Skippy asked me to thank you all for the birthday wishes! We eventually went to Three Dog Bakery to pick up some treats for him, and then brought him to a dog park (his very first time) for a little romping. Here are some pictures from the park, we think he had a bunch of fun!
As soon as his leash+harness were off, he was off exploring...other dogs of course.
Very shortly after though, he decided to make his donation to the park.
But he was soon galavanting around again.
Every now and then the busybody within him would come alive and he would chase another poor dog.
With all the running around he did need a water break (I've never seen his tongue stick out so much!).
We were amused that even among a bevy of dogs he is still motivated by his treats -- here he is 'waving' for one.
Just before we left he even got to meet a fellow Cavalier, who apparently had been shaved in preparation for summer.
And here he is again with wearing his big birthday smile.
The only dampener to Skippy's dog park experience was when he started playing with one particular white poodle-mix, who for some reason began nipping at his ears. The poodle-mix was basically chasing Skippy all over the park and we could tell Skippy was in distress and no longer playing, but rather was trying to defend himself. The other dog's owner was distracted by a book some distance away so we ended up extricating him from 'the situation' ourselves.