{27may2010: Rain rain...}

Go away.  
It has been raining for almost two weeks straight.  This is stereotypical Seattle weather.... but it shouldn't be like this!  It's May not October!
Darwin hasn't had many outings because she HATES the rain (besides her gimpy butt keeps her activity levels restricted).  We have a coat for her which helps, but at the same time, you put it on her and suddenly her butt droops.  It's like her kryptonite.  I'll have to try and get video of it at some point cause it really is funny.  
Anyway, there was one day last week where the weather was decent after work so we went for a walk and stopped in a park where this little boy ran over to say hi to her.  I love when kids aren't afraid of her and want to say hi.  Most kids (or their parents) are terrified of her because of her size.  (BTW, I got a blatant "where's her saddle" comment last night while walking her... doesn't happen often, but when it does it so bugs me.)  So after he gave her a few pets and compared her to his dog (a black lab) we kept walking.  I got her to sit under a pretty tree for some pictures (taken with my phone).

As I moved to get a different angle Darwin decided she was done posing.

On another note.  Any advice on how to get Darwin to stop barking at other dogs when we're out walking?  She used to NEVER bark at other dogs, even if they were barking at her, she'd usually ignore other dogs.  But ever since her mystery injury and drug treatment she's a nut.  There's a big old greyhound that walks around the same time we do after work and on the same roads.  Darwin could care less about her before, but now she barks at this dog all the time.  It's so embarrassing and frustrating.  People are going to start thinking she's a mean, aggressive dog which she isn't... or she wasn't... she's just hurt and drugged.  Ugh.  I miss my carefree, hyper puppy!

{15nov2009: weekend parks}

Jason's out of town for work, so it was a girls weekend for Darwin and I.  I decided we needed to branch out and try a new park and headed over to West Seattle's Westcrest Park.  It was a fun park with good play areas and a path that loops around the park.  There were also gates that lead you to other trails around the park.  Darwin got to play with a lot of new friends and we even ran into another dane, Willis, who we had met outside our office a few months ago when Darwin was just a tiny pup.  

Yesterday it was raining and cold in Seattle so of course Darwin had no desire to be outside.  Of course since we do live in Seattle, she'll have to get used to the rain, so I took her to Marymoor to test a theory.  Juneau's mom thinks that if Darwin got to play in the rain she'd get used to it.  I started her off in her coat to ease her into it.

After a few minutes, she was wrestling with another pup and her new coat was filthy (great) so I took it off to see if she would handle being coat free in the rain.

After a while the rain stopped and Darwin was content running through mud puddles and rolling around.  As we were leaving the rain started up again and so rather than leaving, we did another lap around the park and she got some play time in with a new friend.

She seemed to forget about the rain which was good.  Of course this morning when it was time to go outside and it was windy and rainy, she paused for a bit before going out.  Maybe a few more times playing in the rain will do the trick.