Dog Park

Rex and I have a new favorite hangout - the dog park about a half mile from our apartment.

Every night between 8 and 8:30 (we have to go late because it's so hot here during the day) Rex and I meet a bunch of his friends from PT school at the dog park, and we all bring our dogs. Elvis is best friends with a labradoodle named Waffles. They play together and pretend that none of the other dogs are there. Sometimes a dog will come try to play with them and they will look at him as if to say, "Um, excuse me, you are not in our club." Then they will proceed to ignore him. I'm trying to teach Elvis to be more inclusive, but that only really happens when Waffles is gone.

The dog park is a fenced-in field with benches around the sides and some dog toys in the middle. Owners can let their dogs off their leashes so they can just run around and play. Inevitably a few owners bring big jugs of water (tonight Rex did!), and all the dogs share it when they get tired of running around. Tonight was our third night in a row going, and there have been at least a dozen dogs in the park each night. They have everything from big bloodhouds and mastiffs to tiny pugs and pomeranians. They are all so cute and just play together as if they were all the same size. It's so fun to watch.

Tonight was a little different because, for the first time, a few people brought children to the dog park! There was this three year old named Wesley who LOVED Elvis (I mean, obviously - Elvis is always the cutest one there). Wesley chased Elvis around the park for about an hour. His mom made him go get a drink, and as soon as he came back he started looking around manically saying, "Where pup-py? Where pup-py?" As soon as he saw Elvis he screamed and said, "EEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeee! There the puppy!" Then he ran over to tackle Elvis with love but Elvis got freaked out and ran away, so the boy ended up falling in the grass instead. Oops. Undeterred, he got up and kept chasing Elvis. Anytime Wesley would run near another dog he would scream, "BEEP BEEP!" and pretend he was honking a horn to make them get out of the way. It was SO CUTE! Steven, one of our friends, said "Doesn't that make you want to have kids?" I said, "No way. We're not really that serious of a couple - we're just testing out this whole marriage thing to see how it goes." Obviously Steven knew I was joking, but this other guy who was sitting on a bench near us looked at me as if I was something his dog just puked up. Sorry dude! The kid was really cute, though. He kept trying to clap Elvis's tail between his hands, but mostly he missed because Elvis would run away. Even if Wesley was close enough, Elvis was always wagging his tail so it was difficult to catch. Good thing he's a nice dog - I think I would have gotten kind of annoyed.

The next kid that came in was named Joe. He was with his parents and their three dogs. I would guess that he was about seven years old, but he had downs syndrome so he couldn't really talk. I was sitting on a bench, and he came and sat next to me. I said hello and told him that his pug was really cute. He smiled at me, and I smiled back. I went back to watching the dogs, and he slid closer and closer to me until finally he was sitting RIGHT NEXT TO ME and he put his arm around my shoulder! Ha ha! Steven saw it and said, "Hey Rex, I think you've got some competition over here." I said, "Aw, Joe. You're sweet." He mumbled something that I'm pretty sure was supposed to say, "I love you," and then he kissed me on the cheek. Then he went from sitting next to me to sitting on my lap, and I thought, "No problem. He's just little. He wants to watch the dogs together." So we did that for a few minutes before he turned around, flung his arms around my neck, and tried to kiss me ON THE LIPS. I dodged and got another cheek kiss. I said, "Aw, Joe. Thanks. I like you too." Undeterred, he went in for another strike and ended up getting my other cheek. Then he got my nose. Then I said, "Okay Joe, let's go find your parents" and made him get off of my lap. I felt kind of bad - I mean, the special needs kid wanted a kiss and I wouldn't give it to him? But I guess I'm weird about kissing seven year olds on the mouth. Sorry Joe.

The dog park is really fun, though, and Elvis always comes back sooooo tired - too tired to destroy anything! Now when we open the hall closet (where we keep his leash), he starts jumping up and down with excitement. I'm going to feel really bad one day when we pack him up and take him to the vet instead of the dog park, but I guess he seems really healthy right now so I don't have to worry too much about that. Hooray for fun with our pup!