Dog Park Observations
We have been taking Eli to the Dog Park the last few weeks and he loves it. I love it because then he is tired and we can go out for a long stretch of time without guilt.
Eli loves to run around with the dogs and is usually one of the fastest (no lie – I will get it on video). However, Eli prefers to be chased rather than doing the chasing. So if no one will chase him, he will half-heartedly chase another dog or go get attention from some owners. He can get intimidated at times (varies on dog size and aggressiveness) but he is doing better.
The other day, an owner was playing fetch with her dog. She would throw something, the dog would chase, and then Eli would chase the dog and the object. By the time the other dog got to the object, he was disinterested in the object and interested in Eli. Well after this happening at least 10 times, the owner got annoyed. I felt like she wanted to play fetch without disruption. Um, sorry. You are at a dog park. What do you expect? You want me to tell my dog not to play with your dog? How?
We also tend to go 8:30-9:00 and there are quite a few dogs there. Once we went around 11:00 and the crowd is so different. And the dogs are more aggressive (at least this day). We realized that we prefer the early crowd and not this young, fast, later one.
Aah, the politics of the dog park.
Interesting. There are similar owners like that at the kids parks we visit. Kids and dogs want to play! If you want to relax and read a book, go home.