She jumped out of the car and ran across the parking lot. “Wait, Tua, wait for me,” I called. She couldn’t, she was too excited to even hear me. When she got to the gate he was waiting there for her: Cooper, the big black lab. Immediately behind him came Remy, running with Ella. Her favourite dog park playmates all came in greeting. She wriggled and leapt with excitement.
It wasn’t always this way; at one time she cowered at the gate and refused to enter. On our first visit, four large dogs all barking and jumping up on the fence gate, wanted to get to her. A novice dog owner, I knew nothing about dogs, or dog parks, except that dogs could run free in them. I wanted her to have that freedom, but had been warned about the dangers lurking in dog parks. Stories about dog packs running un-leashed, uncontrollable, and preying on vulnerable, small puppies, were told everywhere and by many. We made a hasty retreat back to the car. She was six months old and we didn’t try again for another three months.
By the time she had reached nine months of age and we returned, she and I were both more experienced and braver. A different group of dogs, not all of them big, ran toward the gate as we arrived, but the experience was still unsettling. We both hesitated, unsure about entering. I wanted to inspire her to be brave, so I took a deep breath, pulled an air of confidence up from my toes, carefully opened the gate and we entered the park. The waiting dogs sniffed her, circled her several times and then, satisfied or bored, ran off to play elsewhere. She made no attempt to run with them, but she happily followed me.
There were a number of people standing in a group off in the distance, but no one spoke to, or greeted, us so I hesitated to join them. I kept Tua on her leash in case we needed to make a quick exit. Noticing a man standing alone with a leashed dog beside him, we approached. He was courteous, the dogs sniffed each other and Shawn told me his dog, Lola, didn’t really play with other dogs. A few minutes later, I watched with a befuddled Shawn, as Tua and Lola, still on leashes, began romping together on the grass.
On our next trip to the dog park, Shawn and Lola were once again standing apart from the others. Tua and I approached them, our dogs re-acquainted themselves with each other, seemed happy, so we took off their leashes and allowed them to play. Neither dog strayed far from their human, and we humans didn’t take our eyes off our dogs. Shawn again expressed his amazement that Lola was eagerly playing with Tua.
From that day on, I began taking Tua to the dog park every morning, and watched in amazement as her personality developed. She interacted with all dogs, big and small; she liked to play rough, was fearless and persistent. Through these interactions, she developed a specific and deliberate pattern of behavior that was her unique invitation to play. If the dog didn’t respond the way she wanted, she moved on until she found one that did. Sadly, Shawn and Lola stopped coming to the park when the weather got cold. Hopefully, we’ll see them again in spring.
