 |
Winston Wonders…
...Do you think it could have
been the
Dog Park? |
First it was Celeste, then Max and Ruby and
now me…So last week we took our first trip to the dog park…it was
Dachshund Day so we all packed up and went down to the new park by the
beach…the weather was great, the dogs were great, the park was great…the
whole thing was just great…I just couldn’t wait to get there again.
I think I must have
made myself very annoying all day - Mom said “Ok, that’s it… let’s go,
pack up the dog things” I thought she said we were going to B- A- R-
K…so I did! Mom said “Hurry up, Winston is getting all excited, how
does he know?…I’ll be in the car.” Who Knew!!! A ride is always fun but
as soon as we turned the corner I knew…not BARK…PARK!!!!
So when I got out of
the car I had the weirdest feeling that this was just not the same as
last week…We got to the gate and I didn’t see even one Dachshund. In
fact, most of the dogs were jumbo gigantic…Mom and I were just standing
there and a whole mob of dogs came running over. There was no way I was
going in - they were all around the gate and looking kind of way out of
their senses. So, I stood right behind Mom, real close to the back
fence. I thought it would be smart to sniff around a bit and see if I
knew anybody who was here…nope, not a one!
I guess Mom got the
idea that I was just a little bit not going in. She said “What’s
the matter Winston? Don’t you want to come in? You had a great time last
week.” Uh yeah, but they were all Dachshunds, we spoke
the same language, could kind of get to know each other, say hello, walk
away, share a sniff or two, nothing too much…But just look at these
dogs, drooling, wagging, jumping up on the fence, pushing each
other…standing over, staring, just too close! Not going in, nope…
I don’t think Mom
got that right away but she is a really good egg and doesn’t make me do
things first off. So we stayed there a while and I guess all the others
got tired of waiting (good thinking) and just wandered away, one by one.
Whew! Then, this other dog came over. I guess I didn’t
see him before. He was really kind of still and quiet. When he came
over he was real slow…his head was down & he
kind of stretched out his neck to sniff near me, kind of like he didn’t
know if he knew me or not. When I stretched out my neck to sniff, he
wagged just a little and looked away. Pretty good! At least some one has
manners. So I walked closer to the fence to check him out…Seemed like a
nice guy, just a little bit older and not so big. His person
came over to the fence and asked Mom if we wanted to come in.
Thankfully, she said we were just waiting a bit to get used to things.
She told Mom there was a small dog area to go to and even though her dog
weighed more than they said he could to go in, she just took him there
anyway because he was old and kind of quiet. Sounds good to me!
Mom said “sounds
good to me!” Well, she just opened the gate and YIKES!!!
They all must have heard her and here they came running as fast as could
be…
So Mom just scooped me up and started to yell real loud…”NO!! GO
AWAY!! Whose dogs are these??? Yo, People….WHOSE DOGS ARE THESE?? DO
YOU MIND??” So this very big hairy dog with pointy ears
jumps up and tries to take a swipe at me…well, I wasn’t
going to take that so I just sucked in some air and gave the loudest
scream, bark, growl I could make and what do you know! The hairy pointy
dog jumped back and looked at me a little surprised. His person came
running over to see if I made a hole in him…(I didn’t although I
secretly wanted to…what have I become?! I was never that way, but I
guess it was just self protection…) He said something
without manners to Mom who said something like “You’re kidding, right?
Your dog almost bit both of us, just get out of the way and hold your
dog.” I thought I was helping so I growled…Mom got mad…ok great,
whatever…
So the person with the older fellow dog said the bad thing about
the under 25 pound park (her dog definitely was not) was you had
to walk through the big dog area to get there - not so good. So we
walked along. Mom didn’t put me on the ground thanks be to her…and by
the time we got to the under 25 area (he wasn’t), the others were off
doing something else. Just when we opened the gate to go in, there they
all were again, running at top speed to the fence…Jeepers, what is it
about the gate! I guess they think this is their yard and someone is
coming in…Ah, Nooo!
So Mom closes the gate and puts me on the
grass…I sure wish she would have taken her time to do that…and the old
slow guy came over…and sniffed around and kind of walked around slow so I
could watch him a while…no sudden moves, that’s good, so maybe I can go
check him out a little…Well, ok, he seems to be real nice but who
knew…how could I know…who are all these dogs. So we stayed for a little
while and then Mom said it was time for us to go…something about making
dinner…sounds good to me. This time, before she opened the gate she kind
of yelled (not like her) “Hey! Do you want to call your dogs?” It
didn’t seem so but most of the dogs walked somewhere else and we were
good to go…The old guys person said it looked like a good time for her
to go too…something about some of them being too much for her dog.
Mom spoke with her
for a while and then we got in the car. I was feeling kind of tired and
like I needed something to drink or eat…maybe. I just kind of coughed to
clear my throat…didn’t work so well. So I heard Mom on the phone
talking to Celeste, Max and Ruby’s family…”What? Oh no!...How are they
now? What…oh golly, what did the vet say?...Antibiotics?....are they
better?...no, not yet…” So I tried to clear my throat
again…feels scratchy…tried again.” Oh, wait, yep, maybe. He just
coughed! Great! Do you think it could be the Dog Park?”