New Dog Park Adventures

Small Person (SP) came to us saying she was afraid of dogs. And that the reason she was afraid of dogs was that they trampled her. Considering she is quite small, we understood that, but knew it was better to introduce her to Larry & June as soon as possible.

So that first night, after sitting and talking with SP for a little while, we told her to sit on her bed. We said the dogs most definitely would trample her, so it was best to be somewhere comfortable. Then we let the dogs in the room. Yes, they trampled her. And then, they got down on the floor and wrestled pretty aggressively. It wasn’t long before she was giggling at them.

Her fear of Larry and June went out the window rather quickly, but considering how much of our lives (especially in the summer) involves going to dog parks, we were concerned. Many dogs at the dog park (Junebug included) have no issues jumping up on people, and small person is, well, small.

SP is good with other Beagles

At the dog park, she stays very close to C and I (which is good- I am not a fan of running children in dog parks), but she’s gotten to the point where she will ask if she can pet other dogs. We have talked about how we always ask first, and this last weekend, she got a lesson in why.

Mostly, she asks if she can pet small dogs, and there was a little Chihuahua mix she was interested in. We asked, and the dog’s person said no- he can be nippy with children. I said thank you, and explained to SP that this is why we ask. The dog park is a place for dogs, not kids, so we have to respect them.

She seemed fine, but then the dog walked near her, and she kind of ran behind me. We (me and the dog’s person) explained that no, he was not going to attack her, but we just needed to give him his space. As we walked away, I said he was like a bee (she’s been stung twice, so we’re also talking about bee safety), if you don’t bother him, he won’t bother you.

Which is nice, because the dog park has been Beagle-y lately.

I was a little concerned that that might be the end of wanting to pet dogs for that park visit, but we got to the water station, and she wanted to fill the water bowls with the hose. There happened to be three Great Danes also there wanting water, and she held the hose for them, then one of the Dane owners took over the hose holding and SP got a chance to pet a Dane. (The Danes were almost as tall as her, and weighed about twice what she does.) Luckily, all three Danes were pretty true to the breed stereotype of being gentle giants.

So now, SP is getting comfortable with small dogs and giant dogs, but she’s still nervous around mid-sized dogs- ie Border Collie and Lab mixes – ie the most common size of dogs there is. But, we’re making progress, and soon she’ll have a chance to meet the dogs of some of my friends- dogs I know are great with kids, so I think we’ll get over this fear soon enough.