Long Awaited Dog Park

At long last, with no danger of Cabana going into season and fully recovered from her spay, we went to the public dog park this morning. It was cold, foggy, and still early--all welcome factors for us first-timers. I didn't want uncontrollable masses of dogs to contend with. Before going to the dog park, Cabana and I also had a 2-mile walk/jog, to help Cabana burn some energy beforehand.

Much to my initial disappointment, though, there was only ONE other dog when we arrived. He was an old little fellow, obediently trotting along after his owner. Cabana was still happy to play with him, following them all around, completely ignoring me, and sniffing the dog smells everywhere.


But after about 10 minutes, woo hoo! Lots of big dogs arrived, and Cabana got to romp romp romp! I talked briefly to the other dog owners, and they said they hadn't heard of any bad experiences at this dog park. According to them, owners here seem to be very conscientious, and the dogs are all friendly and non-aggressive. The dogs this morning certainly seemed to be, and the owners were very attentive, making sure no one was getting out of hand.

This dog park is very large and has an uneven elevation. Cabana followed some of the other dogs over a hill, where I couldn't see her. So I strolled over there to keep an eye on her, slogging my wet sneakers through the muddy grass. But by the time I got to the other side of the hill, Cabana had come back around to the front...where she had found a HUGELY GINORMOUS puddle.

Before I could get to her, not only was Cabana knee-deep in the muddy water, she was actually trying to swim in it! She got down low and stuck her muzzle in the water, trying to grab something underneath. Blecch! I silently congratulated myself for having had the foresight to throw a few old towels in the car before coming.

I took the opportunity while Cabana was in the water to grab her collar and put on her leash. I knew there was ZERO hope of her coming for a recall, even with the tasty chicken jerky bits in my pocket. She wasn't even acknowledging me when I said her name, so I knew nothing would be more futile than saying "come".

The short ride in the car was enough to make the back seat terrifically dirty (even though Cabana sits on the floorboard, not the seat). And although I cleaned her paws off quite well so that Cabana could walk upstairs without leaving a footprint trail, on our way to the bathroom for a much-needed bath, Cabana accidentally brushed up against my white bedspread, leaving a nice brown splotch.

Nothing like 40 minutes at the dog park to require 3 loads of laundry and hours of cleaning! I think we'll wait until drier weather to go back to that dog park again. After some high-powered recall training sessions, too!