Even The Dog . . .

. . .has to adjust to a new venue these days.

As if it weren't enough that he'd successfully (if not warily) flown in the belly of the Big Plane; worked through his separation anxiety issues while we settled in to our new pad; and discovered that apartment dwelling still meant one cannot bark at passers-by, the DellDog found himself right smack in the middle of culture shock like the rest of us.

It began with potty breaks.

In the country, where we live, Dell took his potty breaks on leash. He occasionally would be allowed to roam free, if the boy child were out climbing trees or whatnot. The leash, however, was his constant companion.

Well, SlackerDogTrainingMom that I evidently am, I did not develop a strong insistence that the DellMeister not pull when headed out to do his biz. He did not have an uber-bad habit, but, a habit it was, nonetheless.

Enter apartment living, where for every one of the 30,000 people (is that an exaggeration? I can't tell . . .! LOL) who live here, there is most likely ONE animal of some sort, and of those pets, at least half head outside to do their body biz several times a day. It makes for a wonderful panormaic doggie haven of scents to discover!

Dell, being the highly sophisticated nose dog that he is, felt it his primary duty to RUSH to the nearest blade of grass (of which there are few!) and dive his nose into the bouquet in barbaric fashion, much like those who might eat with their hands, vs using silverware.

Ahem! This simply will not do! Because ~ add THAT behavior to the host of doggie girls (and boys) walking by at any given moment, and Dell felt it was his soveriegn duty to RUSH said such pet in a very overfriendly, almost aggressive, "I'm smaller than you, so I'm going to dominate you immediately, before you have time to react" kinda way.

Therefore, his momma: Me, promptly headed to the nearest pet store and made a purchase of one of these friendly anti-pull devices:

Well, the device works like a charm, I tell ya. Dell, while not to keen on the device, is now a pleasant and willing heeling companion, even though it goes against every doggie sensibility he's wired with.

Noting this, I decided (since the human natives were also restless) to take the lad on a sojourn to one of the seven local parks in the vicinity. It would do the kids some good to blow off some steam, and Dell could work out all his kinks in one fell swoop. And, I had this new tool with which to keep his dashing in check.

Not totally insensitive to his need to run, however! I chose the park with a dog park included [appropriately named Central Bark], so that the DellDog could engage in some much needed freetime running off leash.

Well, here we are, at the free-style run. Can you see us? See the incredible scenery that surrounds us? The chapparal, the mountains . . .Can you feel the breeze whipping through your hair? Most importantly: Do you feel the need to don your shades???

So, here we are, in the dog run: a HUGE area that gives any dog of the cooped up persuasion the opportunity to run flat out ~ as fast as his little doggie heart desires ~ and even chase a tennis ball or two.

Things didn't quite work out as I'd envisioned. Can you see us there? Under the tree?

Yup. That's Dell. Hangin' close to the hommies. We couldn't get him to move about for anything. It was nothing short of frustrating: that he would not take advantage of an opportunity given him.

Hmmmm. Why does that thought seem so familiar??? LOL

So, we coaxed and cajoled. FINALLY, we saw some action from Mr. StubbyLegs:

A half-hearted dash to me, and then, a visit to the watering hole nearby, where Aubrey had met a new friend:

Interestingly, and amazingly enough, the DellDog showed nary an interest in this new neighbor. Evidently, the fence took all joy out of In Real Life meet-ups, and I, his mom, am a real party-pooper.

No pun intended.

So, we packed up and headed home.

And Aubrey wiped out.

But that, my Chooser friends, is another story for another day . . .