Tails From The Dog Park

One thing that five inches of fresh snow does--it refreshes the dog park.

All that melting and refreezing made a circuit through the park nearly impossible for quite a while. The paths go up hills and along eroded ridges, and it's taking your life into your hands to try to track across a good portion of the park.

But fresh snow covers up the ice, and fresh snow a couple of days ago means that many dogs have re-carved the pathways, and pushed down the snow into a packed layer that safely covers the ice. So no more booby-traps walking on hidden ice and ending up on your tailbone.

So Bermondsey got to go to the dog park today, and run in the snow.

Weekends are a little hard for him, though, as most of the dogs out on a weekend day are big dogs who need to burn off a LOT of energy. This makes Bermondsey nervous, as he has learned about comparative sizes, and has realized that he is usually the small one. Comparatively. He's been run over, knocked over, and lifted off his feet by a nose between his legs, and he's not enjoyed any of that, thank you very much.

Today was much the same, although with a bunch of dogs I haven't seen before. It is truly amazing what different shapes and sizes they come in, and what their owners have named them. "Rocky" and "Lainie" were having a contretemps--although they both looked anatomically female. Who says "Rocky" has to be only a boy's name anyway? There was a huge Newfoundland, and his companion who was an entire standard deviation smaller, and with a smooth head that looked like there was some Laborador in him as well.

The dog who left just before we did looked like a white Golden Retriever, although both bigger and taller than a true Retriever. His name was "Howard."

Who names their dog "Howard?" Why would you name a dog "Howard?" I can't think of any Howards who seem like the kind of person you would name a dog after. There are just no associations I can think of that would lead to someone saying "Hey! What a great name for a dog!"

Howard Cosell. Howard the Duck. Castle Howard. Katherine Howard, married and beheaded by Henry VIII. Howard Johnson's. Nope--not a dog-worthy connection.

Just before we left, Bermondsey was sniffing along the entrance gate, where many dogs leave their calling cards to announce their arrival. As he was pacing the length of the chain-link fence, a much larger dog was walking the other side, lifted his leg and left his signature in the snow. AFTER hitting Bermondsey in the ear and down half the length of his body.

So now we are both sitting in the parlor, drying out from the resulting bath.