Thursday, November 10, 2011

A Visit to the Dog Park

Holly's completed 3 of the 6 sessions of her first obedience training class. She's quite "exuberant" in class and tends to overwhelm her 4 other much smaller classmates. Since class is currently the only socialization event in her life, Holly's teacher suggested we try getting her out with other dogs more, so we drove over to the dog park on Tuesday afternoon. Holly had a good time investigating all the smells of other dogs that had been there previously.
On account of this being my first visit to the dog park, I had no idea we should have brought a toy and some water for Holly. Fortunately, Mojo and his dad were there with a couple tennis balls and Mojo was more than willing to have Holly chase along with him to fetch the tennis ball.

Mojo's only about 1 year old, but he was much better behaved than Holly. Mojo's dad had spent a lot of time training him and offered us a few tips for working with Holly also.

Holly and Mojo played well together and they were evenly matched in speed when chasing after the ball and coming back with it.

I thought they made a very handsome pair!

After we had been there for about 15 minutes, another couple showed up with their little black lab puppy. This was a very friendly little dog and wasn't shy at all about meeting Holly. She tolerated the little puppy very well too.

And a few minutes after the puppy's arrival, a couple of women arrived with their huge black lab. I heard one of them say the dog currently weighed about 100 pounds! This dog was even more out of control than Holly -- those ladies couldn't do anything with the dog. Holly didn't back down from this challenger and after a few growls and snaps, we decided that it was time to get Holly back in the car and head for home.


It was fun to see Holly playing with the other dogs in a larger space than her weekly classroom. I will definitely take her to the dog park again, but might try the one at the other end of town. I was not thrilled that this park had so much dirt right in the middle of it and Holly had to have a bath after I got her home to get her all cleaned up and shiny again. I've been past the north side dog park and that entire park is all grass -- no dirt. It's also a little busier than the south side park, but I'll try it once to see how we do there.


8 comments:

Dave Dorsey said...

Congrats on your new dog. I'm glad it's working out.

Gaelyn said...

This is a great idea for Holly.

NCmountainwoman said...

Dog parks are usually good places to socialize your dog. Unfortunately, there often will be an out-of-control dog that the owner cannot (or will not) handle.

And yes, the two of them together are beautiful.

stephen said...

Holly is beautiful! Fantastic markings, and such a charming personality.

Meggie said...

Growls and snaps are all part of the socialization process. I took Piper to doggie school for that very reason. But she learned a whole lot more from playing with my brother's dog, Axel, and my friend Lisa's dog, Titan.

Ruth said...

We use the dog park several times a week and there are sometimes 40-50 dogs there (it is a large area) Our dog loves it and getting filthy is part of the routine, especially if it has rained. There is a chipped wood path but she always finds the puddles. The dogs can play roughly at times but it is part of their normal pack behaviour.

Taos Sunflower said...

Love the photos of Holly and Mojo running together. Too bad about the big lab, but great you have another park option. PS I also love the photo of her sitting in the car while you were bird watching...she looks so smart!

KGMom said...

Ah, the dog part--great place. We too have the problem of no grass, so that after rain, the park is quite muddy. We try to take our dog at times when we can have her bathed afterwards, if need be.
It is always so interesting to watch the doggy interaction.