A dog park is either dog heaven, or scab land waiting for a developer to wedge as many housed in as they can.
Either way, it’s for dogs, which means it’s for dog people.
The is the dog that turned me into dog people.
I take her to the local dog park and we meet others, other dogs, other dog people.
I pulled into the parking lot one day just ahead of a van with a dog in the window.
A lady got out with one dog, then another and another until she had a gathering of six dogs all waiting on her command.
I made a note to find her when I was leaving so she could call my dog for me.
My dog doesn’t always respond to my command, or any command.
We went to dog school together.
She’s a good girl and all, but she has a life of her own.
My job is picking up after her without gagging.
The dog park is where she shines brightest.
My Superstar Dog
We didn’t start off wishing for a big dog, a seventy-five pound jumper.
Our last was a miniature dachshund, the most aggressive dog for sixteen years.
She was ready to get her drivers license.
Four years after she drove off, we decided on a little bigger dog since no one is getting any younger.
I’ve never petted a dog and fell over, but the lower you go, the more likely was my thinking.
Maybe a thirty pound dog, twice the size of our last puppy?
Perfect, but one thing led to another, a phantom pregnancy, then the real deal.
Instead of a medium sized dog, we got the full sized standard poodle daddy and bernedoodle mom.
There was some minor backlash with, “That’s too much dog. You’re too old.”
Was it too fancy?
We’re not fancy people, but fancy people do have fancy dogs.
– r/dogs is full of people who think anything other than rescuing a pit bull is a crime. Ignore it. Asking about poodle mixes there is like going to r/antiwork and asking which law firm offer you should accept.
– My mother scoffed when I got a Bernedoodle. She said there was plenty of dogs up for adoption so I didn’t need to get one from a breeder. I told her there was plenty of kids up for adoption when I was born.
– If you want a doodle, get a doodle. Many who are anti “designer dog” support purebred standards that create sick, dysfunctional dogs who can’t breathe, give birth naturally, eat most foods, etc.
– I felt the same kind of backlash. From what I could tell it was mostly about the whole idea of designer dogs. Paying for a mixed breed when they would still just be a “mutt”. We even had an older gentleman at the dog park question us and told us it was unnatural.
From one older gentleman to another in the dog park: Keep your opinions to yourself.
This is what you can expect from a bernedoodle:
My mini berendoodle has been the greatest single source of joy for me – I live in nyc and the amount of people he has helped me meet and quality of life from exercising with him is truly amazing.
Meeting Dog People
If dogs are a reflection of their people, more people need a bernedoodle.
They are impossible to be around if you’re in a bad mood.
They look at you in some goofy dog way and suddenly you can’t remember what kind of a mood you were in, good or bad, because now you’re in a dog mood.
You don’t feel like moving around or doing anything?
Get a bernedoodle and you will.
Take them to the dog park and let them fly, let them run full out, and don’t laugh when you start thinking of Tigger.
About David Gillaspie
Love this post. I should get the bumper sticker I have seen a lot lately,: SAY HI TO YOUR DOG FOR ME
The dog park is the real world the more I go there.