Gone to the Dogs

Seeing as how today was sunny and gorgeous and that I needed an excuse for putting off the laundry for a few more hours, T and I decided to go the beach. We hate leaving our dog, Red, behind, so we took her with us.

Taking Red anywhere is pretty amusing. If you even act like you're going to touch her leash, she starts squealing with delight. She prances around, wagging her tail, and if you're not quick enough in picking up the leash, she grabs it for you and starts tossing it about. As soon as you manage to get the collar around her neck (she has a special "power steering" collar permanently attached to her leash) she gathers the leash up in her mouth and bolts for the door.

After getting geared up, Red is ready to go, that minute. If she's forced to wait for any length of time, she isn't shy about expressing her displeasure. Today we were especially slow in getting ready, so there was Red, sitting by the door with her leash bunched up in her mouth whining and crying. When that didn't motivate us to move any faster she reverted to angry grunting noises. After ten agonizing minutes we were out the door.

Once we got outside, Red grabbed her leash and yanked T toward the car. I had to get in first and sit in the back because if left alone in the way back, Red would jump over the seat leaving claw marks and hair all over the place. After everyone was in his and her proper place we took off.

We decided to go to Edmonds beach. T's sister had recently gone there and highly recommended it, besides that, T thought dogs were allowed in the water and he wanted to give Red the chance to try swimming. When we got the beach we realized that dogs were only allowed on one side of the beach, in a fenced-off area. It took us a while to figure out that the area was an off-leash dog park.

Now, as a dog owner and lover, and I had heard of these "off-leash dog parks", but I'd never actually seen one. I've seen the occasional lone person with his dog and a tennis ball in an open field, but more than one dog, without a leash, in one place...together? Impossible. But alas, such a place does exist.

It was like unlike anything I had ever seen. It reminded me of the first day of Kindergarten; that time at the beginning of the day when the parents are still there, and the kids are running around getting to know each other. Packs of random dogs were running all over the beach, chasing one another and jumping around together. Some people were throwing sticks and balls into the water for their dogs. One person would throw a stick and five dogs would dive into the water after it. Some dog owners were sunbathing and would occasionally look up, call their dogs' names, see that they were safe, and lay back down.

T and I were in awe, totally shocked that this many people had dogs well-behaved enough that they could be let off their leashes and trusted to interact appropriately with other dogs. We were shocked because, well, because we have Red. Good ole' Red who, when going on a walk, will rip your arm out of the socket trying to start a fight with a dog twice her size (she's a 65 pound Golden Retriever, in case you're wondering). Red who goes outside to pee and ends up in a barking match the dog next door, causing her hair to rise up along her back and form a mohawk.

So, there we were, at the off-leash dog park with an un-socialized dog. We kept her leash on, and hugged the outer edge of the park, staying as close to the fence as possible, praying to God no other dogs would come up to say hello. We made in half way in before encountering our first friend. T pulled Red in and held her head close to his leg. The dog gave her a quick sniff and walked away. A little Whippet came over next and tried to get Red to play. She made a move toward the dog and it went running. People were starting to stare; it was getting embarrassing. I imagined them thinking, who brings an anti-social dog to a dog park?

But as I watched Red, I realized she was doing pretty well. She hadn't growled or barked at any of the other dogs. She was curious about them and afraid, I think. She's never been around that many dogs, ever, and she's used to being the big dog in her own back yard. Out there with all those others, she felt exposed and vulnerable. She was behaving really well though. So what if she had to stay on her leash? So what if she couldn't play with the other dogs? Suddenly I didn't care what my fellow dog-owners thought, we had a right to be there too!

We made our way down to the water where we found a piece of driftwood to sit on. Red hid between T's legs for a bit, but then was enticed to roll around in a big hole of cool sand. A few dogs came up to her, checked her out, but since was she attached to her leash and, for the most part, uninterested in them, they just went away. T took her into the water for the first time. She didn't really care for it, but he got her in up to her belly, and she stayed out there for a while. It wasn't until the waves started getting bigger that she decided it was time to call it a day.

We hosed her down and made our way back to the car. We were all feeling pretty proud of ourselves. Red had survived the dog packs and braved the water, and T and I had stood up for owners of unruly dogs everywhere. All in all, it was a day of great progress. Well, maybe it was just a day of great fun at the beach. Either way, we all went home happy.