Sometimes you meet someone and know immediately that person will be a good friend, whether it be a neighbor, girlfriend, golf pal…. or a dog! The gift of friendship happened for six dogs and their owners at the Verandah “Big Dog” park.
For ten years a group of dogs who are known as the Dog Park Buddies (the DPBs) and their people have met for one hour a day at our dog park and are now lifelong friends. The owners have become friends because of their beloved pets. The dogs – Max, Dawber, Cody, Gracie, Rooney, and Maggie – enjoy running, chasing, jumping, sniffing, chasing balls and just clowning around as a group of buddies do together. Their owners have stayed close friends through good times and bad with the help of the dog buddies and each other.
The DPBs and their owners took a dog friendly cruise on a Bark on the Ark cruise ship. They went to an island where they could enjoy time to play with their happy hounds. The owners and their dogs ran, swam and played catch on the beach. They all enjoyed the outing immensely. However, Gracie, the Anatolian Shepherd, is not a fan of the water so Dawber, the Black Lab, would go out and retrieve a toy from the water and drop it to Gracie. What a tag team!
The DPBs display their individuality at the Dog Park and Max, Maggie, Cody, Gracie, Rooney, and Dawber certainly have their own personalities. Some are fetch dogs who are strictly focused on tennis balls while others just run and play. Some of them like to bark at the small dogs across at the little dog park and some bark for no reason at all! Most of the buddies start to stare at their owners just before 4:00 o’clock because they know it’s dog park time! The DPBs celebrate a holiday party each year and they even allow their people to attend! A few of the owners, the Schmitts, Haislip, and Houcks have even formed a bocce ball team named the DPB Bullets!
The DPBs are not an exclusive gang by any means. They love playing with all the dogs who go to the park. Nevertheless, this group of BBFs (best friends forever) feel fortunate to have connected so deeply.
Just some food for thought: To sit with a pet on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden where nothing was not boring, it was paradise. Some of our greatest treasures we place in museums, others we take for a walk.
