Mouse treats and Best Buddies Reunited!

What a great couple of days at the park! Last Friday, there must have been about 17 dogs! Zoë had an absolutely fabulous time running and playing with the other dogs. It's actually fun to watch the doggie friendships develop. There are some dogs that she really doesn't interact with at all and others that she runs to greet.

Yesterday, Zoë and I arrived at the park before everyone else. Off she sent at full tilt to see if any other dogs were there. When she realized that she was alone, she took off, nose first. Zoë is a real hunter - usually its for dog treats and the occasional piece of toast! But, what did she find? From a distance, I looked over and saw that she had something in her mouth. I knew what it was - a dead mouse!! Ugh!! Many of the other dogs at the leash-free have come across one of these, but never Zoë. She's usually oblivious - until now! Quickly I pulled out a treat and called her over. She trotted over. I could see a little mouse foot hanging out of her mouth. I prayed that she'd take the treat. She did. I grabbed the frozen mouse, put it in a poop bag and threw it away. Zoë didn't care and moved on to a nearby tennis ball. We often see these unlucky rodents in the park as there are hawks in the area, along with the occasional cat out for a midnight stroll. Every once and a while, these little victims are left behind and found the next morning by the dogs. Great!!!

Today was a particularly great day for Zoë. A dog she hasn't seen for 4 months showed up at the park. I recognized 'Athena' immediately. She is a 1-year-old Doberman, incredibly friendly and playful. Athena and Zoë would play together non-stop last summer. There could have been a dozen other dogs at the park, but they never bothered with any others. I would say that they were the best of friends. Once the dark winter nights came, we stopped going to the park after work and Zoë's friendship with Athena was put on hold.

Today, I was so excited to see Athena. She has grown into a sleek and beautiful Doberman- but still the quirky, playful 'pup' she always was. I recognized her when she jumped on top of one of the picnic tables - that was such an 'Athena' thing to do. I called out to Zoë to come over and see Athena. Once they saw each other it was amazing! After a little sniff to confirm identities, you could actually see the joy on their faces as they basically took up where they left off - rolling around, playing, running together and when exhausted sitting side by side. At many moments, Athena reached out her paw to touch Zoë when they were just sitting relaxing. Being the bigger of the two, Athena would always come to Zoë's rescue and today was no different! When a more irritating dog was harassing Zoë, there was Athena, standing over Zoë protecting her. They really are the best of friends!!