Louie on the Loose
May 21st, 2008
Filed in: 7
A few weeks ago we took my client Louie the Clumber Spaniel to the dog park for his maiden voyage. Or should I say, we took him to the “unofficial” dog park. Dogs and their people regularly claim this green space in DC until Animal Control shows up and starts issuing tickets. C’mon, can’t we enjoy some off-leash freedom in the citay?!
We started off by making sure that Louie would respond when we called him, as the joint doesn’t have a single fence. “Running recalls” are a great way to ensure a speedy response: you call your dog and then take off running in the opposite direction like a spaz. Louie rocked it.
Our recall practice was interrupted when Louie caught a glimpse of this guy:
Yup, Louie opted to engage the Rottie in the choke chain. Atta boy! (Not that I have anything against Rottweilers, mind you. He just looked kind of imposing and badass with that nasty choke chain on.)
Louie’s all, “Dude! I’m fun! Check me out! Fun!”
Mr. Rottie said, “Oh yeah, brother? You wanna try me? Well here I come.”
Despite what the photograph might look like, the dogs actually had a trouble-free frolic.
This was Louie’s first time playing with other dogs off leash. (Yes, yes, I know, it was dangerous to do so with un-vetted dogs. It was a spur of the moment decision, and I was feeling cocky on that day.) Turns out he did a great job, and we were lucky in that all of the other dogs were tolerant of his youthful inappropriateness.
We met a few more dogs on the way out and all went well.
I have very mixed feelings about dog parks, which I’ll explore in future posts. If you insist on visiting them with your dog, the best thing you can do understand how dogs play. There’s no better book for that than “Off Leash Dog Play” by Robin Bennett and Susan Briggs.
