We took R&B to the dog park today. We have been going just a little before sunset and keeping them isolated in the "small dog park." Sometimes I take Roscoe to the big dog park to play with others, but mostly we're under self-imposed quarantine.

Tonight a couple friends from back in our "dog park regular" days were there, and I started to bring Roscoe over to say hi. K, who is pretty dog savvy and knows Bella's issues, said that she'd bring her pack over and it would be fine. So, 3 borzois and another friend's 2 goldens wandered over to join us.

And it was PERFECT! Bella got a little amped up, but the borzois are such good attitude de-fusers. So the seven of them wandered around the park and Bella didn't have a bad moment.

She was even fine when a strange border collie joined us (we warned the owner about Bella but she wanted to come in anyway). We took Bella to the side and made her sit until she physically relaxed in my grip. She rushed the BC, but she didn't snark or start anything. They just did a lot of furious sniffing and circling for a few minutes.

And then all eight happily co-existed in the enclosure.

Good girl Bella! That's good news Jen. What did she used to do at the dogpark? I don't remember.

So how did you guys go in the small dog park - were there not small dogs/owners there at the time, or did they not mind that big dogs were there?

I've been taking April once a week or so when we can't go to the field. I wish I could take Caesar but I'm sure he would still act like a buster if there were any retrieving dogs, gasp . . . trying to retrieve

That sounds like Bella. She can't stand retrieving dogs.

Mostly she's way too rough, and she's willing to escalate any snarkiness to a fight. She is like a dog with a chip on her shoulder and something to prove. And there's the hating retrieving dogs. If a dog is retrieving, she'll run him down and roll him. And she's fast, there hasn't been a dog yet that she can't catch.

And she treats small dogs like prey. We do have a "small dog park" and a "big dog park" but the sides aren't enforced. People tend to bring their small dogs into big side even when we tell them about Bella. The little dogs shriek in terror and bolt when Bella approaches (she must being doing *something* but I swear she looks like she's just walking up to sniff). Once the shrieking starts, the sighthound in her kicks into gear and she runs the dog down and pins him. I am 90% sure she won't actually harm the little dog since she doesn't hurt Scout, but it's that 10% I don't want to risk. And then the little dog owner tends to freak out, which stresses Bella out, which makes her more reactive.


With the borzois, she was totally fine because 1)they are not rude dogs and 2) when she was rude to them (she snarked at one for wanting to sniff near where she was sniffing), they threw calming signals at her instead of reacting in kind.

And there weren't any dogs in the small dog area. There usually aren't later in the evening, so that's why we go then.

Very cool. I'm glad Bella got to have fun with a new pack. I was just telling a puppy owner last night that really, as long as a dog has one or two good dog friends that understand their play style, they're doing pretty well in the friend department.

Bella clearly just needs other sighthoundy dogs who are as cool as she is.

Great news for everyone! You must be really proud of Bella I know I would be. I'm really glad she has some buddies who "get" her, quirks and all. She's such a cool girl.

Wowie, that's awesome! Very cool that you found good playmates for Bella! I'm not brave enough and I also have a hard time giving MP some hard-earned credit/benefit of doubt. I keep hearing about super crazy humans at the parks lately (hypersensitive, obnoxious, "my dog yelped = your dog tried to kill it," etc.) so the chances of bad combos happening is too high for my anxious heart.

Nana - we totally need to try to get Havana and MP together some time, unless MP hates dogs who bark and run. That's how Havana warms up with her playing, but then she settles in to do whatever the other dog wants.

Making any trips toward Madison any time soon? DH is heading up to Mnnpls in the next couple of weeks, but it's some airplane thing so I don't think he'd want to take Havana. Doofus!