Anyway, since some folks have asked "So what do you DO when you go to the dog park?" I thought I'd give you kind of Harvey-eyed view of A Day at the Dog Park! So here we are ... fresh out off our leashes and ready to rock and roll.
First we see the blondes and their moms. (The blondes are the dogs, not the moms!)
This is Dolce and Sylvia Beach ... two of the "Golden Girls" ...
... and here's Sahara ... she's a Labradoodle who's a little younger than Luna. (I may be 13 but I still have an eye for a blonde!)
Luna doesn't care so much about the blondes ... she has her own routine: she makes the rounds and tries get as many people to pet her as possible. Today she started with some guy we'd never seen before but that didn't slow her down ...
... then she moved on to some of the dog park regulars ...
...who can be counted on for a pat and an rub and a scratch behind the ears!
While Luna's making the rounds Barbara, Steve and Kenneth are on station ... keeping an eye on what's going on around the park. (Keeping an eye on each other's dogs is a BIG part of what dog people do at the dog park!)
Kenneth and I like to think of ourselves as Elder Statesmen ... sort of like the Robert Byrd and Ted Kennedy of the Dog Park. At 12 & 13 we figure we've earned the right to move a little slower, take our time and just stop and smell the roses along the way.
Of course, Luna has no respect for seniority and just shoves right in between Kenneth and Barbara with her insatiable appetite for people petting. Barbara is a very good egg and here she is petting both of them.
"These youngsters," said Kenneth. "No respect, I tell you, no respect for their elders!"
Of course I'm a little embarrassed by her but I've given up trying to correct her "all about me" behavior. I heard someone once talk about why you shouldn't try to teach a pig to sing: it wastes your time and annoys the pig. That's kind of how I feel about teaching Luna manners at this point!Meanwhile, here come Magnus ... he has TBO ... "tennis ball obsession" ... and really doesn't care about anything other than chasing that ball.
Whatever. I never really quite GOT the whole tennis ball chasing thing myself.
Magnus has learned to work the crowd ... here he is getting Kenneth's dad Steve to throw for him.
Magnus has learned to work the crowd ... here he is getting Kenneth's dad Steve to throw for him.
Steve even bought one of those plastic ball-chucking-things just to throw the ball for Magnus. How nice is THAT????
Then here comes Kelley ... the Pied Piperess of the Park ... Luna just goes CRAZY for her ...
... as you can see!
These are two of Kelley's dogs ... who knew there was such a thing as a Norwegian Lundehund -- my mom thought that was a made up name until she Googled them and darned if they weren't an honest to goodness breed of dog. (Not like the Austrian Elkhound she used to tell people I was!)
Here's one of our favorite Dog Park friends ... Kelley rescued him from New Orleans after Katrina ... his name is Bayou ... and he had a REALLY rough time for awhile but now he's just one of the gang ...
In fact, I think Luna has a little crush on him! But -- being the fickle thing she is ...
... she ditched him in the blink of an eye to get petted when this new family showed up. Shameless, I tell you, she's SHAMELESS!
As we were heading out we ran into Fred and his mom ... his mom brings him TWICE a day ... how lucky is FRED????
Then back in the car to go home ... we've got that drill down by now!
One variation today, however ... when Luna got home she was horrified to find that her normal post-dog-park-nap-spot had been staked out by Walden -- the don't-you-EVEN-mess-with-me feline member of our household.
So Miss Pushy-Pushy, Pet-Me, Pet-Me had to settle for the floor for her nap today.
Which made it an "all's well that ends well" day at the dog park for ME! And I'm ready for my OWN nap in my OWN backyard, thank you very much!
THE END
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