Dog park!

Yesterday we decided to give the off-leash dog park a try. We have been very happy with Hershey's behaviour lately, and it would be a good next step to ensure that her socialization continues, both with dogs and with people. Chris and I drove over to check it out sans-chien after dim sum and were pleasantly surprised to see lots of people and their dogs playing very well with each other. There's a fairly-dense wood surrounding the park/meadow, so dog's are likely to stick to the open area. There was also a little canteen trailer which sold coffee and dog treats - it looked like a good place.

We drove back home and picked up The Hersh, and drove over to the park. It's about 15 minutes by car, which isn't too bad. When we got there, Hershey was all ready to go play - she saw all the other dogs, and was frantic on her leash to go running. We got to the meadow and let her off leash. She immediately began to play with an adorable furry Nova Scotia Duck Toller named Lexi while the owner chatted with us for a bit. Hersh also played with tons of other dogs, as big as full-sized Huskies and Great Danes, to a tiny Miniature Pincher and this cute but unlucky brown Lab puppy who got peed on by on of the big dogs.

I was very happy to see her play so well with everyone, and the people being so friendly and respectful of our wishes to not pet Hershey. She got tons of exercise and socialization, which was great! She came when called fairly regularly, and didn't wrestle or play aggressively at all when other dogs came to get her kong-on-a-rope. We're looking forward to going back, maybe on a weekly basis; it's been a very encouraging experience for us what with visiting Chris' parents and Tess (their golden retriever).