First Time to the Dog Park

I’ve had my Aussie puppy for almost 2 full months. She’s growing so big. The last time I had her over to the vet, we had to get weighed to get the proper dosing on her heartworm pill. She weighed 24# (on 9/11.) At home, we’re still keeping her confined to the kitchen. It’s a large kitchen, with an eat-in area and a partial hallway toward the front of the house. We play fetch in the kitchen. And we’re learning to catch.

When we go outside, we don’t really go out to play. She’s always leashed and usually we just go out to do business and then we come back in. Hopefully, in a year or two, when we’re comfortable that she knows her boundaries, we’ll be able to open up the door, let her out and she’ll come right back when she’s done. But until then, going outside is just mostly for doing business and the occasional walk.

I’ve been feeling a little guilty about that. She’s an Aussie. She needs to run. But running on the end of a 16 foot leash is very confining. So I looked into the local dog parks. Years ago, they were restricted to owners that pay for a pass after proving their dogs were adequately vaccinated. Now, they’re open to anyone that wants to take their dog for a romp… I’d gladly pay.

On Saturday, 9/13, I took a ride over to the park to check it out before I took Denali. (Actually, I was going to take her and we were all leashed up and ready to go; but, a mishap with a forgotten car key, a barely trained puppy and a retractable leash made me change my mind about taking her with me. Can you say “leash-burn?” OUCH!)

The park is essentially a big open field, about the size of a football field, that’s completely fenced in. At one end and partially around one other side of the perimeter, the park is wooded. There are two separate, double-gated entrances (and separate, double-gated exits, as well.) I didn’t realize there were two areas until I finally gathered up the nerve to enter without a dog and check the place out myself. The side I went in was marked for “Large Dog Area – Dogs 20 lbs. or more.” Once inside the park, two dogs came running over… they weren’t coming to greet me; one, some sort of short-haired pointer, was being chased. I watched the two dogs work out their differences and continued into the park. A couple (human-type) asked me how old my puppy was. I was wondering how they knew I had a puppy since Denali wasn’t with me. I told them, “Oh, she’s not here, but she’s about 4 ½ months old.” “You didn’t bring her? That’s not your dog?” I replied, “No, I wanted to check the park out before I brought her.” And they offered their advice for bringing Denali for her first trip. I stayed at the park for about 15 or 20 minutes and watched the dogs; watched the owners; picked up on the “Dog Park Etiquette” and left thinking that I wished I had Denali with me. She would have loved it.

On Monday, 9/15, Denali had Puppy Kindergarten Graduation. On Tuesday, we took a break from training… I looked over a packet of information for our upcoming first day of Obedience Training 101. Wednesday was our first OT101 class. She was one of three dogs there. She and a Maltese were puppies; one other dog was about 15 months old and had not been socialized properly. So, again, Denali had a knack for intimidating the other dogs in the class. We often had to take short, circular walks to regain her focus on me and the class objectives. However, the trainer used Denali as the demonstrator dog for all the commands. Sit, Down, Stand and Circle… she did great and I’m sure her aptitude causes frustration for the other dog owners… “Why can’t I get MY dog to do that???”

The class is being held at a local veterinary office that has a small paddock and stables for large animals. I asked if we worked on any off-leash training during this class and basically, the trainer said, “No.” But she told me that if I wanted to come early, before the other dogs arrived, I could try letting Denali off leash to let her run… as long as I could round her back up before the other dogs came. I wasn’t sure if Denali would obey my “Come” command, since we hadn’t tried it yet, so I left Denali on leash for the class.

On Thursday, I felt like it was time for the Dog Park. I got home from work, let her out of her crate and leashed her up. We went out to do business and got right into the car. She doesn’t mind a car ride… she hasn’t learned which way is to the vet and which way is to the pet store, yet. But she isn’t a tranquil car rider. She can’t make up her mind where she wants to be… and is always trying to find something to chew on. Hop to the front seat, hop to the back. Front, Back… front, back. Nose prints on the glass. “Hey, do you think I’m small enough to get up in the back windshield?”

When we arrived at the park, I was about exhausted from all her antics in the car! But we proceeded into the park and I had her sit. I took off her leash, whispered in her ear, “have a good time.” I said, “OK.” And, she was off. When we had pulled up to the park, there were quite a few dogs in there; big dogs like Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds. But as we were getting ready to actually get into the park, a lot of them had left… maybe it was dinner time. So now, there were only a couple of dogs in there. One of them was the little short-haired pointer from Saturday. Her name is Jenner and she’s about one month older than Denali. This was Jenner’s last visit to the park for a couple of weeks; she was having her spay surgery on Friday. Denali and Jenner, being similar in size and age, decided that they could chase each other. I stood with Jenner’s parents and watched the two run. More dogs came into the park. It’s funny; as the dogs come into the park, everyone (the dogs) has to run up and say “Hello.” I watch Denali… she’s right in there with all the others. “Hello.” “Do you like to run? I’ll run with you.” She tests the newcomers to see if they’ll run with her. If they don’t want to run, she returns to play with Jenner. She has no fear. Big dogs, older dogs, she’s right in there with all of them! She doesn’t know she’s little. When smaller dogs came in, she’d try to convince them to run with her. Some would, some would just ignore her. She was okay with all of it. When she got tired, she found a hole that some other dog had dug and she laid down in it; just her head popping up above the ground… how cute! A couple of times, I called for her, just to see what her reaction would be. To my surprise, she heard me, turned her head toward me and came running. Now, she didn’t stop at my feet, she ran right by me, but I’m happy to know that she WILL come in my general direction when called. We stayed at the park for about an hour before we headed for the gate to leave. She was tired and she followed me willingly. When we got to the gate, I had her sit and was able to get her leash on with no objection. In her participation she had been slobbered on pretty good… I’ve learned the dog-park term for this is “being slimed.” Oook! I should have brought some puppy wipes.

(sorry, no pictures this time... I was too busy keeping an eye on Denali to see how she'd react and learn the ropes, myself.)

As tired as she acted at the park, she was still very busy on the ride home. And once home, she still didn’t give the cats much of a break. Dang!