Like a kid going to an amusement park for the first time, Doogie knew something was up before we even left the house. That dog was hopped up on energy!!! By the time we got there, he was so excited he wouldn't even accept a treat - he wanted to get out and see what was going on!!!
And so we did what all the other owners did - we let him loose and just followed close while he sniffed around...
And he quickly got nervous and came running back for shelter!
Our poor pooch really hasn't had too much socializing with other dogs... He had puppy class with North Coast Dogs, but that was this past winter, and we just haven't had the time to get him to the next level of classes. And sometimes he meets other dogs in the neighborhood, but that's mostly on a leash, with someone being restrained... Now it was a free for all!!
This little guy that came up to visit decided he was bored with Doogie real quick...so Doogie decided to follow, and then sort of got the gist of things - no leash, freem to roam!
I don't know what the normal body-count is like at BowWow Beach, but it was PACKED! There were probably a hundred dogs, plus all their owners. Dogs were splashing in the lake, they were racing around, lounging, sniffing, chasing, etc... There were so many sites to see...
...not to mention plenty for us to see as well!! (Don't worry - while there WERE plenty of hotties out there, we didn't do it the canine way and go up and sniff their butts or anything)
There were lots of friendly dogs that would come up to visit us, while others just seemed bored with the humans.
Since this was our first time, we were VERY nervous! How would we know which dogs might be aggressive? It's not like they all had their owners attached to them!
Thankfully there were very few growls or barks that seemed anything other than playful. Once in awhile it would seem like one dog would try to be more dominant - we would just steer Doogie off in a different direction, and sometimes those dogs got hollered at by their owners.
So BowWow Beach is a 7.5 acre park with a 5 acre lake in the middle of it. I guess it used to be for humans to play in - there's a couple small buildings for changing etc, and it's all fenced in.
There were smaller fenced in areas inside the park that were designated for smaller dogs....this was really nice because sometimes those teeny weeny dogs can easily get overwhelmed/smothered by the big dogs.
Althooooough - the big dogs could easily make their way into the small dogs' area just by wading into them via the lake. Hm, maybe someone didn't think that one through very well? Anyhow - no worries here - this GIANT dog didn't give any one a scare, and it's owner came and let it out.
This was one dog that kept finding it's way back to visit us. SUPER cute...but...
...it also kept getting in the lake and then coming over and shaking off by us. I think it knew was it was doing. It REALLY liked to shake off the water over by Brett.
Doogie: "La la la - just minding my own business!"
Other dog: "Ooh - another dog!"
Doogie: "La la la - STILL just minding my own business!"
Other dog: "HI HI HI!"
Doogie: "La la la - just WHAT THE HELL?!?!!"
Other dog: "HI WANNA PLAY!? HI! HI!"
Doogie: "DAAAAAAD!"
Other dog: "OOH! YOU WANNA PLAY CHASE!? OK!"
LOL Poor Doogie - this is just how it went a lot of the time we were out there. He was more comfortable going up to other people than dogs for the most part.
After awhile he realized the other dogs were fun and was actually chasing around with them... We usually got caught in the middle, either having dogs bouncing into us, kicking sand in our shoes, or covering us in dog slobber and lake water.
Doogie: "Hey, you're not so bad afterall!"
Doogie's checking out one of the other gay couples at the dog beach...
I should've gotten more action shots of dogs in the water. There was a lot of splashing... It was funny - someone would throw their dog's toy out in the water, and suddenly dogs from all directions were swimming out to it. Unfortunately, Doogie's still not too keen on the water. There was a guy there with his young lab/weim-mix puppy Boo, who was just starting to go out into the water for toys. Boo was super friendly, and operated more at Doogie's pace. I hope we see him there again!
This guy, who first tried staring Doogie down just as we were leaving, was really friendly with me. Check out those eyes!
Anyhow, that was our first time to the dog park - I've a feeling we'll be back there again real soon!
3 comments:
The guy in the red t-shirt looks like a potential hottie - nice shoulders, back, and waist. And is that a beard? Yum!
Also, how funny that the word verification for this lusty comment is "mating".
That is the sweetest dog park I've ever seen!!!
There's a friggen lake in it!
Jada would lose her s**t if I took her there - she loves the water.
How fun - you should go more often. I've never had a bad experience at a dog park (with other dogs, the owners are sometimes an issue - freaks) and it's so great for the dogs to socialize.
Peter - about the guy in the red shirt. You were right on ALL accounts!
LOL re the word verification!
Finny - We keep talking about getting him back out there "this week", but sometimes it's hard to find the time to just get out there for something like that since that means we then have the dog in the car with us, and that's not great for running into stores for groceries, etc... But yeah, we're thinking MAYBE some evening this week!? Fingers crossed!
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