Dog Park

Molly's ex Jason and I took Galahad and his dog, Sweetie, to the dog park yesterday. It was the first time Galahad had been allowed to run around in an area that was not closed off around people and dogs he didn't know. At first, he just stuck around me. Other dogs would come over and sniff him, and he would run over to Jason or I and hide by us. 

Eventually he started learning the "sniff butts" social practices and started returning them instead of running away with his tail literally between his legs.

He really liked running over to people and hearing "Oh, you're such a sweet puppy" and getting petted. I followed him, far enough that he got his independence but close enough to step in if needed. I answered the questions: "About five months old, Australian Shepherd mixed with Norwegian Elkhound, Galahad as in the son of Lancelot." He also really liked chasing the other dogs, but didn't approve when the game turned around and he was the one being chased. 

Eventually we went down by the water where he befriended a three month old German Shepherd puppy named Princess. 

They'd chase each other around until Princess went into the water, and then he'd stop short and wait for her to come back. 

Eventually Princess went home. I stepped into the water with my rainboots and did my best convincing to get Galahad to join me. He got hot and thirsty enough to come over enough to drink from it, but he refused to actually step into the water until Jason reached into the water and showed him it was okay. 

We hung out by the water for another ten minutes or so with Galahad perfectly content until one of the other owners started throwing a ball into the lake for her dog to get. Every time the dog would come out of the water, Galahad would freak out until she was on dry land. He would bark and growl and prance back and forth. It was really quite amusing to watch him so terrified and angry about something rising out of the water. He reacted the same the first time he saw a basketball. 

Eventually we went home as well, and he took pride in drooling all over the back seat.