An advantage of being early.

It's not the size of the stick that matters, originally uploaded by phaird.

Sunday was beautiful at the park. I had to come early to the park but I wasn't the only one with that idea. Coming early has a few advantages. It can start off really quiet being one of the first few at the park. My dog, Toby, likes that because it's not overwhelming with all the dogs and people yet. As people start to show up, it's not as jarring and he can deal with the transition much better. It also gives me a chance to talk with a few people or just take photos of the dogs running around. Toby can also get his nervous energy out and calm down as well before the crowds show up. Best of all, once it get's too busy, we can leave and feel we got a good day at the park. Staggering dogs at the park can really work do our advantage.
These two dogs are family and were loving the water and chasing the tennis ball. They would chase anything so even the small stick ended up being a tug-of-war between them. They were super cute and had a great time. I hope to see more of them next week.

Bella and the crowd.

Bella and the crowd., originally uploaded by phaird.

Another great weekend at the park. This Sunday was family day. Lots of people have been bringing their kids to the park. There has even been a few strollers coming. All the dogs are always so good with all the kids around too.
Some people get really upset when dogs scare their child in the past but everyone has to remember that this park time is scheduled for dogs. It is pretty rare though that a conflict comes up that isn't quickly resolved. With all these different breeds running around, some might think that it would lead to problems all the time. It's just not the case. Many dogs just love being off leash but will check in with their owners when they wonder too far away. These people love their dogs as family so the dogs expect love from everyone. That is just was dogs do. That is why I love coming to the park every Sunday. I get all kinds of love and I don't even have to have treats with me (though that would help).

Sunny day at the park

Isaac and his crew, originally uploaded by phaird.

We are still in our spring weather and it's nice. Not freezing but not warm. This is my kind of weather. I asked my boys if they wanted to go but only Isaac decided to join me today. We had a good time tossing stones in the water and playing with the dogs. It was a good water day for the dogs who were all chasing tennis balls or just chasing each other in and out of the pond.
I love that I always get to meet new someone new. Isaac was learning to play with a little girl who was at the park but his attention span was too short to stay involved with the game. He was much more interested in getting to the water.
I also found out that there is a Facebook group just for this park. As soon as I got home, I looked it up. I'll put a link to it soon but if you want to find it, just look up "friends of Great Hill Park". So far, there are only 20 people involved but I'm sure more will join. I'm going to recommend it to everyone. I hope to keep more people connected.

Easter Sunday at the church of dog.

Romeo hanging out at the park., originally uploaded by phaird.

I was running a bit late on Sunday to get to the park and I figured it would be quiet. Boy was I wrong. The church around the corner from the park uses the dog park parking lot when the other lots get full so there was a lot of people going to church and then the regulars at the park were also out in large numbers.
I brought a longer lens and a video camera to try to shoot both still and video images and it worked out okay. I love this photo of Romeo. I've gotten some nice photos of him lately but this one turned out great. That is Tika in the background. We were all hanging out on the edge of the play area. I wanted to be out of the way because Toby has been a little aggressive lately so by staying on the edge helped for him. Next week I'm going to try to start scheduling people to interview for some fun short videos. I've been collecting photos long enough through this blog that it's time to start get my butt in gear to get a book together. I'm super excited about the possibility of doing an e-book as a multi-media project and this summer, I'm going to really get something started.
Feel free to keep me on track and give me a hard time. I'm going to need to interview lots of people so let me know if you're interested.

Summer gives way to early spring

Sam the man in the water, originally uploaded by phaird.

We had our week or more of warmth, walking around in shorts and t-shirts. It was nice while it lasted but last Sunday was the beginning of the end of the early summer weather.
But our dogs don't care. They want to go out and run, play and swim. The past few weeks I've been bringing my younger son, Isaac and like all 2 year olds, he loves the water and trowing rocks into the water. There must be some driving force that compels them to do it. The joy of youth. Well, Sam, this golden, wanted to fetch what ever isaac was throwing. There are a few dogs who will chase anything and Sam is one of those. He didn't get too pushy which is important because he'd knock Isaac flat if he did. Poor sam though. Isaac doesn't have much of an arm for the long throw yet so every pebble and stone he threw didn't go very far. Sam waited though and just stood in front of Isaac, hoping for a tennis ball or good stick to just appear. Maybe next time Sam.
The last few weeks have been quiet because I've been caring my video camera with me. I wanted start collecting video footage and if I got the chance, even talk to someone about their dog. I've only gotten a few stories recorded so I'm hoping to edit them into more. Shooting and editing video takes a lot more time.
Keeps me busy though so that's good.

bark softly but carry a big stick!

bark softly but carry a big stick!, originally uploaded by phaird.

Why can't my Toby be like this little guy. One of the smallest dogs at the park and gets lots of big dogs attention but just blows it off. This little dachshund wanted this stick and wouldn't give it up to anyone. He didn't fight or get scared, he just held his own and kept the stick.
My Toby gets one butt sniff and he gets all defensive. Starts fighting and then shamed out of the park. The only good thing is that Tank (the bulldog) put Toby in his place. He squished toby in a mud puddle so Toby had to go home and get a bath. That showed him. I hope this next week is better. It's hard to take photos when my dog is getting in all the other dogs faces. Sorry park.

Mud bowl

_MG_5558, originally uploaded by phaird.

Last sunday was a muddy day and these two puppies wanted to get as much on them as possible. There wasn't anything they wanted to do but wrestle and play. If you look at the other photos on flickr, you'll see that even Toby got into it a bit. As a terrier though, he just wanted to dominate the action.
These two are both puppies and have endless amounts of energy. They were going at each other the entire time I was there. Running round wrestle, nocking into people, and getting every dog as muddy as possible. There was a lot of dogs that went right home and into the bath.
That's a perfect dog park kinda day.