Dog (Owner) Watching

The city has recently opened a dog park, so a few days ago the beast and I went to check it out. I am officially a fan. It's a beautiful thing, I go, I take Sherman, she plays with the other dogs for an hour or more, depending on the day, and then when I bring her home she's worn out and pleasantly too tired to be a pest.

It's funny how similar dog park dynamics are to the bar. You have your handful of regulars as well as plenty of complete strangers, and an environment based in being social. So, it results in the same kind of people watching.

Just like at the bar, there are a fair share of people who just don't understand the basic concept. They are the people who bring their pet and keep him/her on a leash the entire time or otherwise do all they can to prevent their animal from actually interacting with any of the other animals. It's bizarre. And then, there are plenty of other assorted neurotics.

A woman enters with her husky, who's wearing a muzzle. The woman then proceeds to tell the other humans all about how she's training the husky to be a service dog - i.e. one who does pet therapy at nursing homes and the like - which is kinda cool. The husky is wearing a muzzle because she likes to nip at other dogs and this is what the trainer told the woman to do. Okay, I'm with you there. The husky rolls its face in the ground, doing its best to get the damn thing off. Now, we're doing alright up to this point. But then it all goes horribly wrong when the woman seems physically incapable of stopping her speech. She not only babbles away at the humans, she also maintains a near constant stream of near baby talk at the dog. After hearing this woman say, in a high pitched voice, "Go play with the puppy" (which seems to be a catch-all for any and all dogs, regardless of age) for the tenth time, I make my way to the other side of the dog park because my ears are about to start bleeding.

During another visit, I meet three people who're neighbors - a young woman, a middle-aged woman and her son. Between them they have four dogs. Three of them are the young woman's - two tiny dogs and a german sheperd who was picked up from the pound just the day before.
Gal: My husband was not happy when I brought this one home. I went to the pound to find a gerbil, and I just had to take her instead. (She laughs) My dogs are my babies. My husband teases me about it, he says 'you'd nurse 'em if you could,' but I wouldn't go that far.
She leans down and hold out a water bottle which is specifically designed for dogs and has a built-in dish at the top. It's not quite a baby bottle, but it's not that big of a leap, either.

This afternoon when we pull up there are already half a dozen dogs and as many people. One of the pairs is high-pitched woman with husky, no muzzle today though. A short time after we arrive, a woman and her two sons (one about seven, the other fourteen-ish) walk in with a border collie. Their dog likes fetching tennis balls. My dog couldn't care less about tennis balls, but loves to chase dogs that are chasing tennis balls, so I end up hanging around this trio for a while.

A guy and his good looking girlfriend/wife come in with a german shepherd who's still young enough to have a puppy's bratiness. He is named Klaus, which is a great name for him, and he also likes to chase dogs who are playing fetch. He also likes to wrestle/play-fight. He starts picking on the border collie, which freaks the woman out. She keeps trying to separate the two, plainly worried that the shepherd is trying to murder her dog when he clearly isn't. I try to reassure her that they're just rough housing, but she stays in over-protective mode.

My dog, meanwhile, is becoming best friends with the seven year-old who keeps giving her treats and has become her biggest fan. Once Klaus looses interest, the woman relaxes just a bit.
Woman: I'm actually afraid of dogs.
Which is the perfect reason to come to a dog park.
Woman: I was bitten by a german shepherd when I was a kid. It scares me to see him running at me like that.
Ah, so that explains it.

Klaus, resigned to the fact that the collie isn't going to play, turns his attention to my dog. They wrestle, and since he's at least half again as big as my dog, he's got the advantage. He keeps putting his mouth around her neck and pushing down, pinning her. Now, maybe I'd be a little worried about this, except that it's easy to see he's not actually biting her, and then there's the fact that when he lets go and turns away from her, she runs in front of him and instigates another match. Yes, that's right, my dog is the bratty little sibling in this equation.

The woman walks a little ways away to play fetch with the collie while the two trouble-makers are preoccupied and Klaus's people make their way over.
Guy: Is my dog bothering you?
Me: Nah, he's alright.
Guy: Okay, I just wanna make sure. I don't want to harsh anyone's dog mellow.
Me: He's just playing. Still a young one, huh?
Guy: Yeah.
Me: He's still learning his manners then.
Guy: (Smiles) He's so good at home. He sits, fetches my slippers and drives the car.

When we call it quits, my dog is well-coated in saliva, panting, and ready to crash. On the way home I decide that by tomorrow she definitely needs a bath. But, not until after we go to the dog park again.