Park Scare

For the first time in months, it was cool enough to go for a walk in the morning.  Maya and I joined a few friends and their fur-babies at the local park, where I almost immediately had a mini-stroke or mini-heart attack or mini-something.

The local park has a duck pond that the dogs love.  It's not so much the water that draws their attention, but the ducks.  Pretty much the only thing I don't like about this pond is that it's relatively close to the street, so I always keep Maya on her leash until we're on the other side of it, just in case.

Today, just like almost every other time we've gone to the park, one of the dogs took off running towards the pond.  And just like almost every other time, Maya decided to follow.  She was still on her leash, so I didn't expect her to get very far, but the next thing I know, she's almost at the pond and I still have her leash in my hand.....with her collar hanging off the end.  Yep, the clasp on her collar broke.  And that's where the mini-stroke/heart attack happened.  Luckily, she decided to run after the ducks in the pond and not the squirrels crossing the street.

And needless to say, we were at Petsmart picking up a new collar before the day was over.  I did not like that feeling, and I'm hoping it doesn't happen again for a long time.

Dog Park

Yesterday, Maya had her first trip to a dog park.  One of the groups from school sponsored a Dog's Day Out, and since one of my friends was running, I decided to stop by.  Since this was her first time, and since she's so shy, I decided not to traumatize her by taking her to the big dog side (which is where most of the group was).  Instead, we said hi to everyone and headed to the little dog side. 

I have to say that she's gotten a lot better with other people.  Other dogs, on the other hand.......  Well, let's just say she's still really shy. 

Eventually, the group headed over to the little dog side.  All of the dogs beside one are borderline size, but are still allowed on the little dog side.  The one big one is really old and has arthritis, so she just likes to lay in the sun chewing on her toys, so none of the owner complained about a big dog in the little dog area. 

There are benches and tables set up under a canopy for dog parents, and that's where we were hanging out.  Initially, I left Maya on the ground to hopefully entice her to play with the other dogs.  She spent her time trying to get away from them and hiding under my legs, so I eventually picked her up.  There was another small dog on the table that was scared of the other dogs too, so it wasn't long before him and Maya were buddies. 

She eventually got brave enough to explore, but not until most of the other dogs were gone.  I think she just got overwhelmed.  And even though we were on the little dog side, she was still almost the smallest dog there.  I'm not sure if we'll be going back anytime soon, because she really didn't seem to have a good time.  We'll see.

We left Dog's Day Out with a goodie bag full of treats and a toy.  She absolutely loved her new toy.  I gave it to her when we got home and she refused to put it down the rest of the day. 

On a side note, she was almost puppy-napped a few times.  My friends thought she was adorable and kept wanting to take her home with them.