Dog Run

Our little dog, Muffy, is a rescue dog.  He rescued us from a home left empty by the passing of Sparki and we rescued him from the shelter.  I like to think we got the better side of that deal.  The dog is about 90 pounds of Doberman stuffed into an 8 pound white fluffy body.  We delude ourselves by claiming  he's a  Maltese/Poodle mix, but I secretly suspect he's all mutt, pug nose to tail.  (Don't tell Carolyn.)

Our search for the perfect dog to share our home after Sparki died took almost a year.  We became friends with every shelter employee and volunteer within a 50 mile radius of our town and those folks were downright delighted to call us whenever a dog that looked like he should be named "Muffy" came available.  Donnie, in our local shelter, finally came through with the perfect dog while we were vacationing out of town. He was nice enough to tell everybody who wanted the beast he was already adopted and managed to keep him til we got back.  Donnie knew he was perfect for us and  Donnie, we can't thank you enough. 

The Sun came out today for the first time in a week.  It was kind of cool and very windy but sunshine is not a commodity to be wasted in this neck of the grasslands so we bundled up  to explore a  bit more of the town. 

I have seen the bottom of the canyon that separates east from west in this place from the bridges that span it, and I wanted to look at the park that has been developed down there from a little closer.  It turns out the whole width of the canyon bottom for about three miles has been planted with grasses.  There is a paved pathway that runs the length of the park and back.  Along the way we  encountered a concert area, several tennis courts, baseball diamonds, a skateboard area and three acres of off leash doggie heaven.  Folks that have been regular readers of this blog are aware Carolyn is incapable of a complete exploration of an area this large but the designers had handicapped folks in mind when they built it. 

Every couple of blocks an access road leads to a parking lot with designated handicap spaces.  We were able to drive from one area to the next and explore a little at a time.  We did well until we came to Doggie Heaven. 

Muffy told us that was the end of the road as far as he was concerned.  He was going no further without taking on all the dogs in the place, and if we wanted to see more of the park we could just do it some other day.  I had no vote in the matter and Carolyn released him.  We let him run.  And run.  And run some more.

It was a wonderful day.  The sun was shining, my wife was laughing.  And my mutt was in heaven.  Life, at times, can be very, very sweet.