Day at the Dog Park

Sunday, March 28, 2010

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Yesterday was one of those "I just want to be outside days" so I took full advantage of that and took my two dogs, Chuy and Dixie to the dog park.  First, let me preface this with a brief description about each dog.  Chuy, my golden retriever/chihuahua mix... I know, it sends chills down your spine doesn't it? Anyways, he is the absolute perfect dog because he is just a miniature golden!  Chuy prefers the indoors and lounging either on the top of our leather couch or in someone's lap at all times- rarely does he enjoy getting dirty and he has the hardest time staying awake throughout the day.  My other dog, Dixie, is a pure bread golden retriever and definitely the polar opposite of Chuy. My family has successfully gotten the most beautiful yet crazy Golden of all time... Being only 4 1/2 months old, Dixie has managed to not only dig up every single thing in our entire back yard but also eat an entire rose bush- how is that even possible!? Did she not feel the thorns!?  Ok, so now you have a little idea of what I am dealing with as I decide to take on this adventure. 

I yelled up to my brother's room to see if he wanted to tag along and after what seemed like forever of him "getting ready" we were off in his jeep.  Dixie felt right at home and lounged in the back like we were her chauffeurs, however, Chuy, as he normally does, froze completely and acted like the world was ending.  He slowly made his way to the front where I had to hold him in my lap so he could bury his face into my arms to hide his eyes from the "terrible fate he was about to endure."  When we finally arrived at the park, Dixie jumped right out and told the world that she had arrived- but Chuy was not too sure about anything.  I put their collars on and immediately heard the barks of my lovely newcomers along with snickers of the snobby regulars.  I tried to act like it was all part of the plan you know, they were just saying what's what and then they would be the most well-trained dogs there... too bad Dixie and Chuy proved otherwise.  At first, they were terrified and had never seen not only other dogs but so many in every shape and size!  Of course we had to run into the biggest dog there first, but they did great and did the whole "hey let me sniff your butt to get to know you" thing- Chuy looked TERRIFIED but I think they started to get the hang of it.  There is a little beach for the dogs and it is in the "off leash" area and I didn't know just how they would do.  Dustin and I decided to split up so he took Chuy and I took the newly Miss Independent Dixie.  At first, I let her walk around you know scope the place out with her leash on to make sure she didn't get all crazy on anyone and after a little while I decided that there was no point in holding her back and the sooner I let her loose the sooner she would learn how to act so I counted slowly... one... two... THREE and she was FREEEE like the wind and no one could stop her- well until this little pug punk put her in her place making her go hide under a picnic table for 10 minutes... She was introducing herself to every canine and human that she came in contact with and LOVED all the attention- especially from the women who "ooed and awed" over Dixie's ridiculously soft hair ( which I must admit resembles a teddy bear ).  After a little while of watching her run aimlessly through every mud puddle around I glanced over to Dustin and Chuy to see how they were doing and couldn't help but laugh out loud at the sight.  Dustin had the look of pure anger as he stared down at the tiny shaking body of Chuy who had just learned of his newly acquired canine claustrophobia.  This was a sad sight and I had to rescue them so we decided to carry Chuy over to Dixie so he could watch us throw her into the lake.  Now, Dixie has never been in any kind of water other than the bathtub and as a Golden Retriever we knew she would eventually discover he love for swimming so we decided to jump start it and throw her into the lake.  Poor thing had no idea when we picked her up that in a matter of seconds she would be submerged in a lovely green dog lake- after the splash we see her jump up and not just jump.. but frolic out of the water. You would have thought this dog had died and gone to heaven the way she shook that water from her furry coat.  She was loving every minute of it and felt the need to tell everyone around... not a good idea.  As I am smiling and laughing about Dixie's love for the water I slowly turn around to see her running towards this nice and clean lady wearing lovely pants and a white shirt... her mistake.  It was like slow motion watching Dixie run towards her and "NOOO!!" the lady was now sporting some fresh dog prints made of dirt and I quickly grabbed Dixie and ran away.

We had to find a new place to "chill" so we walked a little further and planted our eyes on the perfect hill right next to a deserted lake.  Now that Dixie was a free woman she chased every stick in the lake and went only so far as she could touch and then came back- she's not too sure about the swimming part yet but she'll get there in a few weeks.  Chuy, on the other hand was all bark and no bite and would try to intimidate every dog that walked by until they came close and he was a goner behind my back.  There was this one spot that dogs kept coming to rub their backs on and slide down the hill, which I thought was hilarious especially because it was mainly huge dogs doing it, however- a lady told me that they had picked up a scent and there must be a dead animal somewhere near there. So, I just nodded my head like I knew that was normal and shrugged it off until I saw Dixie bounding down the hill out of the pack of dogs with something hanging in her mouth..... of course, out of ALL the dogs around she had to be the one with the dead animal in her mouth or should I say throat because I had to hold her head down to get that thing out after she had literally swallowed whole!  Left and right I found Dixie either "obediently sitting" and mooching off other people's dog treats or jumping up and pushing little kids, who were nearly her size, down the hill closer and closer to the lake. We were at this park for a good 6 hours and needless to say, after all the crazy running around, chasing bikes, and ruining white shirts I will admit that I am looking forward to the next beautiful day at the dog park.  (Especially because once I brought her home, she was out like a light and I never knew a dog could snore that loud! =) )

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