{15sep2011: Discovery Park}

We spent another few hours after work at Discovery Park on our own this summer getting Darwin to run around*.

Darwin is very not tolerant of the "heat" (heat in Seattle is definitely not that same as the heat in other areas) and so we have to make sure we have a bottle of water for her or she's constantly panting and her tongue hangs down so low. If she's really hot she won't run back to you for a treat, but as soon as you take out the bottle of water, she's right by your side.

We don't often run into other dogs when we're at the park, but this time we met a few. Darwin's favorite part of the park is a little sandy area that she goes bonkers at. Zoomies, barking, jumping up on you... it's like catnip to her. We met these two collies and another mixed pup (not really a pup, I think she was 13 years old, but she was running around with the other's like she was 2).

Since Discovery Park is not an off-leash park we were worried about attracting too much attention so play time on the sand didn't last very long.
On our way back to the car we met a little puppy who was in love with Darwin.

I love how puppies are so fearless and don't notice that Darwin is 10 times their size. Even Darwin must think she's a lot smaller because she loves to get down and play with puppies.


*Darwin's very off and on at dog parks. Sometimes she'll play with other dogs but most of the time she'll just stand around. It takes a special dog to get Darwin to want to play, but the chances of that happening are slim. She doesn't get much stimulation/exercise when we go and she doesn't want to play so we like taking her to Discovery where at least we know she'll do some running around.

{13sept2011: kites}

Kites are a great exercise tool for dogs! At least for Darwin and her BFF Friday they are.
A few weeks ago we met up with Robin and BB and Friday at Discovery Park for an early evening park session. BB brought his giant kite along and we had a fun time flying kites (we met a couple at the park who let us fly their smaller kite while they flew BB's bigger one) and entertaining the dogs.

Darwin's not a huge roll-in-something-stinky dog, but she found something good in the long grass. (photo edited for viewer's eye safety.)

The only thing with dogs chasing kites is the amount of barking they do. It was nonstop. And when BB got fancy and had the kite diving down, they got even more excited.




After a while we had to hold onto the dogs and make them rest. Their minds were saying "get that kite" while their bodies were saying "I can't keep going at this pace."

{23may2011: practice}

We took Darwin's new soccer ball to the park with us so she could get more practice in.

I think she could be an excellent mascot/team dog for the Seattle Sounders. 

I tried to get her to pose next to the ball, but the grass was too comfy and inviting she thought it'd be better to take a nap instead.

After soccer practice we walked around to the little pond so she could get a drink of water. She saw a stick floating under the surface of the water and made a move to get it out.

No such luck though and all she had to show for in the end was a wet face.

{17may2011: Discovery}

When we know a walk just won't cut it for Darwin, and we don't feel like going to a dog park (it's hit or miss with Darwin playing with other dogs at dog parks), we'll often opt for Discovery Park where we can get her to run across the fields. 

During the winter they turn off the water fountains, so when they do get turned back on, Darwin HAS to make a pit stop at them.

After she's filled up, it's off to the fields.

As you can tell by Jason's lovely outfit, it still felt like winter though it should've felt like spring.

Darwin likes the chilly weather though because she can keep running without getting too hot!

Is it Darwin? Or a long armed kangaroo?!  hehehe

She's like the energizer bunny and can keep going and going and going.

With spring slow coming, the cherry blossoms were still blooming, which I love.

After all that running Darwin was just tired enough to stop and take in the view and do some posing.

Don't look too closely! Her Sirius Republic Tweet Tweet collar is on upside down and it bugs me! It's actually pretty dirty too!

After a good run through the park we can all go home and relax.

{18april2011: jump!}

This never ending winter (slow coming spring) may be having an effect on Darwin's energy level (or maybe it's her grain free kibble she's been on). She's always been a pretty high energy Dane, but lately has been even more crazy. Besides day care, play dates, 1 hour walks, and weekend dog park visits (it hasn't quite reached the point where we can get to a dog park after work with sun left), we went with our other option of giant (not legal off leash) park visit to Discovery Park. Even though it's not an off-leash park, you can usually find one or two dogs there running off leash (it's such a huge park you really can avoid running into other people/dogs).
So we headed to the park to run off some of Darwin's craziness. As usual, we split up in the giant field and had her running back and forth between us.

{boing!}

Darwin impressed us with her longest run between us yet, at least a football field length run.

After all that running we took a break and went for a longer than usual walk around the park (if you follow the trail around the whole park its a little over 2 miles, we usually end up cutting through the park). I got her to hop up on this table for a photoshoot.

As we walked around we came across a viewpoint with a log rail/barrier that Darwin promptly jumped over. We were shocked. We've tried to get her to jump over a hanging chain and she never would. This time we just walked up to the area and she quickly hopped over. She was so proud of herself.

We tried to get her to do it again on command, but I think she realized what she had done and was a little hesitant.

{braaaakkkeee!!}

We had Jason jump over with her, and then she finally did it again.

After a few jumps with her dad she built up the courage to do it on her own.

Once the jumps were conquered we moved on to Darwin's favorite part of the park, the sand pit. Here's her ostrich impersonation.

We found a stick in the sand to throw, but Darwin is such a little princess she wouldn't pick it up because of the sand on it. She would very carefully bite down on it trying to not get sand in her mouth. She eventually figured out if she stepped on one end and propped it up a bit she could get to it with out a mouthful of sand.

After all that we ended the walk with synchronized water fountain drinking.

p.s. Sorry I've been behind visiting blogs! My google reader's getting out of control. (We have seen our littlest friend Twinkie isn't feeling well, so if you haven't yet, stop by and let her and her family know you're thinking about her speedy recovery!) We just got an ipad and Im trying to figure out the best way to view my reader feed (so far I've tried the flipboard app and in Safari). Anyone have recommendations?