Making Friends

If anyone had told me two years ago that the Missaroo would one day have a brother I would have laughed. "Missy is dog aggressive" I would have retorted, "no way." But she and Mister are the best of buds. Another year later and the Missaroo surprised me again while proving the world wrong about biters. Sunday Mister, Missy, my dad, and I all headed out for the dog park. Yep, you read me right. Missaroo went unleashed at a dog park and you know what? She made friends! And more than that, she and Mister both had a great time.

Missy's biggest problem is leash aggression. She's totally "that guy" who picks fights with really big dudes in bars and then yells to her buddy's "hold me back brah." Except she's no guy, the big dude is a dog, and I'm the posse holding her back via leash. She's all talk to them and all bite at me. I nipped the biting in the bud, but not the leash aggression. She is also waaaay over protective of me. So the dog park really is perfect. It takes her off the leash, lets her socialize so she can see not all dogs are bad, and she can meet and greet without me at the other end of the leash. What a sweet deal! Now, this is not to say I wasn't surprised she did so well. The one thing about dogs that bite, they are a bit less predictable than other dogs. I still monitor her play very closely, but boy has she come along way. I can't tell you how proud I was to see Missy playing with other dogs and making friends.

Today we went back to the park and I think I may have met a friend too. There was another dog mom very much like me with her Peanut. No really, that's her dog's name. We talked about how we would both love to be in the animal welfare/sheltering business as oppose to our career paths, vaccines, dog parks, doggie daycare, and the like. I hope I'll see her again at the dog park soon. Just like the Missaroo, I've had trouble making friends. Maybe this is a turning point for both of us.