Dog Park Day

After four days in the car and several days in a new home with no yard, the dogs were ready to burn off some energy. Portland's park department has a nice website that easily guides you to dog parks. It also divides them into fenced and not-fenced. Our rowdy "fur-herd," as some people often call pets, cannot be trusted without a fence. They would immediately run to their death, whether it be by car, cougar, or snake infested waters. They aren't as smart as the dogs on Homeward Bound either, so if they got lost they'd never find their way back.

On Friday, I chose a park that was out of the way, but that
looked nice on the website. We loaded up my car and headed out! It was close to 5 p.m. so there was a decent amount of traffic. I've set my GPS to avoid all highways (that story to come later) and so we enjoyed the city scenery as we drove.

The dog park was worth the drive! It was huge and had shade! The three free parks in Wichita are decent sized, especially the one near the drive-in, but they have 0 shade. The one near the drive-in built little hut-like shade spots for the dogs but it's not the same. This dog park had trees everywhere and used sand or wood chips instead of grass. The dogs were unsure of the sand at first but once Cedric was free, he didn't care. The girls spend most of their time at the park following me like, well, puppies. They gallivanted around for a while but Cedric was eyeing the other side of the fence, where there were more big dogs to follow. We went to that side and the fun ensued.

Even Ellie enjoyed herself.

Cedric always makes friends quickly, two-legged and four. He enjoys chasing packs of dogs that are playing and barking. I imagine him like a little brother trying to keep up with the big kids. Like he's saying, "Hey guys! Look. I'm playing too! Look at me! I can run!" When a dog tries to stop and play with him, Cedric becomes confused and just barks. These dogs were perfect and ignored him as they ran and played. He bounded along barking and wagging his stub.

Ellie and Sparrow even managed to enjoy themselves. Sparrow is always popular and goes to everyone she can for pets. That's her favorite part of dog parks. Ellie mostly followed me but did venture off a few times. I sat on a huge log (more of a horizontal tree, really) and she hung out with me.

Cedric also found a new best friend, Olive. Olive was a decent sized chihuahua with lots of energy. The two ran and played most of the time we were there. Cedric was like her, larger, fluffier, shadow. There were a few times I was concerned because they were both being barkey and I thought he was being too aggressive. I pulled him away and gave him a time-out in my arms so he'd calm down. Olive's owners said she could hold her own and not to worry if he got out of control. I put him back down and he was back by her side, better behaved this time.

We ended up staying an hour and a half and only left because most of the other dogs had gone. Usually the dogs are begging to go after an hour. I loved the park but not as much as the dogs did. I am sure we'll visit again, even though it's a bit of a drive to get there.