Dog Park Pace

"I'll be yours and you'll be mine."

Saturday was one of those days

that was too cold to really want to go outside but the sun finally decided to make an appearance so how could you not take the rare winter opportunity to enjoy it? As I sat on my dad's couch with him and my grandmother, Leia paced back and forth, sniffing every scent that crossed her path. We pondered what to do to get out of the house for far too long before I finally suggested a trip to Will's Park dog park or Waggy World Paw Park as someone begging for a tongue twister decided to name it. Adorably, Leia sits and wags her tail in front of me as soon as I pick up her leash... not so adorable when I accidentally pick up her leash 30 minutes before departure which just seems like a lifetime of torture to a dog who doesn't understand, "Pop has to get ready." Eventually, we all piled into my car. Leia took her normal copilot seat and was quickly booted by my grandma to the back with my dad. When I looked into the rear view mirror, my pitiful pup was looking at me with those big puppy dog eyes she has down to a complete science. I could see it in her eyes, "What the heck, mom? Why are you letting that poodle take my spot?" I guess I should note that my grandma's hair resembles that of a poodle, a gray so bright it's nearly white and full of curls. Once we arrived at the park, Leia jumped out with her usual burst of freedom like she hadn't touched land in days. Her intense curiosity had her nose to the ground and tail wagging in milliseconds. It was a long trek to the dog park that consisted of continuous sniffing, leash yanking, and the subject of why I had forgotten to dress her in her adorable sweater. When we finally arrived at Waggy World Paw Park, the amount of dogs present was exciting! While Leia had been to a different dog park many times before, she had only been around a maximum of two dogs at a time so I was curious to see how she would do. I fumbled with the first gate entering the dog park as I hurried along as doggy park first-timers (my dad and grandma) to come into the small section before opening the second gate. If you're not familiar with dog parks, this is a little precaution installed at every park I've been to because there's always that one dog that escapes the second gate as it scurries up to greet the new arrival. Once the second gate was closed, I released Leia from her harness. I expected her to take off immediately but she lingered for a while with what seemed like overwhelming excitement. Next, she proceeded to approach every human in the park. I knew she loved people but I never expected her to care more about getting some love from them than playing with all of the dogs that were nagging her and tugging at her. She was completely oblivious to the dog commotion as she jumped up for her head pats and smiles, going from person to person. I got a kick out of it as my dad said, "Yo, your dog is like the Walmart greeter of the dog park!" All I could do was laugh as she continued to piss off a yappy chihuahua by gaining attention from its owners. Eventually, she ran out of people to please and it was as if I had disappeared from her mind all together. In the midst of running away from annoying dogs, Leia realized how fast she could be and ran with it (literally). She was suddenly taking laps around the half acre like a greyhound on a racetrack. I wish I could capture the pure joy that reflected in her face as she outran the other dogs, zigzagged, and hopped over some. Every time I thought she was slowing down she picked up again. She clearly hadn't run this fast before and it was apparent in her failure to stop before running into things. There was even a point in this finding of her legs that she jumped over a trimmed fountaingrass bush that she couldn't quite clear. Her back feet caught the top of it and she proceeded to tumble into another dog. I had that horrifying moment of "please god I cannot afford a pet surgery" if she was hurt in the process, but she hopped up, shook all of the grass cuttings off of her and ran right to me for the first time since we arrived. Dogs just know. It was like she came over to say, "Mom, did you see that?! I'm fine. I'm fine." Throughout that joyful hour, I got the usual dog park nuts that are obsessed with dogs and want to talk about every kind they've had and what they were like... I love those people. One older woman with a border collie named Jazz approached me... of course, I never got her name and she never got mine but she was sure to greet Leia with a "Hello Princess Leia," and proceeded to tell me about a greyhound she had in the past that was also named Leia. Not only did she tell me about the greyhound's rescue and similar corky tendencies but she also told me about the greyhound's unfortunate disintegrating muscles due to all of the steroids during its racing days. Those are the sad but true parts of animals' lives that I wish these dog owners would just leave out all together but I understand. People want to talk about the happiness of their dog's life as well as how they were there for it until the end. It's sort of poetic listening to different stories of all these dogs. As Jazz started bringing me her frisbee repeatedly, it struck a jealousy cord in Leia. Who knew she was actually paying attention to me?! She had been so busy discovering her own legs and everyone around her that I had my own little jealousy streak. At one point my dad even asked, "Hey, will this dog go home with anyone?!" And ya know, you wanna feel like your dog only has a special connection with you. However, I quickly realized it's because everyone loves her as much as I do that I find her so easy and fun. It's exciting to show her off! However, it was nice that she made it pretty clear that afternoon that no matter how much attention she got from everyone else, I was still her number one. As the sun was setting and the coldness became bitter, it was time to head out. I thought Leia would put up a fight but she rushed to the gate as I walked toward it like, "Alright! Let's go home! I love you!" Yes, I speak for my dog and she has a voice I imagine in my head. Anyway, that concludes another trip with Leia that I'll never forget and I'm so happy my family could also share in the joy of that afternoon!