As You Like It: Park Your Dog Here

The one thing that is as sure in our house as the sun coming up is that Snoopy needs his daily walk. Some dogs are happy to sit outside in the yard, others prefer a short stroll around the block, but beagles need proper walks so that they can sniff out every living thing that has passed their way in the past 200 years. Plus, if they don’t get enough exercise they quickly become couch potato fatties. I have seen beagles that are so huge they look like Tootsie Rolls on steroids.

Snoopy’s walks vary depending on the weather and how much time and patience the person on the other end of his leash has that day. And if it’s raining he simply refuses to go out at all. The only water he abides is the water in his bowl; he detests it in any other form — baths, lakes, rivers — you get the picture. He’s not too thrilled with ice either, but I can’t blame him for that. When your four feet refuse to stay firmly on the ground it can be disconcerting. He seems to have accepted snow. He just ignores it.

He’s also not a great trekker when it’s hot. Our puppy’s no fool. He’d rather stay inside where it’s air conditioned. When we try to take him out on warm days he stops short, shoots us one of his looks and then proceeds to walk about as quickly as a slug in an effort to discourage a long outing.

But if it’s a sunny day, with a cool breeze and no typhoons in the offing, Snoopy picks up the pace and can walk forever. He looks positively regal, head and tail high, trotting along, surveying his surroundings, stopping only when an interesting scent pulls his nose to the ground. If he’s lucky enough to be with Steve he gets a nice long hike, but when he’s with me we go for a shorter one.

I’m a creature of habit. I take the same route every time, skirting the pond in back of our house and continuing into the woods. I enjoy watching whatever wildlife has decided to rest there and noting the changes that the seasons bring. What I don’t enjoy is meeting other dogs because Snoopy has appointed himself the neighborhood sentinel. If he spots another dog coming towards him, his back hairs stand straight up, his ears spike and a low growl begins in the back of his throat. Within seconds it becomes a full-throated howl complete with a solid mass of tugging, lunging, manic dog. It’s such a treat to walk him sometimes.

Last week, Steve and I dared to try something different. We had heard that there was a dog park in Sharon and despite Snoop’s dismal record with other dogs we decided to give it a shot. We discovered that the park was part of a beautiful walking trail through some woods. We found the dog area, walked in, took a deep breath and removed Snoopy’s leash expecting him to challenge the pack, but he just stood there.

Slowly he began a circuit of the park, sniffing carefully, and then indicated that he wanted to leave. We were surprised and disappointed that he hadn’t gotten any doggie “action,” but we left. We walked further down the trail, but suddenly Snoops stopped and turned around. We thought he wanted to go home, but when we reached the entrance to the dog park he nosed his way in.

I guess he needed the short walk to process what he had seen in the park because this time around his behavior changed. He began following the pack of playing dogs slowly but surely. There weren’t many at that point but more began trickling in, dogs of every size, kind, color and temperament, all running wildly, bounding, jumping all over each other, enjoying the play. No one growled, no one threatened, every canine there simply played.

Snoopy latched onto a lady named “Gootchie,” who, we learned, was part Rottweiler, part beagle, though we couldn’t figure out which part was beagle. After chasing her around the park for half an hour he was exhausted.

The next time we visited he repeated the same pattern: despite the fact that there were at least 20 dogs there, he chose one, a gorgeous husky named Ranger, and followed him around continuously. When Ranger refused to play with him, Snoops barked at him angrily, chasing and barking at him the entire time we were there.

If we thought the dogs were friendly, their owners were even friendlier. Entire families were enjoying the day. We were all strangers, but we had our love of canines in common and it seemed like we never tired of watching them. It felt like an inclusive, welcoming club.

We had discovered a whole new world where the only thing anyone cared about was your dog’s name and any stories or advice you could pass on. No one was angry or impatient or talking on a cell phone. No one cared what anyone else did for a living or where they lived. Everyone just relaxed and enjoyed the fact that they were out on a beautiful day with people and animals they loved. Such a simple thing and yet so hard to find outside of a dog park.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=2700

Posted by Joan Florek Schottenfeld on Sep 16 2010. Filed under As You Like It, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.