Charlotte does not normally like dogs about her size or bigger. She's okay if they are smaller but normally freezes up a little and gets defensive with anything bigger. We were half way to the park entrance when Char was greeted with the loud, excited barking of a 10 month old Swiss Mountain Dog named Regan.
She was huge and still growing. A very friendly "little" girl. She trotted right up to Char and they smelled one another. Char did SO good with her, no growling or fur raising at all! She interacted with Regan for about five minuets and then her master went on the way she was going and we continued to the dog park. They wound up turning around and entering behind us a few minuets later.
As we approached the gate to enter a few families were leaving, with several bigger dogs. One fine, massive Mastiff of a gentleman saw Charlotte and made a bee line for her. He was even bigger than Regan, both in height and in width. If Regan was twice Char's size, this beast was 4 times. But he was well behaved, sniffed her nose and quickly went away as his dad gently tugged on his string of a leash. He was a little bigger than the dog in the picture below but he was the same coloring. His head came up to my CHEST! He was that huge. Charlotte did really good with him too. No aggression at all, no fear. She stood plastered to my leg, but bravely stretched out her neck to meet noses with him. I almost wish I could have gotten to pet him. A real gentle giant that one!
As we made it through the second gate we realize it is an off leash park, and making their way towards us? Two old, but happy St. Bernards! Once again both Charlotte and Jay are faced with quite big dogs. We were only 20 feet into the place and already been met by four different dogs all of which were twice Char's size or bigger! There were labs and a few mixed breed dogs running around, just stupid with joy.
Char behaved well the entire time, not far behind us Regan entered with her mother and another guy with a little lab/pit mix puppy named Nala. She was light tan with pale green eyes and just the cutest sweetest little thing. Jay wound up swallowed in a herd of massive dogs, It was really funny, he was just surrounded, between the big dogs and the medium dog smelling and playing around him, it was a little over whelming for him but he got over it quickly, kept his calm and moved out of the pack to me and Char. I'm so proud of him. It was a learning experience for hm as well as her and they both got A+'s that day! <3
As we walked to the far back of this field along the lake, Char got to meet a lot of other dogs, and when we rounded the corner, we saw that there were even more dogs at the back, just running and playing and being goofballs. It was overwhelming for her and she was very hesitant at first but with some love and coaxing she moved closer and closer to the group till we were on the outer edge. It was a good comfort zone for her as dogs kept approaching but she wasn't in the center. Soon her new friends Regan and Nala joined us. Regan jumped right into the center of the play, while Nala being the tiny little squirt that she is, hugged the edges just playing with the other dogs in the area. She liked Char and stuck close to her.
Charlotte did SO great with socializing, i was tempted to let her off her leash but as she was still unpredictable in such a setting I wasn't comfortable with it. Still she played and had a lot of fun. She got to meet two pure bread show line German Shepherds. This was awesome for me as they were BOTH twice her size and just beautiful! One was carrying around a small log (note it was NOT a stick) that he'd been playing fetch with. The first was black and light beige..he's the one that had the log..looked kinda like this..
Nut the other was my favorite he was almost solid black and even bigger than the first.
There was also a doberman which I about lost my mind with excitement over because he came right over and I got to pet him. I love dobermans such pretty dogs!
Next to Charlotte there was only ONE dog there that was as great as her though. After we'd been there for about 20 minuets I glanced around and coming around the corner was a big brute of a dog. One I teared up at seeing because I'd wanted one for YEARS and have never gotten to see one up close. He was a Massive Irish Setter.
After speaking to his owner I learned his name is Bryan, and he was 6 or 7. She'd rescued him, he was a former dog dog and stud, and his owner/breeder wanted to focus on English Setters and so gave him up. He was so big his back came up to my navel. He embodied every account of an Irish Setter's personality I've ever read about. Intelligent but big and brutish and playful. I watched him go into the water up to his chest and walk back out. I asked his owner if he ever swam and she said no. I think it must be asetter thing because Belle would only wade as well. Hmmm.... I got to pet him and he was crazy soft and the sweetest thing. :)
Soon after we left. We were there for about an hour but had to get back. It was an amazing daya nd we all had a lot of fun.
Today we took Char back there. Not nearly as many dogs. Instead of 30+ there were only 6 or 7 including Char. She played well and walked well on her leash so by the time we got to the far back area again I was comfortable with letting her free. I unhooked her and she took off to play with a handsome Brittney Spaniel, while his baby sitter's 10 week golden retriever puppy tried to keep up. Let me tell you one of the funniest things in the world is watching a little ball of fluff like that keep up with a dog that runs like a border collie! LMFAO It was amazing! Char ran and ran and ran. She came when she was called, she swam..well..she splashed...we let her run for a good hour, and when we told her to "come on" and started heading back to the entrance, she came with, going at her own pace, sometimes in front, sometimes behind. She made 2 beagle friends and about half way back, she met two of the biggest Lab's I have ever seen. She played well with them too.
We reached the entrance and she played with a pit bull that just arrived. I let her roam for a bit then out of no where a half lab/ half Newfoundland came up behind us and startled her. It was funny and i have no clue where they came from except for possibly the other side of the pack because they definitely weren't there earlier. It was clear she was pooped though as she wasn't playing as much or as hard, so we leashed her, said good bye to her new freinds and came home before the afternoon got too hot.
Charlotte is coming out of her shell more and more and Jay and I are loving every single minuet of it. We're going to go back on Thursday, and then again on Sunday hopefully. She socializes better with each new friend she meets, and this place really brought her out of her shell a lot already. I can't wait to see how she and her personality develops and possibly changes on with our next visit!
