On Friday, Luna accompanied me to work. To reward her for being so patient and sleeping so quietly all day I decided to take her to the local dog park. I had heard that this dog park was really great so I was excited to see what they had to offer. While it is not the most spectacular dog park I have been too, it is definitely one of my favorites. There was a huge amount of space, trails through some woods to hike with your dog, and plenty of company. I was very pleased to meet so many friendly dog people there.
But how did Luna do? I was not sure how she would react to the dog park. When we first got her she was fearful of dogs close to her size and would actually hide behind me. Eris, my last greyhound, never liked the dog park and would stand by the gate waiting to escape.
At first Luna was hesitant about joining the group of dogs so she stuck to greeting the people. After awhile, she actually went up to two yellow labs and greeted them. Then, she met a dalmatian, shepherd mix, and several other medium to large size dogs. The smaller dogs that were running around and making a scene she simply ignored. Typical greyhound.
Since she was the only greyhound, she drew a lot of attention from the visiting people. Everyone wanted to see her run, but as I've mentioned before even I have not seen her run at full speed. This was not a likely situation where she would decide to open up and start running. I was able to take her to a large fenced in area where there were no other dogs. Using our "stay" and "come" commands I was able to get her to run towards me from across the field. She was not interested in running around so much as running towards me and I'm ok with that.
Overall, the experience was good for both of us. Luna seemed to relax as time went on and I think she will learn to enjoy herself at the park. I got to know my local dog park and meet a few new people who I hope to see again at the park.
2 comments:
I love going to our local dog park. After they've sniffed every blade of grass in the park, then Bunny and Blueberry will run a little if the spirit moves them. They enjoy it, but it depends a lot on the weather and what other dogs are there as far as whether they'll run. I'm glad you and Luna had fun!
Dog parks are great. I try to head out there at least a few times a month with my dog. The best ones I've been to have a great assortment of dog park equipment available. Just like kids, dogs need some stuff to play on too.
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