So what
makes me think it would be manageable? Well recently I have begun to take all 4
dogs for a walk by myself and have been able to handle them fine. I walk the 3 big dogs on one side and little
Lola on the other side by herself. The reason I do this is for two reasons: 1.)
The 3 big ones like to walk by each other and 2.) Lola need’s to walk by
herself so she does not get accidently walked on. I put Aggie and Drake on a
connected leash (they are besties and like to be side by side) and I put Chance
on his own leash. I have also learned the Drake has to be the one on the inside
or the one who walks next to me. If Aggie is next to me I will not be able to
walk straight or where I want to… because she continues to walk into me. If
Chance is on the inside He walks in front of me… not way in front of me… like
right in front of me and he tries to cross back and forth and trips me up (not
fun when you are walking 4 dogs). So that leaves Drake… he is the best at
walking beside me… because he actually walks beside me… and he gives me like
12inches of space between us and keeps the other two dogs on the other side of
him. This is the only way I have been able to manage walking all of them. It
took me several times to figure this system out… but it is what works for me.
If we are walking and they happen to get out of order I have to stop and put
them back in order so I can finish the walk with my sanity.
Ok, so back
to the dog park… which is what I was writing about before my A.D.D. kicked in. J. Like I stated in my family pictures post… I don’t totally trust Chance not
to run away or at least run around playing “I bet you can’t catch me” … so I
needed to figure out a way to get all three dogs in the back of my car (FJ
Cruiser); without Chance having the opportunity to jump out and run around as
soon as I crack the back door to get them out. So, I decided I would put the
“smaller” (put still large) of our two kennels/crates in the back of the FJ and
strap it in. This way he can’t just jump out the second I crack the door. So I
get it loaded and “Strapped in” to the car. I go back inside and get my dog
park bag packed. It consists of a back pack full of towels, bathing supplies
and a toy or two. Then I leash Chance and get him loaded in the kennel. I go
back inside and get the other two and get them loaded in the back of the car. I
then proceed to lock up and get myself loaded.
So we are
now all loaded and on our way to the dog park. All is well… then I make my
first turn and the “strapped in” kennel begins to slide around the back of the
car… CRAP! Then it dawns on me that it probably wasn’t the brightest idea to
“strap” the kennel in with bungie cords; because now the kennel is bungeeing
(not a real word I know) all over the back of the car. So now Chance starts to
whine, Aggie try’s to crawl in the front seat and Drake is cowering in the
back. There went my great plan. So I stick my hand in the crack of the kennel
and pull it towards me and try to straighten it. So every turn I come to from
here to the dog park I held the kennel and repositioned it during and after
each turn.
I finally make
it to the dog park without Aggie in the front seat or Drake cowering in the
corner… but Chance is still whining. I jump out of the car to meet my friend
and we try to figure out real quick how we are going to do this. We decide we
are just going to do it… between the two of us we got all four dogs into the
dog park! I let Drake off the leash and he immediately runs away from me and
starts exploring and heads straight for the “pond”. I let Aggie of the leash
and she runs a quick circle and comes right back to me. I however do not let
Chance off the leash. This is his first time at the dog park and I want to know
how he will behave before he earns his “freedom” at the dog park.
So I begin
to walk Chance around on the retractable leash. I keep the leash very short at
first. We walk around the track and he begins to meet the other dogs. He is
pretty excited to see the other dogs and for some of the dogs he lays down in
front of them. While I am walking Chance around the park Aggie stays close… she
may run off for like 30 seconds but she always comes right back. She is a brat
at home but a scaredey cat and mommas girl at the dog park.
So while I
am walking Chance around I begin to look for Drake. I am pretty positive is is
at the pond because that is where he lives while at the dog park. I see my
friend at the lake but not Drake. All of a sudden I see this gray dog. I shout
to my friend... “Is that Drake?” to which she replies “yes”. Oh boy! So Chance,
Aggie and I walk over to the lake and all I see is mud. They drained the lake!!
Really? So all this time that Drake has been playing in “the lake” he has
really been playing in the mud… and is now totally covered. So I begin to try
and get him come out of there and stop playing in the mud. But instead of
coming out… he dunks his head in the mud trying to get the ball (just like he
would in the water) and comes out with a mud covered head… and then he lays in
it. This is where I give up and am just thankful that I brought shampoo and
towels.
 |
| A close up of his face! |
 |
| Drake the Statue! If you look in the background you can see the drained lake. A.K.A. mud pit! |
So you think
what could be worse than a dog covered in mud? A dog covered in stinky mud. I
bathed him at the dog park and he still smelled when I get home so he got a
second bath and sprayed with doggie perfume. This helped but it did not
eliminate all the stink.
I would say
overall the dog park was a good experience… but I do not plan to take all three
of them without Byron again!! J
Do any of
you have funny dog stories?
Does your
dog lose its “listening ears” at the dog park?
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