On Monday Shari and I brought the dogs to the local dog park,
Fort Funston. Balou woke us up early and so we decided to just pile both of the dogs into the SUV and go.
Fort Funston is pretty large and has several different places to go to walk the dogs. We got there shortly after 8am and went to one of the less frequented places. Our route was into the park along a path, then up a long set of stairs, then a winding path back down to the bottom of the stairs, and then back to the car. Basically it's a loop, but only about 20-ish minutes of walking.
The leg from the car to the bottom of the stairs was uneventful. Despite the fact that he hadn't had breakfast Balou was entirely uninterested in the treats we had for him. And I'd even gone to the trouble and ickyness of cutting up part of a Natural Balance thing, which is a rare and therefore special treat for him.
We didn't see any other dogs until we were at the top of the stairs. Then we ran into two pairs of them. The first pair was on a leash to each other with their owner nearby. Balou and Trillian exchanged a sniff or two with them. The second pair was loose and much more interested in a couple of crows that were in the trees above us than.
Fort Funston is really pretty and it was a very nice walk. On the downward path we ran into two white poodles and a dog that looked like a Swissy from a distance. However when we got closer the owner told us that the dog was half Great Dane and half St Bernard. It was huge! I'd say easily 160lb if not more. Balou was so confused. He wasn't sure if he should be aggressive or run away or try to play or just sniff butts. It was definitely the first time in a long time that Balou had encountered a dog bigger than himself and the first time ever that he had encountered a dog that large. But both Balou and Trillian behaved themselves. Trillian doesn't usually like blonde dogs or poodles so I was quite happy that she didn't get growly with them.
We continued on our way and ran into a couple more dogs. The only time there was any worry was when we encountered a Shitzu. I am not a fan of yappy little rat-dogs and Balou isn't either. Especially since there is an annoying lady who lives in our neighborhood and has two badly behaved Shitzus. Anyway Balou pulled and I slipped on the sand and had to do some fancy footwork to not do a faceplant on the sand/pavement. But once he got to the other dog he just loomed and didn't do anything bad.
It was actually a pretty good dog park adventure all told. There weren't any bad experiences with people or dogs. And every good experience keeps reinforcing nice dog socialization.
Labels: Balou, ESO, puppy, Trillian
