Oh The Dog Park Was Such a Trial Today

Well, to start with, after sitting and waiting, and sitting and waiting at all the gates (I think there are at least 40 of them) I finally enter the park with That Person. I have to sit and wait to get let off the leash. Man, I am so good, really good. I even pretend not to be excited. Lots of cool dogs come to sniff me. She lets me go, but before I 'go', up comes this character and picks a big old fight with me. Let me tell you, I don't hardly ever pick a fight (well there were those two times when I thought those Yorkies on a leash were prey!) but I don't just stand there for it either. No sir. The person of that other dog, instead of correcting him, took him off and gave him a lecture. Ha ha. Blah, blah, blah Ginger, blah, blah blah. This is in reference to the excellent Far Side cartoon What we say to dogs, what dogs hear. So anyway, That Person keeps me leashed for all round safety reasons. I'm not terribly happy about it but for once She's not all off the charts on it. Finally I'm allowed to go and so's that other character who comes right on over and tries to start up with me again. But That Person has a hold of my collar now and nothing comes of it. When this uppity character is finally taken away by his person I'm let go for real. Some nice lady tells That Person that this other dog has been acting all bad for a while.
That Person is figuring out that it's a holiday crowd at the park. Not the regulars. Some of my old favorites have stopped coming often, anyway. Sad. Things are going a bit downhill--metaphorically-- over at Danehy. Couple a weeks ago some dogs started digging right in the middle of the dog area. Their people just stood around next to them, not even stopping them, and then they left without filling in the hole. I'm not very interested in digging (unless there's something tasty down there) so no big deal for me to be a model of good behavior on this score. Today some dog started digging like fury next to one of the trees. Same deal. No people batted any eyes.
Then some woman had her nose in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and was eating peanuts from a very flimsy plastic bag. If you follow this blog you know what I can do with a situation like that. It's my famous teeny-tiny front teeth that can take a thing right out of your hand without you knowing anything even happened. That Person was all over it, standing in front of the mystery-reading peanut-eater and pointing at me if even the glimmer of an idea as outlined above came over me. There were several such glimmers. I can tell that people think She's harsh with me. That's because they don't do much of anything with their dogs by way of correction or learning. Learning is a pain in the butt, but also good because you get skills. these skills are their own reward (you can show off all over the place) and they also get you into places that otherwise might give you the proverbial boot
Another thing was that someone left a large plastic bottle right out in the dog area. There were also two take-out plastic cups with straws stuck in them and some interesting liquid at the bottom. These were left on the people-benches. That person was silently crabbing away inside about it all.


Then this other little character comes up and snaps at me. More than once. His person, instead of giving a correction, used her people-voice (mildly chiding) and then petted the poor little fellow who will never, I promise you, learn a thing that way.

There were plenty of dogs today, but none who were interested in playing with this writer. Finally I found a guy that I jollied into playing with me. I think I might have been the one to teach him how to play. I had to get into the submissive position right away to show him how. We had a pretty good time and we went on for about forever. Before leaving, That Person (who thinks she's the world's best ever) filled in the hole around the tree

In my next post I will tell you about the horror in the back yard. You will be strictly on the edge of your seat for the outcome!


Love,
Frankie