The simple act of mingling with dogs and their owners has effectively evolved into a popular community outreach program for the fire department.
Taylor noted that it allows the firefighters to socialize with Sea Isle’s residents and vacationers and to “talk shop” about the department.
“It’s really turned into something positive,” he said. “The relationship we have with the community is really something.”
“The best part of it is, you get to interact with the people,” Taylor added.
Some of the dog owners will bring dog treats to the firehouse to make sure the firefighters always have a supply on hand.
For the public, there is also a “Dogs of Sea Isle” Facebook page with more than 600 followers and photos of some of the canines hanging out at the fire station.
By Taylor’s count, some 125 dogs have become regulars at the firehouse. One of them is a deaf Dalmatian, named Daphne, that has learned some sign language.
On Saturday, the Great Danes Peanut and Lucy and a golden retriever named Penny marched up to the firehouse while out on a walk with their owners, Steve Caggiano, his wife, Samantha, Steve’s father, also named Steve Caggiano, and the older Caggiano’s daughter, Katrina Morabito.
“They get excited sometimes. Peanut cries out when she gets excited,” Samantha Caggiano explained of the dogs’ behavior when they approach the firehouse.
Samantha said she and her husband make it a habit to bring the dogs to the fire station when they come to visit in Sea Isle from their home in Wayne, Pa. Steve Caggiano, the father, has a vacation home in Sea Isle.
“We pretty much stop here every week when we come down to Sea Isle,” Samantha said of the dog-friendly trips to the fire station.
Word has widely circulated in Sea Isle’s dog community about the treats at the fire department. The most popular time for the dogs and their owners to visit is weekend mornings.
“They’ll run right up here and jump on your chest,” Taylor said of the affectionate greeting he often gets from the dogs.
Taylor has a dog of his own, a boxer named Dozer. Although he is happy to see all of the dogs at the firehouse, he admitted that he has two favorites, a French bulldog named Pearl and a mixed breed named Finn.
“I look for them,” he said.
Delilah, a mix between a golden retriever and a German shorthaired pointer, is another frequent visitor to the firehouse. Carrying an orange Frisbee in her mouth, the 10-year-old black dog rushed up to get a treat from Taylor on Saturday morning.
“She knows,” Kim Buchinsky, Delilah’s owner, said of her dog’s familiarity with the firehouse treats.
Buchinsky lives in Langhorne, Pa., and has a vacation condo in Sea Isle. One of her favorite spots – and Delilah’s – in Sea Isle is the firehouse next to City Hall.
“Her tail starts wagging and she starts looking at the (firehouse) doors to see if they’re open,” Buchinsky said. “Then she starts running up to get a treat.”
