We took Buddy the Fetching Fanatic to the dog park early this morning. Buddy’s person would like him to feel more comfortable at the park … the first time she took him he was overwhelmed by the other dogs and chose to ignore them. We can tell that there’s a very playful dog inside his (overweight) body, he just needs to learn how to interact with his canine brothers and sisters.

(He’s not actually blue, I just didn’t have my camera set properly.)

We arrived at the park, and true to form, there wasn’t a single dog in sight. Not a bad thing in this scenario, as it gave Buddy a chance to check out the pee mail and get some fetching in before any other dogs arrived.

This beauty arrived a few minutes later:

We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect “first dog” that morning. Darla ran into the park and stopped a few feet away from Buddy. She stood perfectly still and allowed him to sniff her all over. She was lovely – I think she could tell that Buddy was green. Examination complete, she gave Buddy a little bow and said, “So do you wanna dance now?”

Buddy said, “No, no thanks, I’ll just watch for now.”

He snuck more sniff in every time Darla was otherwise engaged:

This little cutie showed up a short while later:

She fascinated Buddy, and politely tolerated his inquisitive nose. Another great addition!

(He looks like he was coming on pretty strong in that photo – check out how high and stiff his tails is -- but he was actually quite polite.)

Buddy eventually engaged in a tiny bit of play, but it’s clear that he still needs time to learn how to speak dog.

No pressure, Buddy, whenever you’re ready!