Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The Mind Is Willing, But the Body Is Squishy And Mortal

Yesterday I took Theo to the dog park by my house again, and it was one of those magical days where everything was just wonderful. I decided to let him in the "all dog" pen, so he could play with the bigger dogs. He's not really a small dog kind of Corgi, which the usual Corgi way, as I understand it. At first he acted like his usual self, he seemed to enjoy the scene while sticking close to me and not really playing with any of the other dogs. That all changed when a Golden Lab from his puppy class came in. It was a dog he knew! He immediately went and jumped on her head, the typical Theo greeting (see the picture for an example).

From then on he was open to playing with all the other dogs. I really lucked out because all the dogs at the park yesterday were friendly, playful, and sweet. I couldn't have asked for a better group of dogs there. Theo took a real liking to an Australian Shepherd (pictured), and they played together for at least 30 minutes. They had rounds of play. When they would get tired of one round they would separate, rest for a few minutes, and then resume for the next round. It was so fun to watch. Most of it took place at my feet.

Theo was so pooped that he kept plopping down on the ground to rest. All the other dogs would see this blatant display of weakness and come running to make fun of him. If you check out the picture to the left he's actually under that group of dogs, looking embarrassed and heartily ashamed of himself.

An hour and a half at the dog park left him sleeping the rest of the day. He was so pooped that when I set down his food bowl with his lunch, he looked like he was seriously contemplating whether he would rather eat or sleep. The eating won in the end, of course, but he actually had to think about it! I was amazed at how long he played at the park. His body was obviously tired, but he was so excited to play that he managed to find the energy somewhere.

I've finally updated my Flickr pics. Check 'em out to see the last few weeks of fun. You'll notice a huge increase in volume due to playing with the new camera. Enjoy!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Yay dog parks! I haven't taken Lucy to one in awhile, we had a bad experience at the last one we went to. I took her in to get spayed today, so maybe when she recovers..

JuLo said...

Oh, Lucy has become a bitch! How exciting! Hehe. She is such a beautiful Corgi.

What was the bad experience? We had a bad one as well the first time we went, which I posted about when it happened. Some bullies were bullying a bit rough with my poor puppy. I think a good way to do it is to take Theo into the pen on leash. I get a feel for the dogs there. If they're friendly and their owners are attentive, I let him off. If I get a bad vibe, I go to a different pen, or just walk him around the park.

eikoleigh said...

So glad that you found a good dog park. It's really hit or miss with the other owners and how they control their dogs.

Theo is just adorable...!

RevCindi said...

Theo is just adorable! Have you joined us on MyCorgi? http://mycorgi.com

JuLo said...

eikoleigh, yes I totally lucked out that there's a dog park and walking trails only a mile from my house. It was a total coincidence. The dog park is good in that it has different pens, so if dogs are being too rowdy in one, you can move to another. But like you say, there's irresponsible dog owners anywhere you go.

moonmystic, yes we're on mycorgi.com! Search the members page for julo to find me and Theo. :)

Ivy@PaperElixir said...

Theo totally rocks the dog park! He thinks he's a big boy and can hang with other big boys :D And I love your photos from the corgi meet up on Flickr! Looks just like the one we have here in SF, ahhh... wish our pups can meet some day!

JuLo said...

I'd love to bring Theo up to the Bay Area to meet some of you guys. Maybe I can work something out... :)