Not so Sneaky Visit to the Dog Park

This afternoon I took PoongSoon to the dog park.  It was the first time I ever took her to one as I didn't want her to get tramatized at the dog park and form a dislike of other dogs.  Also, I'd been known to be strongly against dog parks in general because Jindos do so poorly in them.  So this visit with PoongSoon was supposed to happen with little or no fanfare. No one needed to know about it.

In the LARGE DOGS area, there was only a Bulldog and so we entered that area.  PoongSoon didn't really show any interest in the Bulldog to approach him.  She was still stressing (drooling) over being in a strange place.  A bit later on, a Weimaraner came in.  PoongSoon was still uncertain of where she was and didn't know quite what to make of the Weim's pawing and jumping play style at first.  She was more interested in the people though, sort of like what happened in her very first puppy socialization class.  She did eventually start doing some jaw-sparring with the Weim.  It wasn't very carefree though.

A bit later, a shy dog who was too reactive in the busy SMALL DOGS area moved over to the LARGE DOGS area.  I'm proud to say that PoongSoon approached the shy dog and was very gentle with him.  She moved slow and never pushed close to the point where he felt threatened.  

Once a black Labrador came in, I think PoongSoon finally relaxed and started playing normally.  I let down my guard and moved to the entrance area where some owners were hanging out.   

One lady in the adjoining ALL DOGS area asked me about PoongSoon and so I went on my usual speal about how she's a North Korean breed but a long-haired and so on.  The lady owned a red spitzy dog and she identified him as a Jindo.  She asked my opinion of him and so I gave it.  She was impressively more knowledgable than the average Jindo owner that I usually meet, and I think she was surprised that I knew some stuff too.  Eventually, she asked "Do you know Ann Kim?"

Shoot.  There goes my anonymity.   Too late to stop now, and so we ended up talking about a wide range of topics such as Cesar Milan (her dog was trained by his follower), Least Invasive Minimally Aversive,  a New Mexico Japanese Kai/Shikoku kennel with freely mingling intact dogs, Jindo politics, Jindo rescue, my plans for my next Jindo, etc.

With the secret of the dog park visit blown, I decided that I might as well write about it.