Back to the Dog Park...

Well, I said I wouldn't go back to that dog park with my husband and Savannah, but I did.  It was such a beautiful afternoon yesterday that the three of us did just that. As soon as we open up the back door of my husband's car now, Savannah literally flies into that car and sits there as if she's about to be presented with the keys to the kingdom. (Or the keys to the dog park, which would make more sense.)

Off we went, with Savannah sitting there and watching all the other cars on the road, and the livestock on the other properties. I noticed yesterday that there's so much dried puppy-spit on the side back window of my husband's car that it looks as if the glass has been frosted. When we first started taking Savannah in the car, she wasn't all that happy to be there, and her nervousness made her pant, which produced a boat-load of saliva, most of which ended up on that window.

Not so much anymore.... she's perfectly content and confident in the car now, and the excessive panting has stopped, and any puppy-spit on that window needs to be cleaned because it's been there a while. I haven't taken Savannah in my car for over a month, so I don't know how comfortable she will be in that vehicle. My car is a two-seater sports car, much smaller (and cuter!) than my husband's large four-door sedan. I don't know if Savannah will be able to sit upright on the seat of my car because the roof is lower and the buckets seats are smaller, and Savannah has grown a lot in the past couple of months.

When we got to the dog park yesterday, we were the only ones there. Not another dog or person in sight. Savannah quickly looked around the entire park when we arrived, and she must have known she was the only dog there so she took her time just smelling around the trees and the grass to see who had been there before. My husband and I sat in the gazebo after walking around the park a bit, and Savannah continued to explore on her own, occasionally looking towards us to make sure we were still there.

We'd been in the park for nearly an hour when another car pulled into the parking lot, and an older lady with a black hound dog came into the park. Savannah saw the other dog immediately and took off running towards her... a friendly dog named Lucy, and 'hound dog' is the only way to describe that mixed-breed... just a country-looking dog that probably loves to chase down squirrels and rabbits. Lucy clearly did not want to play, and there was Savannah jumping up and down in front of that 3-yr-old dog as if she were part of a circus act. Lucy just looked at Savannah and howled like a cartoon-dog. Lucy's owner said she had been a very lively and playful dog until close to her third birthday and then all of a sudden Lucy turned into an old lady and doesn't much like to play anymore.

We asked the lady what kind of dog Lucy was and she went into this story: "Well, we call her a 'coon dog' because she was raised to hunt raccoons. My husband got her from a black man out yonder and they all hunt raccoons out thataway." When we asked the lady what they did with the raccoons once they caught them, she told us "Well they eat them of course! Y'all know those black people just love that raccoon meat out yonder."  My husband and I just looked at one another, and then changed the subject, asking the woman if she had always lived in this town. Her answer was "I was born here, went to school here, married here, and except for living in Rosenberg for eleven years and then coming back here, I'll probably die right here."  Well. That explained a lot. There was only one thing to talk about after that... the weather.

Savannah continued to run a little bit away from Lucy, then run back towards her... no reaction (except the howling) from Lucy. At one point, Lucy walked around the park looking for sticks (her favorite toy) and Savannah followed. When they got close to the swimming pool, Savannah walked into the shallow end, splashed a bit and got her legs and belly wet, then went over to Lucy and shook for all she was worth, sprinkling Lucy with the pool water. Lucy stood there and howled... and Savannah just watched her and smiled. When Lucy howled the second time, Savannah went back into the pool, a little deeper this time, getting herself more wet with the water... then she ran towards Lucy and shook herself again.  Poor Lucy got a good splashing with the water and then she walked away from Savannah and sat down on the bench beside her owner.

Thankfully, Lucy's owner didn't think Savannah did all of that on purpose, but it sure looked like that to me.  We sat there talking to Lucy's owner for a little while, and then got ready to leave. When Savannah saw us gathering up her leash, she started walking away from us... she clearly knew we were ready to go home. I tried to get Savannah to come back to me, but she just looked at me and kept walking away. Fine. My husband and I walked towards the gate and when Savannah realized we were getting far away from her, she turned herself around and started walking towards us. When we got close to the gate we were able to put her leash on her.

I will have to work with her some more and teach her to come when called. Which she does in the house, but it seems that when she walks into that dog park, all the training and the known commands go right out the puppy-window.