Bark In the Park

This morning Alfie, Charissa and I enjoyed a visit to Springfield's Bark In the Park, a fun event for dogs and their people benefiting the local dog park.

On the way, I enjoyed stopping by some of the Master Gardener demonstration gardens.  I'm trying to learn more about gardening in this zone, in hopes of having my own garden soon!

Okay, okay, I'll pose in front of the flowers...

We weren't really sure where to go at first so I let Alfie lead, figuring he'd sniff out the excitement sooner than we could.  Sure enough, as we topped a little hill we saw it all set up...a bunch of vendors, a stage, some music, and a whole lot of dogs of all different shapes, sizes and colors.

Shaggy dogs...

...silky spaniel dogs...

...sweet dogs!

There was a little talent show where people and their dogs were going up on stage to perform, but apparently not too many had signed up so one of the organizers went out looking for participants.  On the spur of the moment, Charissa and Alfie joined in too.

It was so fun watching the dogs on stage...I don't think any of them quite did what their handlers wanted right off, but hey, it was a crazy distracting situation!  They were all having fun and that was the main thing!

Love that smile...

And this guy was a real ham too!

Alfie's turn!

When Alfie and Charissa got up on stage he looked out on the audience and had his usual "ohhh...cute..." effect on the crowd.  Major distraction!  He didn't do what Charissa wanted right at first so she improvised, having him "stand high" and finishing by putting him in a down stay, sprinkling treats around, and having him "leave it."  That is not a trick per se, just good doggie behavior, but it got an approving round of applause from the onlookers!

All in all it was just a lot of silly fun and a chance to meet a bunch of new friends.  Cool!

After all that excitement Alfie was pretty worn out on our way back to the car.

Think I'll go home and take a nap!

Downtown Again

Sorry, no action shots today, so here's a random cute Alfie picture for you!

Alphini and I spent the morning working in downtown Austin today. It's neat to see him starting to grow up a bit, acting responsibly, and doing much of his curb work without needing constant reminders.  There was a lot of construction going on downtown today...the stench of hot tar combined with deafening machinery for a nasty sensory overload.  I don't think he liked it, but he was calm, and actually seemed curious about what the workers were doing.  We practiced a bunch of finds and got to work on "overs" and "ins" as we negotiated signs propped up in the middle of the sidewalk.  His crowd work was pretty good today, and he didn't do anything really wrong although we had an embarrassing moment when he sat on a candy wrapper and it stuck to his rear end!  I had to help him get it off, poor guy.  As we worked back to my car we approached a coffee shop where we've stopped before.  I told him to find a seat, thinking he'd get me the bench on the sidewalk.  Instead he wanted to take me to a seat inside the coffee shop!  Maybe he thought the air conditioning in there would be nice, I don't know.  Of course I made him go back and take me to the nearest seat instead (like he's supposed to).  He's still a bit too assertive about thinking he gets an equal vote in where we go! 

But though I tend to focus on all the little areas that could use improvement, I'm actually starting to see that my little pup is growing into a nice dog.  Of course that strikes me the most when we're out around other (pet) dogs, like the other day at the dog park.  Alfie was playing and socializing, when some of the dogs started to chase a squirrel.  He's never been allowed to chase anything, so I don't think he quite understood what the excitement was about, but all the same I called him to me and he came right over.  I praised him, and off he went again.  Then later he picked something up in his mouth and I asked him to drop it, which he did immediately.  A lady who was watching nearby just gave me this amazed look and said, "Wow, my dog would NEVER do that!"  The dog park is the only place I seem able to go "anonymously" so I didn't let on about Alf's secret identity as a guide dog and the countless hours of work I've put into making sure he will do just that!  I also have a healthy awareness that we're far from perfect...sigh...but wow, it's nice when you can see some of that effort start to pay off!

All Work and No Play?

...I don't think so!  Sunny and bright, today was a great day to visit the local dog park.  It was nice and busy, with 30-35 other dogs of all sizes and descriptions happily playing and socializing.  Right when we walked in, Alfie seemed a bit unsure, like a kid on the first day of school. 

...that didn't last long!

"Hey, wait for me!"

...shall we dance?

All that running makes me thirsty.

It was fun to watch Alfie socialize.  He played about two thirds of the time with the other dogs...the rest of the time he spent getting to know the people.  Seemed like whenever I lost track of him, I'd overhear a remark that let me know just where he was:  "Wow, feel this dog, he's soft!" (...oh, that's where he is!  I didn't see him snuggled up by that lady's feet!)   ...or my favorite, from an adorable little girl:  "Daddy, look, this frizzy brown dog really likes me!"  

Several of the other dogs were very intent on playing fetch.  Alfie tried to engage them, and didn't seem to understand their obsession with chasing tennis balls!  In fact...to be honest, I don't think he even noticed the tennis balls being thrown!  After a while chasing one of these focused types, he'd give up and go do something else.  Every so often he'd come to check in with us, bump us with his nose, and then he was off again!

  

...this "frizzy brown dog" is having a BLAST!