Toby puts his foot (paw) down

Toby wanting the ball thrown, originally uploaded by phaird.

I love going to the Acton park every Sunday with Toby. It is my one moment to myself with Toby where nothing else matters. I get to see my dog park friends and relax for an hour without the pressures of work and home life.

Toby on the other hand is starting to rebel against the park. For the past three weeks, he’s either not gone into the park or left within 5 minutes of getting there. This last Sunday he wouldn’t go into the park at all, even for the tennis ball. There is another open area hidden behind the park that I took him and he was okay with that. We threw the ball around for about a half hour but he never really relaxed. You can tell from the photo that he’s still nervous.

I think my next goal is to go and explore some of the other dog parks around the area. I have some friends in Sharron MA where this is another official dog park area. I’ll try to go visit them this weekend. I want to go back to the Waverly Oaks park in Waltham where I first started taking Toby on a regular basis when I lived in Watertown. The last time Toby and I went there, he LOVED it. I know that the Fells park is also a very dog friendly place to go. It’s going to be a lot more driving and as the weather gets colder, there may be a few less people with their dogs but I think it will be a good adventure for both Toby and me.

For all my faithful readers, if you know any parks around eastern MA that I should check out, let me know and I’ll even meet you at the park some weekend.