Dog Park

 I decided to take Brighton to the dog park. Before you feel bad that Belly (aka Bella) was left behind, may I remind you that her size makes her the perfect candidate to get eaten or mistaken for poo and stepped on.

I was nervous for the boy. While he looks like an old man, he is indeed a mere pup at the ripe age of five months, and (much to my chagrin) hasn’t met other dogs before besides Bila (aka Bella) and his brother Havoc. I was afraid of how he was going to react to other creatures that were bigger than him. My sister also told me there was a husky there that liked to attack the newcomer dogs. Ah, so something to look forward to, is that what you’re saying?

I went with my sister, Britney and her husband Ross, who brought her dog Havoc, so Brighton could have the moral support of his bro. We pulled up and we were the only ones there. That’s all well and good, I was a little relieved that Boy could run around in a huge fenced in area to his tiny heart’s content, and without the worry of other possibly aggressive dogs. I told Brighton to go play, and he promptly squatted and released the largest amount of poo I have ever seen. I was horrified. This meant that I got to carry his poop in a baggie for the rest of the afternoon, he really wasted no time in relieving his bowels. Thanks buddy.

Much much lighter he took off running with Havoc and discovered some horses that were in a pasture next to the park. Here was his first large mammal test. While Havoc expressed his curiosity with a understandably massive amount of barking, Brighton stuck his nose through the fence and just sniffed and stared. Now we know he is not intimidated or aggressive with large animals through fences, but what I really needed to know was how he handled bigger dogs.

And we just got our chance; a cute terrier showed up, and while she wasn’t huge she was still probably twice the size of Boy. He took it like a man; he let her sniff him, and then sniffed her back and they were good. Then this ridiculously adorable beagle and giant Dachshund prance up, and we get to see how he handles big ol’ creatures, and multiple ones at that.

Let’s have an honest moment: I had to desperately fight the urge to pick him up and get him away from the other dogs. But I didn’t want to be that girl and more importantly I didn’t want Boy to be that dog that is always looking for reassurance and protection. He needed to stand on his own two feet, um four paws, I mean. He handled it like a champ. He was calm, butt-sniffs were shared all around and I relaxed. . . for about 30 seconds.

Just then a guy brings over a leashed husky. The “I like to pick on new dogs” husky. Oh, what a coincidence, Brighton just happened to be a new dog to the park. He was a gorgeous animal without a doubt, but his bared fangs really ruined it for me. He was also the largest dog there, and desperately tugging at the leash trying to get at the other dogs. The urge to pick Brighton up and get away from there intensified. As much as it sucked I stayed away from Brighton, and watched his reaction like a hawk and tried to remember everything Cesar Milan has ever said about exuding a calm attitude.

The husky kept lunging toward Havoc, and Havoc barked like crazy, letting the husky know he wasn’t about to go down without a fight. I expected Brighton to either come to me frightened or join in, influenced by his brother. Shockingly enough he sat down and watched the whole male dominance showdown calmly. I couldn’t believe it.

The most incredible thing about the whole thing was that the guy that brought the husky wasn’t disciplining it at all. Unless you count holding the leash, which I don’t. Britney and Ross were apologizing profusely and trying to get Havoc to stop barking, but this guy wasn’t doing anything. His dog was the aggressive one, and no wonder- the guy lets him be. Don’t bring your dog to the park if you know he’s aggressive and don’t plan on changing it!

That was our cue to bow out. The boys didn’t get much time to romp, but we could see the guy wasn’t interested in stopping his dog either. I’m glad we took them though, and am excited to go back.