It was billed as THUNDERDOME, but turned out to be just another day at the dog park ...

With the holiday morning we didn't have to rush off to work. So, instead of Dave and Molly going for a walk/run, the 3 of us went to the dog park for an extended weekend visit. When we arrived, there were 3 small dogs (1 pug, 1 small poodle, and 1 that was so small that it makes Teca looks big!) on the back-side of the pen that we normally go to. We stayed on the front side and when Molly noticed the poodle on the other side of the fence she tried to get it to run and play with her like Quincy did. Sadly, it wasn't interested. Molly barked to get the poodle interested, still nothing. It took her a bit, but she caught on to the fact that the dog did not want to play with her. She started chasing her ball and wasn't interested in the dogs on the other side ... and then the pug came over. Again, it wasn't a play-er, but Molly and pug met and did the doggie introductions. Then the other 2 small dogs left their area and a new dog was coming into our area, so we crossed over to the back pen.

We figured the new doggie (a medium sized fluffy mutt) and Molly could meet through the fence. We played ball and then the lady and the fluffy mutt came over to our side. So much for meeting through the fence! The dog's name is Libby and the women said that she's not much of a player. She was quite friendly as demonstrated by the fact that she came over and sat on my feet to get me to pet her. Libby and Molly said their hellos and then it was back to the ball. At which point 2 more dogs came into our area. One was a border collie and the other was a large black and white something. The big dog was taller than Molly. She met both of them and tried to get them to play. The 2 of them sandwiched her and one of them started to growl. The owners called them back and Molly didn't seemed bothered. They did that a second time a bit later because she had jogged over to them. This time she just dropped her tail and stayed still. They doggies trotted off and Molly came back for the ball. Those 2 dogs were running for a frisbee and we all just did our own thing for awhile.

At one point Dave and I were just going to walk the perimeter of pen to give Molly a running break. The 2 dogs were on the hill that is in the pen. As we approached, one of the dogs did a sort of swiping path at the base of the hill. Molly turned around and seemed to know that the dog wanted that territory. We just followed her lead and turned away from that area. We figured if she didn't want to go there, that was the right message. As she was running out of steam we headed back through the front pen to leave. On that side a little Corgie bolted over to her. His name is Riley and we chatted with the owner while they played a bit. Riley loves to go into the wading pool that is set up and Molly just watched. After he got out, Molly went over to investigate. While she likes water, she's been unsure of water from a hose, sprinklers or in a wading pool. Riley probably helped her figure out that it is okay. After chasing Riley and his ball a few times, we headed out.

So, in about 40 or so minutes Molly played or sniffed with 5 dogs and saw 2 others. Turns out she's a really sweet and happy doggie! Of course we already knew that, but it was lots of fun to see her in action and being a dog. And if you saw our post yesterday about our hike, you'll have to agree - this is a great doggie weekend! We hope you all have a great day too!