Ruff Play? Child's Play!

February 1, 2007. We had a pretty good day at the park this morning, 45 minutes of running and playing and even meeting a new friend. It started out as a beautiful, but cool, sunny day. Tom and I went to the park, which was deserted and we started playing fetch. Suddenly a woman drives up and sees us playing on the field. She then without a moment’s thought, opened her door and let her dog out without a leash. Me personally, if I was approaching a strange park, with an unfamiliar dog, I think I would want to be on-leash for a bit.

Anyway, I ran over to say hello. This was a good size dog, another Border collie, so I figured all would be ok. We said hello and started to romp. She snapped at me a bit and I jumped on her. Suddenly the woman is freaking out. There was no reason for it, nobody was hurt, and we were playing and getting to know each other. She was screaming at me and at Tom. He was trying to explain that I am only a puppy still, but, she wasn’t hearing any of it. She bundled her dog back into the truck and drove off. I feel bad because I have made people yell at Tom, two days in a row now.

As this was happening another truck drove up. I was on leash at this point. A man got out and brought his dog out, also on leash. We were starting to leave but he said if you want to stay, my dog would love to play with your dog. Tom agreed, and we introduced ourselves while on leash. His name was Sampson. He is 7 years old. Suddenly we were both free to run, and we did, all over the park, romping and playing and having a great time. We got in some play wrestling, and a few times we both got a little over rambunctious, but short time-outs took care of that.

Then it was time to say goodbye and we went off to do errands. Tom got his skates sharpened and then we went and bought food for me, as my supply is almost gone. Tom bought some Pupperoni training treats and got me a new ball and a new Kong with a rope attached. Later on it will be time for hockey and I will faithfully guard the truck for Tom.