First visit to the dog park

I've been feeling guilty recently about Dionne's lack of exercise. Since she's not interested in balls, we can't sneak onto the field across the street from us and have her chase them there. Tucker will wrestle with her now and then, but he's not interested in racing around the yard with her. And as I noted in my last post, she can't spend any time outside alone, as she's still eating motley objects that irritate her digestive system.

Sometimes she goes nuts inside the house, exploding with pent-up energy. Yesterday I decided that I had to do something. So I took her and Tucker to the dog park.

The closest one to me is pretty pathetic, two sun-scorched mostly dirt enclosures on the side of Soledad Mountain Road (just north of Balboa in Pacific Beach.) What it has going for it, however, is that it's only 10 minutes drive from the house. I haven't been there often, but I've never seen it jammed with dogs.

When we arrived, there were two poodle-ish creatures, one large and one small, hanging out with their owners. Neither was playful, but that clearly didn't bother Tucker or Dionne, who spent several minutes exploring the fascinating smells.

The poodleheads soon left, but a guy with a yellow lab arrived and that triggered several high-speed chases. I loved seeing Dionne streak around at full speed. She looks as fast as a racehorse.

To my surprise, she didn't keep it up for long. It was hot, and I also wondered if she's a bit out of shape. We left after about 20 minutes, and even after getting home we got home, there was lots of panting.

All evening, she was remarkably calm, almost sedate. Another reason to put "Return soon" on my To-Do list.