Hooray for Darcy!

[Darcy's Folks]

Hi all!

Let me just preface this post by stating that we have probably been all too sheltering of our little Darcy. We've been all too cautious of where we take her, that she's always on leash so not to run away, what we feed her, etc. I think the only thing we haven't been cautious of is how she plays. We let her play til she makes herself tired... of course that's also just part of being a terrier owner. LOL!

Anyway, there is a wonderful park of about 300 acres near our home that we have taken Darcy to numerous times for long walks. It also has a nice fenced in dog park. We've always looked from a far at that types of dogs and how they all play together, but we've never taken her in to let her scope it out on her own. We FINALLY did. 2 weekends ago we went to check it out with Darcy ON LEASH the entire time we were in there. We didn't know how she would respond to the dogs and if she would be a holy terror and growl and be mean to other dogs. We know she LOVES people and dogs she's been around in classes, and such... but this was new. Well, she did alright. We decided to give a go again this past weekend. We kept her on leash and finally my hubby looked at me with the sweetest eyes and said "Maybe we should see how she does off leash." I was so nervous and I think he was too.

Well, we let her off leash and she did great. She was a bit more interested in smelling the surroundings than playing. And she tended to stick near us for most of the time. She met a few friends to play with... a 9 mo. old golden ret. puppy took a particular liking to Darcy and they played so nicely together. It was great. She ran so hard and so fast. She was nice (most of the time). We did have a pick her up a few times for being too grumpy to a few dogs, but other than that she did wonderful. She was even at one point the bunny in a dog race for a while - many of the dogs were chasing her around and she just loved it! We're so excited to take her back again this weekend.

Thanks for listening/reading.

Kate

[Tracy A.]

Wow! Sounds like a fun time. I only wish we had a dog park in our area....

Bring the camera next time!!

Tracy, Bratt & Mett

[Darcy's Folks]

Oh great idea.... will make sure I have the camera next time!

[brin145]

What a great story. It must have been the type of day that little Cairns dream of...

[Eliz222]

That sounds like fun! I wish we had a dog park near us too.

[purebella]

That sounds like great fun!

I am so looking forward to when Bella can go out to play - she has one needle to go and then she is allowed out in the big wide world.

we have a doggy park near us so she will have to pay that a visit!!

[savannahsmom35]

Our babies are growing up so fast!

Sounds like Darcy had a blast. Yes, we want pictures next time!

[Catfish1]

Glad to hear Darcy did so well...good for her! It sounds like a wonderful park.

We haven't been out much this winter and it's starting to show on Fergus. He's restless and bored. Your post is an incentive to try to get our little guy out for a day....this week end, I hope!!

Fergus & Alf

[Guest Guest]

I enjoyed reading about Darcy. It'always hard to let go - as I was relating to how you must have felt when you let her go on her own. Sounds like you had her well oriented and she was ready to romp with some friends. Wish we had a dog park - sounds like it would be fun to not only see your dog, but to observe the many personalities of the other's who play there.

Thanks for sharing,

L

[Lesley]

that was me above.

[sanford]

In your post, you mentioned you've been (understandably) protective of Darcy & I kept thinking as I was reading...I hope you'll take her off the leash to play with the other dogs...and sure enough you did! Darcy must have thought, "Yipee!

My local dog park has become so important to my pooch. We go just about every day and when the park comes into sight, he breaks into a run, he's so excited. He definitely gets more exercise, fun & play with his dog buddies than I could provide him with. The park is fenced securely, clean & well maintained and it's well-lit so we can use it late into the evenings during these short winter daylight hours.

The dogs in this park are well cared for and well behaved so the atmosphere is pleasant. There's usually an audience of people and kids outside the fence, laughing at the antics & enjoying the show...an energetic assortment of sizes, shapes, colors!

Another nice thing is that the dog owners are friendly and share information, experiences, etc. It's nurturing for us owners to be in an environment where everybody loves, loves, loves dogs!

The drawbacks:

* I'm not experienced enough to distinguish between Cairn play-growls, Terrier-Talk growls & serious warning growls, so I stay vigilant and keep a close eye on my guy.

* Sometimes a new dog might be really scrappy with another. Some people seem to feel the dogs should be allowed to "work it out". (Others take their dogs & leave!). I haven't figured where I stand on this issue. I've heard about a few serious fights, but thankfully, haven't witnessed any.

* There was an outbreak of canine virus late last summer, so we stayed away for a few months. Dogs, like kids in pre-school can sometimes spread a virus around.

Those are my Pros & Cons, and as you can see, I'm a great advocate of dog parks. I think people who live near them are lucky. I hope you and Darcy will enjoy your dog park as much as we do!