Hillcroft Collies Blog: Visit to the Dog Park

We've had some teasers of springs the last couple of weeks and I've taken advantage of it. Besides washing my vehicle for a temporary respite of owning a road salt/muddy Sequoia, I spent a warm Sunday at the dog park with Gibson.
I wanted some solo time with Gibson and wanted a place he could have fun. It's been a couple of years since I visited the park but remembered it's usually a bit on the muddy side. Since Gibson was already overdue for a bath, I thought that would be a great destination for our outing!
Our first stop was by the pond, to watch the geese swim lazily about. Gibson seemed bored by this and anxious to be where the action was, so after getting a couple of photos, off we went.
Gibson is very social with our own dogs, always in the mix of things, but at the dog park, he's very stand offish, prefering to watch the other dogs. He also likes to check out the various scent markings from the other dogs, which takes a lot of time. By the time Gibson's ready to play with the different groups, they've given up on him and ignore him as he makes an attempt to join in. Sometimes, I feel like I'm watching groups of children interacting instead of dogs!
Since I'm not a regular at the park, I don't interact much with the other owners, which gives me lots of time for observing. People can be as funny as dogs! I would think, being dog lovers, everyone would be petting and playing with all the dogs, but that's not the case. Often, if Gibson would walk by someone, they would back up or ignore him. Balls dropped at their feet by a dog not their own, would also be ignored. That's when I remembered why we don't take advantage of the dog park that often. Besides always seeming a bit muddy, or in very dry weather, very buggy, it's not a great place for socialization!
Gibson did start to play more readily with newcomers but when his frequency of circling back to where I was seated increased, I figured he was ready to go home. He readily jumped into the Sequoia, but seemed tired and content. We both enjoyed our spring preview and our anxious for more outings!