Dakota Dog Park: Drama, Fun and Sunshine!

Here's that puppy. I am totally jealous

My adopted dog park in Vancouver, Washington is the Dakota Dog Park located in the east part of the city. It is totally fenced,  with two parking lots and two entrances. Usually I just lope around the perimeter trail but today there was so much to write about.

We got there about nine in the morning and I gleefully ran into the park. My owner spotted an adorable puppy and stayed at the gate awhile talking. So I took off on the grass to sniff and look around. I was a bit jealous. I think my owner found the puppy cuter than me. So I just ignored her and played hard to get.

Here's the pack of people and dogs I had to greet.

Soon, we were walking around the perimeter trail together. I sniffed and met all the dogs and owners. There was a whole pack of assorted dogs, including a Bassett Hound who were regulars at the park and were walking along. I checked them out and then headed down the path.

All of a sudden I spied a big, fluffy white puppy who was on a leash. The puppy had a muzzle strap for training. I thought that was mean. After all, this dog park is for PLAY, not TRAINING!

Here I am playing with the big white fluffy puppy

So I ran right up to the puppy on the leash and started playing. The puppy loved it! Soon his owner had to take his leash off so we could romp and play. I got tired after a while and headed out to find the wooded glen I love so much. The puppy got put back on the leash. Drat!

I spent a lot of time in the woods, checking out the smells and looking inside the big hollow log to see if there might be a coon or a squirrel in there. Unfortunately there is never anything inside. Maybe some day....

Here I am looking for things inside the log

On the second trip around the trail the drama started. A lady whose husky dog likes to run all over the place, doing as he pleases, was being called. She was frantic. Her dog was headed over to see that pack of assorted dogs I mentioned. He slammed into one of the owners and ran around playing with the dogs. He wouldn't listen to his owner. He was one of those "macho" dogs.

Well, the pack of humans and dogs didn't like that. The lady finally reached them and one of the owners started yelling at her about how mean her dog was. Here we were on the other side of the park and we could hear him yelling and yelling. Wow! So much for a peaceful dog park.

I guess they resolved it because they all kept walking around. No one left. (I thought the lady with the Husky should have put him on the leash). So the drama was finally over.

I just love the woods at the Dog Park.

Photography copyright: Elizabeth Rose Photography

We walked through the woods again and I found a couple of dogs to play with. Since there were already three of them out there romping, I decided to watch them and wait my turn. See how polite I am?

The sun was out, more dogs came to the park and life was good for me at Dakota Dog Park!