Yesterday we had some beautiful weather here in Seattle (usually cloudy, gloomy, raining, and fully caffeinated). To celebrate, I decided to take Kip to a dog park.  Since we had moved from North of Seattle to South, we hadn’t visited any nearby dogparks.  After some browsing on Google Maps and Yelp, I decided to take Kip to the Westcrest Park Off Leash Area.  The park is 4 acres with a variety of terrain that made it pretty interesting!  With plenty of room to run, there was also a trail that started at one end of the park and brought you back to the other end. The area was fenced off so you can enjoy a nice stroll with your dog off leash.

 

 

5 things Kip does at the dog park

 

1. Sniff other dogs

There were actually two more dogs in this meet and greet sniff chain!  It’s pretty amusing watching a line of dogs sniffing each other (in size order too!)

This dog didn’t look quite so comfortable with Kip sniffing him. I forgot to ask what breed this dog is. Does anybody recognize the breed?

 

 

2. Attemps to play with the Big Boys

Kip followed this Husky (I think) around for a good 5 minutes. The Husky completely flat out ignored him.  Occasionally some of the other big dogs came to chase Kip around but sometimes they got a little rough and Kip would run under a bench and make a grand escape. The big dogs were left on the other side looking a little confused as if to say “but I can’t fit under there!”

 

3. Blazing the Trail

I was a bit worried when Kip was following his nose through trees, bushes, vines (nothing poisonous I hope!).

I was told that Seattle doesn’t have too big of a tick problem, and it has been pretty cold for the past few weeks so I’m hoping he didn’t get any. I’ve never seen or delt with a tick before, so I was a little nervous as I brushed Kip down that night; prepared to brace myself, not scream, and kill anything bug-like that might combed out of his fur.

 

Kip sure did exercise his nose alot!  I wonder if his nose ever gets tired.  I know when I smell too many different purfumes trying to pick one out, my nose gets tired and I can’t tell one apart from the other.

 

4. Beg for attention

I’m lucky this park was full of dog lovers, and so was Kip. He run up to people, beg for attention, and when they finally did he would dash away saying catch me if you can. The owner of the dog in the red harness vest had been trying to pursuade his dog to play with Kip.  “Look, he’s the perfect size! Go get him! Come onnnn, it’ll be fun!” It didn’t seem to register with his dog though. His dog stood there just wagging it’s tail at a 120 wags per minute. Kip tried to get her to play too. Awoowoo!  He did his funny little howl and lept from side to side in a play stance. The red vest dog owner tried to explain to Kip “I know, I’m trying buddy I’m trying!”

 

5. Run Run Run!

Kip is a runner.  He’s famous at daycare for his running.  The first day I picked him up the staff told me he had run laps around the room and all the other dogs had ran after him.

 

Sure enough he tore after other dogs, got them to chase him around, and just ran with all his might.  Because the grounds of this park was pretty extensive, I had to chase after him in order to keep an eye on him. Sometimes its hard to spot him because he runs so fast and he’s running alongside bigger dogs.  It’s a wonder they don’t trample him.