Tierce and I head to the dog park fairly often now that it is light after 5 PM, when I get off from work. Tierce has his own schedule that he adheres to reasonably reliably.
1) Run out of the gate and inspect all the dogs in the dog park
2) Go to the far end of the dog park and poop.
3) Sniff more dogs
4) Go back for another poop (I’ve learned that it usually takes two or even three bags before he’s finished depositing everything)
5) Wander around desultorily. Occasionally chase a ball, grab a stick, play chase with another dog.
6) Follow me around. This feels weird. He’s a Shiba; he should be resolutely ignoring me.
7) Intermittently check out new dogs that have come into the park
8) Follow me around (I usually head out to the mid field and he will run after me and stick around while I walk about. Occasionally I will dodge behind groups of people or the shelter or hide near a gate and watch him look for me.)
9) Finally plant himself in front of me, smile in my face and indicate as much as possible without actual words, “I’m ready to go home now.”
I can lose hours in the dog park. I love to watch dogs running – there’s something so there in their character and expression. I believe a dog running is the closest we get to a physical manifestation of the concept “the now”. Occasionally at the dog park Tierce obliges this fancy by running the full length of the field with other dogs.
