A Trip to the Dog Park

Four days ago, Louisville was covered in ice. Schools in surrounding counties were closed, and road crews were out in full force spreading salt. Today, the weather shifted nearly 40 degrees for a high of 70, the clouds parted for a nice, sunny (yet windy!) afternoon, and Baxter's Dog Park tags came in the mail. It was the perfect recipe for a happy, muddy, very tired dog.



When we first arrived, Baxter and I were the only ones at the park. He wasn't quite sure what to do or where to go, and he actually wanted to go back toward my car instead of in the fenced area. After about five minutes, another dog joined the fun, and allowed Baxter to get used to the idea of the dog park.



Within 10 minutes, several other dogs--all bigger than Baxter--showed up. Baxter tried to play with them, but he was the obvious runt of the group, so they all picked on him. This week's ice and this morning's rain absolutely drenched the ground. This was bad news for Baxter, since his defense is to quickly roll on his back to claw and bite. Every time he got up, there was more mud and hay caked to his fur.

About halfway through our visit, a couple walked in with their Border Collie, Sage. Baxter and Sage, both being relatively small and over four months old, became friends rather quickly. They stayed mostly on the concrete and enjoyed each others company away from the bigger dogs.



Below are videos of Baxter and Sage playing at my feet. The first one was when they first met. Later, once they got to know each other a bit more, Baxter became a bit more vocal and tried to get Sage to play more.