Today was a bright and sunny day, and even with the wind that was relentless, it was still a very nice day. Perfect day for the dog park, said my husband, so off we went.
My husband is now driving a rental car, the result of a careless driver making a U-turn on the main highway here. Gary's car has to be inspected by the insurance adjusters to determine whether it's fixable or not, and until then, Gary's gray Camry has been replaced with a bright red Ford.
And don't think that Savannah didn't notice the difference. When we took her out to the car, she balked when my husband told her to get into the back seat. The Ford was parked with its back end towards the garage door and we were asking Savannah to get into the car from the passenger side. Well, that didn't work because she usually jumps into the car from the driver's side. My husband walked her around to the other side of the car and told her to get into the back seat and after a moment's hesitation and telling her the word "Park!" she did get into the car. Savannah did indeed know that she was in a different car even though her own blankets were on the back seat of the Ford. As my husband and I adjusted our seat belts, Savannah inspected every inch of that back seat.
We got to the park and it was like a party was going on there in both the small dog park and the big dog park. I think everyone was thrilled that the recent cold weather had gone towards the east coast. Savannah knows every inch of that park now and she walks into the gated area as if it's her own backyard. It amazes me that she's so willing to approach any dog that's in there, no matter their size. Savannah is still not confident enough to go near any of the people in that park. Doesn't matter if it's a child or a woman or a man... she will have no part of them, and she has, on occasion, barked at a few of the men. We just smile and tell them she's still a puppy and not really comfortable with strangers, and everyone just accepts that.
There are two dogs who are frequently at the park... Fiona (huge Irish Wolfhound) and Quincy (small terrier like Toto from The Wizard of Oz. Savannah plays with each of them, and even though Fiona is large enough to have a saddle on her, Quincy is the dominant of the pair.
Savannah was playing with an orange tennis ball today... my husband threw it into the pool and she would run out into the water to retrieve it. She won't give it back to us right away, but eventually she will drop it near us so we can toss it out again. Gary is careful not to throw it into the deep part of the pool because Savannah is afraid to go out past the shallow ends. My husband says that by the time Summer comes along, Savannah will probably be swimming the length of that pool.
Back to that orange tennis ball, though. We can always tell when Savannah gets tired from running around the park with the other dogs. She will stay close to us when she's had enough, and that seems to be her signal that she's ready to go home. Today, however, Gary and I were talking to Fiona and Quincy's owner, and Savannah was standing near us with the orange ball close by her paws. Quincy, however, wasn't tired of playing and running, and with his abundance of terrier energy, he lunged for that orange ball. Well, Savannah jumped up and growled, Quincy got the ball in his mouth, and Savannah pounced on him. I yelled 'Savannah!' and Quincy's owner yelled 'Quincy!' and Fiona just stood there looking helpless... and Savannah and Quincy quickly separated, both panting and watching one another closely. Neither one of them claimed the orange ball, and that was that.
I apologized to Quincy's owner, but she told me not to worry because Quincy has been known to "stir things up" when no one is paying attention to him. I was surprised at Savannah's behavior because she hasn't ever done that before, and heaven knows our cat Sweet Pea is always sniffing around her toys and treats and all Savannah does is calmly walk over to whatever has gotten Sweet Pea's attention and she just takes it away. I think Savannah was clearly over-tired today from all the running around she did at the park with the larger dogs this afternoon, and she really didn't want that orange ball anymore, but she didn't want Quincy to have it either. Dogs... they're just like kids at times.
Savannah slept for hours after we brought her home from the park today. She stretched out on the love-seat in the TV room and her 60-plus pounds now goes from end to end on that sofa.... her nose touching one side, her tail touching the other. No room for anyone else unless you either make Savannah get down on the floor or she curls up like a cat to take her nap.
And speaking of cats napping... Sweet Pea has discovered that Savannah's bed is a nice place for a nap, and he's been curling up in Savannah's bed from time to time. Savannah will come along and find him there and she'll nudge Sweet Pea with her nose in an attempt to get him to move. I think Savannah quickly learned that trying to move a sleeping cat is next to impossible. At first, Savannah just let Sweet Pea stay in her bed and she curled up on the floor next to the bed. When Sweet Pea got up and went to his own bed, then Savannah re-claimed her sleeping spot.
Savannah also learned that letting Sweet Pea sleep in her bed would mean a never-ending competition for the biggest and plushest pet-bed in the house. So now when Sweet Pea goes into Savannah's bed for a nap, Savannah will get right into the bed with Sweet Pea and then move her body inch by inch towards the corner where Sweet Pea has curled up, forcing Sweet Pea to either get out of that bed or else be crushed by sixty pounds of Border Collie/Great Pyrenees dog fur.
When Sweet Pea leaves Savannah's bed, he lets out a disgruntled meow that can probably be heard across the road. And mind you, Sweet Pea has cat-beds of his own, in the kitchen and also in the TV room, so it isn't like he doesn't have a comfy place to take a nap. I've told Savannah from Day One to be nice to Sweet Pea because he was here first, and so far, Savannah hasn't pounced on Sweet Pea the way she pounced on Quincy today. Nor has she pounced on our two outside cats.
Oh well... no one got hurt this afternoon at the dog park, but I'm sure that Quincy's ego was bruised just a tiny bit.
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