Corey and I used to take our dogs to the dog park quite frequently back when we lived in College Station. But then, Ranger had a bad experience or two and we swore it off – it was too stressful for our anti-social dog (and for us!) and we didn’t want to deal with it.
But lately, we’ve really been trying to push Ranger to be more comfortable with people and, you know, the world outside of our house, so we decided to try out the dog park for the first time in about a year.
And you know what?
It was fabulous.
The dogs were so excited for the change of scenery – they loved running around and Ranger even played with a couple of other dogs. There was even a point where he ran up to a stranger to sniff a toy she was holding – it sounds little, but it was a pretty monumental moment for us!
Cullen likes to just sniff things when we go to the park – he doesn’t do a lot of running around, he just smells everything his little nose can possibly take. Ranger surprised us by roaming a bit and running off to the other side of the park – he usually sticks right by our side! But this time, he’d run to the other side, play for a few minutes, and then run back to check in on us. It was pretty adorable.
We knew it was time to go when Cullen stopped sniffing and started doing this:
They were worn out! We’re excited that the dog park was a success and we can wait to start going more often throughout the summer. It’s a great way to get some socialization in for Ranger, and we love how tired they are when we come home!
Anyone else head to the dog park lately? Any other fun ideas for outings with your dogs?
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Pets are a lot like children, aren’t they?
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29. May - 6:18 amAw, they look so happy!!!
I am SO torn of the dog park issue for Stewie. When I first got him I took him almost every day. The problem is that he doesn’t really “fit in” at the dog park. The ones around here have small dog areas and big dog areas. At 26 pounds and 14″ high…. he is technically a small dog. But he SOUNDS like a big dog. Corgis have really deep loud barks and they bark a LOT when they are playing… so whenever I’d put him with the small dogs he seemed to scare them by running around barking at them— which made me feel bad (and wasn’t too much fun for him because they didn’t really want to play they would just hide).
Then I tried the big dog area and he *mostly* does really well. That is generally where I would take him because he is FAST and loves playing with the big pups. And they love him, mostly. But he’s still loud, and he’s the runt of the small dog side, and that attracts attention. About every third or fourth time I’d take him there, some big dog would get an attitude about him and get aggressive with him. And not all owners are super pro-active about keeping an eye on their pets. After breaking up a few little skirmishes I just got uncomfortable with taking him there anymore because I worry that he’s going to get hurt.
But, it does make me sad because I know he loves it SO MUCH. So, occasionally we’ll go on a weekday afternoon when the park is far less crowded and I can count on there being only 1-2 others at the park (vs. a saturday afternoon when there are easily 20).
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29. May - 7:36 amWe don’t actually have dog parks where I live. It’s a major bummer. Kingsley has been to one before, and he loves it. He’s really social and just wants to be friends with everyone. I wish we had a dog park for Eleanor, being part Border Collie, she NEEDS the exercise and excitement. We try to take them for swims in a local reservoir, and they also enjoy doggie day camp with a local boarder once or twice a year to socialize. Other than that, trips to Petsmart or Petco are our big outings!
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29. May - 10:35 amWe have a couple of great dog parks here. One is very hilly and you can walk through the coulees. The other one is flatter and smaller. Our dog loves it and we take him daily!
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29. May - 10:55 amAwww, your pups are just too adorable!
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29. May - 5:00 pmI love taking the dogs to the park! I totally understand what you mean about small things being huge to you- one of our dogs is pretty anti-social too, so whenever he sniffs another dog or goes off on his own, it’s a BIG deal to us!! Ah, the life of fur-parents
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30. May - 9:48 pmThat’s so great!! Yay Ranger!! He’s coming out of his shell. I love going to the dog park with our dogs too. They love swimming and playing with all the other dogs there.
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1. June - 10:52 am