the candid dog

I used to have this banner on my blog. For the longest time, I couldn’t come back here and post. It was just too painful. Maggie, on the left, was a dog I had lost when I started the blog and so I posted the picture in memory of her. Sasha, the dog on the right was still happily with me then.

Then, last September, 2007, I lost Sasha, too. That loss was especially painful. Now it’s April 2008 and it has taken me this amount of time to come back here and look at this picture and acknowledge the joy I had spending time in the company of these 2 beautiful beings. I miss both of them so, so much and every day… Since then, I’ve adopted 2 other dogs, Calvin and Ralph. It’s good, I love them both but it’s not quite the same. If you’re a dog owner, you know how the intensity of the connection can vary.

This picture was taken at Pt. Isabel, a dog park I’ve visited thousands of times. Yes, really. I’ve lived in this house since 1994 and have gone at least once a day since then. It’s a magnificent dog park, 23-31 acres (accounts vary) of open land, a perfect place for dogs to swim and run, unencumbered by a leash. It also has unobstructed views of the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate and Bay bridges. There’s Mt. Tamalpais out in the distance.

Most kids get wide-eyed and excited when they see a dog. Usually they will fearlessly go up to one and pet it or if older, ask first if it’s OK. Sometimes kids are scared of dogs or parents bring their kids to the dog park and shield them from dogs other than their own. That’s probably a good practice. You never know, I guess.

But I like to see parents and kids interacting with the other dogs. If handled right, kids get to meet a new dog, under safe conditions. In this picture, the owners are carefully monitoring the situation, holding the leash, as the mother initiates the contact, petting the dog and making sure all is safe. See the child smiling? A positive experience all around.