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!

Good day for a swim!

Gibson and a new friend explore a good scent.

The Corgi had no problem keeping up with the big guys!

Follow the Leader?

Gibson at the Dog Park

Another good morning out for Gibson. A quick trip through the Farmer's Market, where he was perfectly relaxed and wanted to have children approach and hang off of him, then a hard romp at the dog park. We had to drag him away from his new buddies when it was time to go home!

Jewel's Day Out

Last week, we took Jewel out for a day by herself. She had been acting rather mopey, maybe because Sadie was gone or maybe she just knows how to get extra attention!
First stop was the new Leesburg Dog Park. We had never been to a dog park before and didn't know what to expect. We did expect Jewel to interact with the other dogs, to run and play like she does at home--wrong!! She acted as if the other dogs were beneath her so they quickly decided she wouldn't play. Jewel would only walk along the fence, then just stand and look desolate. She'd go up to any person who was still, leaning against them and staring into their face as if to say "I've been dumped here, would you like to take me home"? Once, she actually got out of the main play area when someone was leaving. I ran behind her, calling her name, but she just ignored me and acted like she had never seen me before! She did enjoy being with some children, trying out every dog's water bowl and actually acted like she would play with one dog but as she had not made a good first impression, the other dog wasn't interested.
We decided to go for lunch and took Jewel to Doner Bistro. She didn't want the bone I had brought along for her, although she would eat some of our french fries. She crawled under the table so she didn't get much attention from other diners.
Our last stop was Home Depot to buy a new grill. By now, Jewel had had it with getting in and out of the truck and walking in the heat. Every time I stopped, she'd lay down and refused to move. The other grill shopper was good tempered about it, stepping over her and saying he wasn't interested in the grill she was blocking, anyway. At the checkout, which took longer than it should have, she flopped down and stretched out on her side, refusing to make eye contact with anyone! For some reason, the other shoppers and store personnel took this as a sign of her good temperament instead of her sudden transformation into a stubborn mule--which I thought she was as we tried to get her to get up so we could take our new purchase home!