Second Trip to the Dog Park

Sunday, 9/20. Lots of projects around the house and we weren’t able to get Denali to the dog park again on Saturday, so we got up early, threw some clothes on and got our day started.

As usual, Denali was busy for the car ride. She’s taken to chewing on her leash. So, now I need to keep a real close eye on the condition of her 2-month old, specifically purchased for her, pink retractable leash. Sheesh!

Doug was envious of Denali’s first trip to the park, so he wanted to go with us this morning. We got there around 8:30 am. It was cool out and the park was pretty quiet. A few Golden Retrievers with their dad. He was tossing a ball; they were fetching. I showed Doug the way into the park and told him all about how we did it the last time along with Denali’s reactions to all the activities. As we came into the park, I had Denali sit and I took off her leash. I grabbed a park-provided baggie for just-in-case. And we watched Denali run off to say hello to the Goldens.

The grass was still wet from the morning dew. As the Golden’s dad was tossing the ball, a Golden would chase the ball and Denali would chase the Golden. What a hoot! More dogs arrived. One short, but stout, bull-dog type caught Denali’s eye (because they could see eye-to-eye) and Denali engaged him in a run. Since Doug was there to help me watch Denali, I felt free to snap a few pictures, (though getting a picture of an Aussie in action makes for a bunch of very blurry photos.) One of the dogs, Samson, came over and sat in front of me. I had forgotten that I had placed a few “yummies” (bits of treat that I use for training rewards) in my sweatshirt pocket… but Samson knew they were there. He sat and waited very patiently. I thought he was just posing for the camera, so I snapped a picture. He continued to pose. It wasn’t until his dad called him off and he came back to sit in front of me, again, that I remembered the yummies. Once again, Denali fit right in. A young boxer befriended Denali and they ran pretty well together. For the most part, the boxer, the bull dog and Denali grouped up together; though Denali was quick to welcome any newcomers. There were collies, a west highland terrier, a shy german shepherd, and a big black dog that was only interested in hunting squirrels. HE was funny. He didn’t really socialize with any of the dogs at the park; but, he’d sit there, beautifully, and scan the wooded area for any movement. He sat that way for 20 minutes or so. If he wasn’t sitting and scanning, he was in the woods, trying to climb any tree that had a critter in it.
At one point, the bull dog was tired out and just standing amongst the humans. Denali and the boxer were running a lap when all of a sudden, I guess the boxer more focused on Denali than where he was running and ran into the bull dog. You could hear the impact! The bull dog was just standing there like nothing happened; the boxer, was flipping over, doing somersaults and skidding across the grass. It was like the boxer hit a brick wall when it hit the bull dog. But, the boxer recovered nicely; had a few coughs to get his windpipe working correctly again and was at it with Denali for a few more laps.

Denali wandered over to the separately fenced area to visit with some of the smaller dogs. A beautiful cocoa colored miniature poodle with light brown eyes was there; its owner wondered if Denali would like to play with her. I was a little worried, though, now that Denali’s had the opportunity to play with the big dogs, that she might be a little too rough with the little ones. So we just chatted through the fence and the poodle chased Denali along the fence line.

By the time Denali looked like she was thoroughly tuckered out we’d been at the park for an hour. Calling her to follow us to the exit, she followed us cheerfully. She’d been “slimed” and she was fully wet from the grass. And tumbling in the bare spots just made her a grimy, muddy mess. I did bring puppy wipes this time, but they were worthless as filthy as she was. When we got home, she went directly into the bathtub!

She behaved pretty well for the rest of the day… the cats are appreciative.