One of the most important aspects of training a quality hunting dog is making sure the dog is well socialized and used to all aspects of life in a human world. To keep up with Maci’s training, my wife and I decided to bring her along on our spring break trip to see my brother in Iowa. Traveling long distances was something she was going to need to get used to.
We packed up the car early on a Monday morning. Naturally, Maci proceeded to get more and more excited as we carried luggage to the car. Each trip from the house to the car and back just increased her excitement to an almost uncontrollable level. When we started to move her kennel, she really hit the roof.
Normally, when we travel close we let her sit in the back seat, but on an extended trip she was going to have to learn how to ride in her kennel. When I told her to “kennel up” she looked at me like I was crazy. I could almost hear her thinking that, I don’t ride in that thing! I get the back seat.
Well, she lost that particular argument and soon we were off. She whimpered and whined for about 15 minutes and then rode quietly for the rest of the trip. It was one more little victory for a trainer and his dog. She always surprises me at how quickly she adapts to a situation. It is a quality I am very thankful for.
Once in Iowa my dog, Maci, and my brother’s dog, Bailey, ran and created the normal ruckus that two pups less than a year old do when they see each other. They have been together one other time and I was convinced that they remembered that last outing because they took off from right where they left off at Christmas. It was fun to watch them play and wrestle. It was obvious that in their own way they were trying to decide which of these two dogs was going to be the Alpha and which one was the Beta.
My brother is also training his dog to be a hunting dog. He mentioned to me how awesome the dog park was in Ames was for socializing. Well, as soon as I heard the words “Dog Park” I rolled my eyes. That was something that yuppies in the suburbs do. No real man would take his dog to a park. I further was convinced I was in the right when I found out that nonresidents had to pay a $7 a day fee to use the park.
“What? I don’t think so.” It was bad enough to consider taking my dog to a crazy park like that. It was even worse to think I was actually going to pay that kind of outrageous fee. And to top it all off, I was informed that I would remove any dog waste left behind by my dog with the environmentally friendly doggie bags and place the aforementioned device into the environmentally friendly dog waste stand pipe that led to the environmentally friendly dog waste disposal tank underground. What is this world coming to?
After we happily paid the $7 fee at city hall, we pointed the car south and headed for the dog park. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. Once we arrived I scanned the 8-acre fenced-in yard. It kind of reminded me of a prison yard. I half expected to see orange jumpsuit-wearing convicts pumping iron. As we walked through the first safety gate, I was overwhelmed at all the signs. There was a smaller 2-acre park for little dogs. But, they were more than welcome to use the bigger park, just please be aware that a small dog might become injured by a big dog and enter at your own risk. Basically, they were saying my big dog might eat your little dog, so stay on your side. Other rules jumped off the signs and gave me an instant headache.
Luckily, we were the only ones there at the time. We proceeded through the second safety gate and unleashed Maci. She burst forward like a shot from a gun. She was able to run as fast as she wanted and did just that. I was quite impressed by her speed and enjoyed her just running for the fun of it.
Soon, another car pulled up. Out came a typical 30-something white collar male with a dog that must have weighed a thousand pounds. Just great. Now I’ve got the little dog the sign was talking about. I was sure that this brute would not look where he was sitting and squish Maci. Of course, as soon as he made it through all the entry gates, Maci perked her ears up and went to check things out.
She sniffed and he sniffed back. Then they parted ways and each returned to their previous play. My interest was piqued. So much so that we actually came back to the park later that same day. Well, if I paid $7 I was surely going to get my monies worth.
The second outing was packed with other dogs. Big ones, little ones, fat ones and slow ones. Some were sporting dogs and some were show dogs. It was like seeing a real life version of those posters vets have in their office waiting room that shows all the many different breeds. Only, I saw them all in front of me.
Maci did a fantastic job of socializing. There were no fights or bickering. Just lots of playing, sniffing and running around. This was actually sort of fun, though I might not yet admit it.
On the way home, I reflected back on my first dog park experience. I thought it was quite awesome. The socializing was an experience that will definitely yield positive results later. I will probably take her to other similar facilities around here as well. The vast mix of people, animals, and situations were great for her training. I might just even buy my own environmentally friendly doggie bags to keep with me.
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