Finally, finally, the snow has melted to reveal the true face of the dog park.
Siena and I went today and she had a nice time exploring all the newly exposed nooks and crannies of dirt. I threw the ball, she chased it and then ran in the other direction without "retrieving," all the usual fun dog park stuff.
After about 20 minutes it started to rain (as predicted - I just knew Siena really needed some exercise so we risked it) so we left to find the driver. Unfortunately he was no where to be found, but fortunately the rain never got to be more than a strong drizzle so we meandered for about 10 minutes in the neighborhood by the park (which is pretty quiet and nice). By the time we circled back to the park, the drizzle had subsided and there were two dogs inside! Yippee!
This time the dogs were reddish brown like Siena. One was huge and a little scary and the other was a daschund. Since I learned my lesson from last time, I knew we needed to proceed with caution. We slowly and loudly approached the dog park fence and I waved to the owner. He came over and asked in fast Russian if Siena was a "devatchka" (девочка) or girl [dog]. I said "da" (до - yes) and the big dog came over to sniff hello through the fence.
Then the owner said something else that I missed, came closer to the gate, clipped his leash back onto the big dog's collar and very graciously opened the gate to the park for us. Yay! Proper Russia dog park etiquette had been achieved!
Then everything went fine. Once inside, the three dogs made their initial sniffy greetings in which Siena rolled over on her back, her usual wimpy submission to the other dogs. The little dog, as is often the case, was a lot feistier than the big one. He wanted nothing to do with Siena and really just stuck close to his dad with a continuous low growl in his little throat. Not ideal but his owner was very aware of it so I felt we were safe. The big dog wasn't all that much friendlier but he was okay with sharing the park.
After about 10-12 minutes it started to rain again so I decided to leave before anyone got too soaked. I also didn't want to press my luck with the little dog since he seemed to have less patience than the big one.
Once we left I still couldn't find the driver, so we waited under a doorway for a while. Everyone who came and went was very happy to see Siena and give her a pat. All in all a very nice outing.
Siena and I went today and she had a nice time exploring all the newly exposed nooks and crannies of dirt. I threw the ball, she chased it and then ran in the other direction without "retrieving," all the usual fun dog park stuff.
After about 20 minutes it started to rain (as predicted - I just knew Siena really needed some exercise so we risked it) so we left to find the driver. Unfortunately he was no where to be found, but fortunately the rain never got to be more than a strong drizzle so we meandered for about 10 minutes in the neighborhood by the park (which is pretty quiet and nice). By the time we circled back to the park, the drizzle had subsided and there were two dogs inside! Yippee!
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| other dogs at the dog park = happy girl |
This time the dogs were reddish brown like Siena. One was huge and a little scary and the other was a daschund. Since I learned my lesson from last time, I knew we needed to proceed with caution. We slowly and loudly approached the dog park fence and I waved to the owner. He came over and asked in fast Russian if Siena was a "devatchka" (девочка) or girl [dog]. I said "da" (до - yes) and the big dog came over to sniff hello through the fence.
Then the owner said something else that I missed, came closer to the gate, clipped his leash back onto the big dog's collar and very graciously opened the gate to the park for us. Yay! Proper Russia dog park etiquette had been achieved!
Then everything went fine. Once inside, the three dogs made their initial sniffy greetings in which Siena rolled over on her back, her usual wimpy submission to the other dogs. The little dog, as is often the case, was a lot feistier than the big one. He wanted nothing to do with Siena and really just stuck close to his dad with a continuous low growl in his little throat. Not ideal but his owner was very aware of it so I felt we were safe. The big dog wasn't all that much friendlier but he was okay with sharing the park.
After about 10-12 minutes it started to rain again so I decided to leave before anyone got too soaked. I also didn't want to press my luck with the little dog since he seemed to have less patience than the big one.
Once we left I still couldn't find the driver, so we waited under a doorway for a while. Everyone who came and went was very happy to see Siena and give her a pat. All in all a very nice outing.
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| my sweet mushy-ball tired girl :) |
Love that last photo!! Such a cutie!! Does this mean you've located a new driver? Glad you are finding some small places of happiness there.
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