Making new friends

Today, Rey and I took our first trip to a dog park. On the recommendation of my friend Libby, we ventured to the large, fenced in area at Balboa Park that is set aside especially for four legged friends. Rey seemed to enjoy walking through the park– he even tried to chase a squirrel up a tree (really! he climbed part of the tree after the little fellow)– but when we got to the dog park’s gate, he was a little apprehensive. To get in, you need to pass through multiple gates, and at each one, Rey paused and looked wistfully back, as if indicating he didn’t want to enter.

Once we went in, Rey was a really good boy. I took him off his leash and he stayed close to me, seemingly content to sniff the grass and ignore the other dogs. I walked further into the park so that we’d be closer to some of the other animals; after all, the whole point of the visit was for Rey to socialize. There were big and small dogs, excited ones and calm ones, and eventually, Rey ventured away from me a bit. Some of the dog owners chatted me up as our the dogs played together, and several of them gave me tips for training Rey, which was nice.

There was a big bulldog who found a large puddle of mud and started rooting around in it like a pig. His owner wasn’t paying attention, and the dog just wallowed and splashed and made a huge mess of himself. All the other owners who were nearby were watching and laughing, me included, and when the owner finally realized what was going on, he couldn’t get the bulldog to leave the puddle. Finally he gave up and the dog continued to cover himself in mud. It was hilarious.
My little guy seems to be pretty shy around other dogs. The big dogs dominates him (it turns out that Rey will pretty much roll over onto his back for anyone, human or dog, provided they rub or lick his belly), and I’m slightly embarrassed to say that a big dog (not sure what kind) kept trying to hump Rey. The little dogs were better, probably because they were more evenly matched, and there were several other terriers at the park (though none as cute as Rey).

All in all, it was a great morning. We spent probably an hour, and he definitely got more loose as time went by. Everyone I talked to said it takes dogs a while to get used to being there, so I’m hopeful that after continued visits, Rey will be romping freely– and coming back to me when I call him, of course!