Dog Park Paparazzi

ok not in a library...pretend he's in a dog park

I was at the park with young master Burger the other day and got schooled with some disturbing knowledge. I was speaking to this couple and they were telling me about people around the dog park who were taking pictures. I just kept nodding and they had this look on their face when they got to "..taking PICTURES of the dogs.."...lik a combo of horror, lemon-suck and disgust. Being as quick as I am I knew they knew something...I didn't know...so I asked..."Pictures...ok..ya?....So?"..

To paraphrase, there are people out there who go to dog parks to take pictures of specific regular attendance dogs. The reason this is done is to basically put together a catalog of dogs they could easily kidnap and sell to unscrupulous buyers.

I was floored. I'm a city boy and I see bobbing heads in cars and crackheads in doorways every 5 feet most weeks but this was news to me. It's apparently pretty common practice among dog-thieves.

I thought I'd post this as an FYI to anyone half as naive as me about this. I'm sure not every person taking a picture of a dog is a pet trafficker but trust your gut in the future if something seems a bit off about the ever present shutterbug snappin pics of your little guy or girl.

Cheers,
Kibbler

Do's and Dont's at the Park

This looks like having fun - or being shot out of a low aim cannon

Ok, I feel like I'm selling out a bit on this but it has to be done. Seems every magazine I see on the rack promo's a "Top 10 Do's and Dont's..blah blah blah". Since this blog is in it's puppy stage (see what I did there?), I think you all have some good ideas about what should and should NOT go down at the Park. Feel free to post whatever you like....I'll start (in no particular order):

- DO make sure your dog is fixed - nothing crazes the group more than a girl in heat or a fella packin
- DO pay attention to your dog. Few things grind on me more than someone who brings their dog to the park then commences to text their buddies for the next 45 min while the dog is pooping all over the place and jumping all over them.The park is for your dog AND YOU - we love your little guy or girl but we're not there to train them
- DON'T let your dog run with other dogs with a leader rope or leash on him/her. I've had arguments about this but the way I see it is that leash or rope connected to a speeding and snaking dog is lethal - for people and other dogs
- DON'T give unsolicited training advice. Another point of contention with some folks. If someone asks I am happy to give advice but as someone said opinions are like a@#holes - everyone has one but I don't need to be exposed to them all. (Unless...I ASK?...ok that's kinda weird)

This may not be so fun...for the brindle anyways....

Ok there's a start.....I hope to see more - this should be a long list.

Kibbler

Um yeah - he did....

A few days ago my lab Burger and I were walking out for the more leisurely afternoon/after-work strut at a park close to us. It's part city park - part church area - normally populated by smaller condo dweller pooches.

Along walks a woman yammering away on her phone with her boxer's leash crooked in her arm. She's talking, she's texting and her dog is pretty much the last thing on her mind. As she's talking, BigBoy squats and drops a massive coil beside her. She finally notices - checks to see if anyone is looking and starts to walk away. I couldn't f!#%!%ing believe it. I walked up to her and it went like this:

ME: "Hey - youre dog just took a massive dump there".
Her: "He did? No. I don't think he did".
ME: "Yup it's right there - that's his"
Her: "Hmmm..no...don't think so"
ME: "Do you think I'm lying about a dog shitting?"
Her: "I gotta go..sorry"
ME: "You're a fucking idiot"

I'm debating next time I see her, dropping Burger's poop bag - untied - onto her shoe and explaining afterwords that I have to go.

First post is the toughest...

My wife and I - we'll call her Mrs. Kibbler - figured we needed a place to rant and rave about what goes down at dog parks. We're the proud Mom & Dad to a 3 year old yellow lab who hovers between the best boy in class to cracked-out loon when it comes to dog parks.

We've found dog parks to offer a pretty fascinating view into people, their city, their dogs and we find that we learn a lot about ourselves in the process.

Give us your funny, your frustrating, your crazy and inspirational stories - this is for it all, for all of us - for all of you.