A day at the dog park

I've always been a dog person, but never realized there was such a dog culture until I actually had a dog of my own.

Before I got Chloe, my 3-year-old German Shepherd/Rottweiler mix, I used to admire other people's dogs as I passed them. Now, I walk with Chloe by my side more often than not. (OK, usually she's out on front of me or choking herself next to me because she wants to drag me along behind her and I'm holding her back. But anyway.) And even though it drives me crazy, we can't pass another person walking a dog without Chloe dragging me over to check it out. And there are a hell of a lot of other dogs walking around New York City - some seven at a time with dog walkers.

But because Chloe's always making me go up to strangers, it's a great conversation starter. And especially now, when I'm desperate to meet people, I'll talk to anyone.

So today, even though it was dreary and overcast, I thought it would be fun to take Chloe to the dog park five blocks away. I found out there was such a park a few days ago when I ran into the dog walker who walks Lucy every day. Lucy's a Chow mix who lives two doors down from Brent and I.

Corey, the dog walker and a former dog trainer, took pity on me when he saw how Chloe takes charge when we walk and showed me how to be the master. So we've been practicing.

So we practiced on the way to the dog park and Chloe met Bella, Brutus, Shelby, Ollie, Brooklyn, and Lauren. This is what's funny about the dog culture. I sat and talked with every single one of those dogs' owners about their dogs, professions, and the city in general, but have no idea what any of their names are, and none of them asked what my name was, but most asked what my dog's name was.

When I talked to Brutus's owner, he taught me how to facilitate Chloe's meeting other dogs because she tends to be on the aggressive side until the other dog knows that she's boss.

Shelby's owner confided in me that Ollie is not welcome at the dog park because he picks fights and his owners let him do it. She steered her Australian Shepherd mix away from Ollie while he sniffed around and told me about the time he had another dog cornered and the day she and the other dog owners called the police on his owners.

Then in came Brooklyn and Lauren, who are six months old and eight months old, respectively. Chloe L-O-V-E-S puppies, so for the next 30 minutes, I watched her and the puppies tear around the dog park, barking and nipping at each other. It was so cute.

After Chloe was sufficiently covered in mud, dirt, slobber, and rainwater, we headed home to dry off and chill for the rest of the evening.