It was such a beautiful day at the park. I would trade summer for an entire year of days like today. I know the exact moment when a puppy turns into a teenage - it's almost always the same. It happened to Rex today. As we walk from the water station to the gate to leave the park, all the dogs follow me in a nice little pack and we go through the gate and they jump in the truck. It's that moment when the "teenager" stops a few paces short of the gate and stares at me that I realize he's grown up. He realizes that he actually has a choice whether he follows me or not. It's when he actually considers the fact that there might be better things in the world than the scraps of treat left in my coat pocket. If he bolts, he just might be able to steal a few more minutes of precious play time. The older dogs, that have gone through the teenage days, know the golden rule: I always win :) Well Rex, let the games begin. Sweet little Gracie still thinks the most exciting thing in the world is about to happen when I call her - why do puppies have to grow up?
Tucker has been adjusting since his partner in crime, Stella, moved to Boston last week. The first couple trips were rough - he was clearly confused and didn't really know who to hang out with so he got kind of bully-ish. It's kind of like the kid in high school that got separated from his friends so tries to act super tough and mean so other kids don't think he's a loser. To help him adjust, I switched him to the afternoon group 2 days/wk, so he has a whole new crew to bond with, not just life without Stella. I know this may sound ridiculous, but those two were close. As soon as Stella's parents started packing up their place, two weeks before the move, Tucker started acting out. Stella didn't act funny until her last park trip when her house was literally empty of all belongings.
For the most part we had a really mellow time at the park on both trips. It wasn't too crowded, not too many mud puddles to avoid, we didn't lose any toys, we didn't steal too many toys, all around it was a good day! A special thanks to Bickie (Coco's mom) for making my favorite Quinoa salad today! She is so sweet - she makes my favorite salad every Tuesday because she knows it is my first long day of the week and that I never have time to get lunch! She makes my day every time - Thank you Bickie!!!
Outside of the dog park: Little Stella, the king charles cavalier, who goes on walks with Nancy, had to go to the emergency room last night. She was throwing up blood and they still have to run some more tests to see what it could be. She is on medication and is doing much better today after a few visits and lots of love from Nancy. Just a reminder that if you don't have pet insurance, right now is a great time to do it! I recommend Healthy Paws Pet Insurance, Trupanion, or Embrace.
Sometimes my clients say the funniest things about their dogs... since you all say them, I figured you might like to hear what other people say about their own dogs, so I would like to start a "client quote of the day" section. This will of course remain anonymous and I will take the dog's name out of it as well. To start us off, here is a quote that had me literally laughing out loud to myself in the car all day:
client quote of the day:
"(my dog would) steal a cookie from a kid and then knock the kid down in order to get a faster route to eating poop"
Don't forget to check out pictures of our day today on the ballwalkpark facebook page!
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