judy
Well-known member
I'm so happy, last week my neighbor told me there's a dog park in my neighborhood, in fact there are two. I didn't know. They're both easy walking distance, maybe a 10 minute or less walk. I had been feeling bad about Zack not getting enough exercise in our little walks and games of fetch each day. I took him to dog park on Saturday and stayed a couple of hours at least, i don't know, my watch was broken. We've been every day since then except yesterday.
It's so fun, i'm so happy to see Zack having fun. It's like Yappy Hour, only with a wide open grassy area, the size of a small city block, with running water for drinking, pooper scoopers, park benches and picnic tables, trees, shade, maintained by the city. Every day there are different dogs there.
Seeing Zack socializing with other dogs is giving me more information about him, and i really admire how he interacts. He loves every dog, he charges up to them and acts affectionate, tail going like crazy, putting a smile on all the peoples' faces, all the other dogs have been bigger than him, most of them a lot bigger, some have growled at him, some have humped him, or stepped on him, roughed him up, but he has never acted hostile or submissive. He will lay down and act submissive just long enough to tell the other dog that there's no problem, everything's cool, but then he gets right back up and keeps acting friendly. Every new dog that comes through the gate, he goes to greet. He'll play with a dog or two for a while and then move on to some other dogs.
He's coped with some bad behavior, like today, a large spayed female husky kept humping him. That's the first time this has happened, clearly because the owner wasn't helping the dog with her social skills. It was really hard on him, he had to keep struggling to break away. Poor Zack, he had to go poop. He kept trying to find a space to go, and would assume the position, and the big dog would immediately start humping him, really rough. Zack just kept shrugging it off and persisted in his efforts, finding a new place each time, trying to move away from the dog for a minute. The dog was very rude, but of course, it's not the dog's fault but the owner's. It's not that humping is a bad thing, but this was excessive and bullying. The dog followed zack around the whole time, until they finally left. He had two of those huskys, 6 year old siblings.
Early in our visit, i was approached by a woman who said she was casting for a dog food commercial and wanted to know if she could take zack's picture. I had to write my name and phone number on a list, she had collected a lot of dog contacts. Unfortunately when she was trying to photograph and videotape Zack, that big dog kept getting in the way. :lol: it was kind of funny. Anyway, she said if they use Zack in the commercial, i'll get some money. my dog the TV star. 8) that would be cool, i hope they pick him. They should. He is more adorable than anyone should be allowed to be. The woman kept complaining loudly about the big dog humping Zack. I guess i should've said something to the owner.
Zack is so good with the other dogs, just a friendly happy little guy. Yesterday the owner of a great dane said in an amazed tone, "He is so brave," because he was never discouraged by being so outsized and sometimes trampled a bit. Once in a while, he gets tired or overwhelmed and he runs over to me and wants to be petted or picked up for a minute.
That has not happened with the big dogs, but happened a couple of times when smaller dogs were yapping at him incessantly while chasing him around.
i think i need to buy a video camera.
It's so fun, i'm so happy to see Zack having fun. It's like Yappy Hour, only with a wide open grassy area, the size of a small city block, with running water for drinking, pooper scoopers, park benches and picnic tables, trees, shade, maintained by the city. Every day there are different dogs there.
Seeing Zack socializing with other dogs is giving me more information about him, and i really admire how he interacts. He loves every dog, he charges up to them and acts affectionate, tail going like crazy, putting a smile on all the peoples' faces, all the other dogs have been bigger than him, most of them a lot bigger, some have growled at him, some have humped him, or stepped on him, roughed him up, but he has never acted hostile or submissive. He will lay down and act submissive just long enough to tell the other dog that there's no problem, everything's cool, but then he gets right back up and keeps acting friendly. Every new dog that comes through the gate, he goes to greet. He'll play with a dog or two for a while and then move on to some other dogs.
He's coped with some bad behavior, like today, a large spayed female husky kept humping him. That's the first time this has happened, clearly because the owner wasn't helping the dog with her social skills. It was really hard on him, he had to keep struggling to break away. Poor Zack, he had to go poop. He kept trying to find a space to go, and would assume the position, and the big dog would immediately start humping him, really rough. Zack just kept shrugging it off and persisted in his efforts, finding a new place each time, trying to move away from the dog for a minute. The dog was very rude, but of course, it's not the dog's fault but the owner's. It's not that humping is a bad thing, but this was excessive and bullying. The dog followed zack around the whole time, until they finally left. He had two of those huskys, 6 year old siblings.
Early in our visit, i was approached by a woman who said she was casting for a dog food commercial and wanted to know if she could take zack's picture. I had to write my name and phone number on a list, she had collected a lot of dog contacts. Unfortunately when she was trying to photograph and videotape Zack, that big dog kept getting in the way. :lol: it was kind of funny. Anyway, she said if they use Zack in the commercial, i'll get some money. my dog the TV star. 8) that would be cool, i hope they pick him. They should. He is more adorable than anyone should be allowed to be. The woman kept complaining loudly about the big dog humping Zack. I guess i should've said something to the owner.
Zack is so good with the other dogs, just a friendly happy little guy. Yesterday the owner of a great dane said in an amazed tone, "He is so brave," because he was never discouraged by being so outsized and sometimes trampled a bit. Once in a while, he gets tired or overwhelmed and he runs over to me and wants to be petted or picked up for a minute.
That has not happened with the big dogs, but happened a couple of times when smaller dogs were yapping at him incessantly while chasing him around.
i think i need to buy a video camera.