The Worst Best "Dog Park" on Base

I was delighted to hear about a fenced-in area to let our dogs run loose that is close to our house seldom used (as opposed to the one at Torii in which I was kicked out when the Army had training practices). Noa and I decided to check it out yesterday evening when it's cooler out. We were excited to find that the overgrown ball field was indeed completely fenced in, had a working gate, and had no signs of "no dogs allowed" to be seen. Score! However, when we showed up, we found out that we're not the only ones to use this area for our dogs. Several other people and their four legged friends were there. This always makes me a little nervous since some dogs don't play well with our petite pups and I didn't want to risk our dogs getting hurt. Thankfully, all the dogs were well-behaved and under strict supervision by the owners. Here are a few of the doggie friends we met:

Ginger, the Pit Bull puppy (Gunnar kept playing with her and tried to {ahem} "dominate" her a few times.)

Bailey, who lives upstairs from us and has been to our place to play before

Chunk, the chocolate lab who did the most running and mooched off the other's water bowls

Upon entering, we walked the perimeter with the dogs on leash in order to get some initial excited energy out (and check for any holes in the fence). I kept looking at Gunnar because the kept walking funny, almost as if he had a limp. Then I noticed Sadie was doing the same thing too. It wasn't consistent, so I shrugged it off and we unleashed them. They meandered over to sniff out the other dogs, but took their time getting there. There was no dash to the crowd or an excited burst of energy. So, I grabbed a tennis ball to entice Sadie to run after it and Noa ran around calling to the dogs to get them to run and really strut their stuff. It was an ideal scenario - friendly dogs, fenced area, and LOTS of room to run. Still, they pretty much stayed in one place and only came when they absolutely had to - and at a snails pace, I might add.

See? There they are, just standing around. Move, you two! You were made to run!

We couldn't figure out what the problem was because all the other dogs seemed to be fine and our dogs had been acting fine all day. After further investigation, we found out that the lovely, fenced field is covered in some sort of thorny grass. The bigger dogs didn't seem to be as uncomfortable, but our dogs, who were the smallest, seemed visible displeased with the lawn. So, we relegated to the fact that our dogs would not be running around after all. So, we visited a little longer with our new doggie friends and then headed home.

Noa keeps Sadie from the painful grass. Isn't this picture great?!

One last treat before we head home. Good sit, dogs!