Park Day with My Best Good Buddy

Six years ago, I was living in a big townhouse in Pittsburgh all by myself and I decided I was ready to get a puppy.  That's when it happened.  I found some sort of quiz you could take online that decided for you what kind of dog would be best for you.

My results: A puggle.
I had to google it, because I had never heard of these dogs.
Then, I saw the cutest google images I had ever seen in my life: puggle puppies.

Then, I came upon a website for a breeder in Ohio, about two hours from where I lived in Pittsburgh, and I saw this little face online.

And that was it.

Next, I was in my car on my way to Ohio, and on the phone with the breeder giving them my credit card number to put a deposit down on "the one with the white paws."

It's not healthy how much I love this dog, but I don't care. He is my best good buddy. He is a spoiled brat, to the core. That's my fault. But, it's just another thing we have in common. He is my baby dog. Always.  Even though he's a grown man now.

The other day, he was getting into everything (what else is new?) and I could tell that he just really had cabin fever, and needed to get out of the apartment and RUN.

So, I took him to the dog park.  

Brokaw is really smart. He knows a lot of words. I didn't tell him we were going to the park, but he somehow just knew. He was so excited he barked all the way to the car.

There is a great dog park not too far from where we live.  It's a nice, big fenced in area for the dogs to run, and there are benches for the people in the shade.  It was pretty hot on this day, so there were only two other people and three other dogs in the park. One man AND his dog were asleep on a bench in the shade.

Letting Brokaw into the dog park is like watching a rodeo. He revvs up, I open the gate, and he shoots out like a wild, crazy bull.  He immediately made a new friend.

We have met lots of other puggles over the years, but this guy - his name is Cooper - and he is just barely one year old - looks more like Brokaw than any other puggle we have ever met.

"Nice to meet you."

The other dog at the park was just laying down, or circling around to change positions laying down.  Not the puggles. They went nuts.

It was funny to watch them because they were so much alike. They both wanted to be the one who was being chased.

After Cooper left, the dog park was just hot and boring, so Brokaw and I walked along a trail that's at the same park.  Neither one of us is very into or educated about nature.  As we were walking, I heard a strange noise, and jumped. Watch Brokaw's head tilt as he hears the strange noise.


Does anyone know what that is? It was in a marshy area. I was amused at my little city boy's nature listening skills.

After the dog park and the little nature walk, we headed home.

All that physical activity did us in.

It turns out, city dogs really like air conditioning.