And a boa constrictor ruined our day

Since the weather is becoming bearable we decided to take the dogs to the Millie Bush Bark Park. Well I thought the weather was nice. It was ridiculously humid, hot and sticky.

Harwell, as usual, LOVED the dog park. As soon as he gets in the gate he takes off running to the nearest dog he can harass. Harwell's favorite things are running, digging in the mud, running, digging in the mud, being the center of attention, sleeping on the bed, and running. The dog park is perfect for him. There's other dogs he can socialize with, ponds to swim in, and a huge fenced area to run and run and run.

Slugger on the other hand is pretty, meh , about the dog park. He is never far from Gary or I, hates being sniffed in sensitive areas and loves to just wander around, following us and smelling the smells. Slugger's favorite things are sleeping, sometimes digging with Harwell, licking everything in sight, and sleeping. Also, lately, barking. For being a lab mix, he also has a very deep, deep hatred for water. Sure, he likes to drink it, or chase it when it comes out of the hose as long as it doesn't touch him. His reaction is something like this.... OMG IT'S TOUCHING ME I'M GOING TO DIE OMG OMG OMG IT'S TOUCHING ME RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.

Grayden has been to the dog park one other time. He was very young (probably like a month old) and didn't give a rip where he was. In fact he never came out of his stroller. This time was a little different. He liked to watch the dogs run and he enjoyed the fresh air and time with Mommy and Daddy.

 

 

Making our way to the park

Checking out the doggie water fountain

Our day at the dog park started off as it always does. Harwell took off as soon as we get in the gate, we followed him as best we could, and Slugger followed us. We wandered until we got to the pond, Harwell swam and Slugger walked around, occasionally taking a drink from the freakishly blue pond.

Making sure nobody is going to sneak up on him while he's drinking

Harwell, per usual, wasted no time making new dog friends and doing a lap around the pond... both inside and out...

This was still Slugger....

Perfectly content to be a loaner... and then... THIS.....

Yeah. Three feet in the water!! THREE!!

AND THEN FOUR!! FOUR FEET! ALL IN THE WATER!!

AT.THE.SAME.TIME.

Even Harwell was in disbelief and had to take time out to come check out what was going on. Really people I cannot tell you what a major accomplishment this is. Really, the only other times Slugger has been this submerged in water is when he was either getting a bath or Up North at the lake when we drug him in pushed him off the dock/boat he fell. Grayden was so excited for his doggy!

So we hung out at the dog park for awhile. The dogs played, and we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the park.

Grayden's latest "trick" is to lay his head down on ANYTHING and say Awwwwwww.

Cutest.Thing.Ever.

So we were hanging out, dog park, blah blah blah blah. The other people that were there started to leave and we decided to pack it up and head home ourselves. I noticed something rippling in the water right where Harwell and Slugger were playing a few seconds before. I thought maybe someone lost a tennis ball or something. So I leaned in for a closer look and saw....

A FREAKING SNAKE! EATING A MINNOW!

Yeah. A snake. I had no idea what the hell kind of snake it was. In my experience any snake is no good, and a snake that's in the water is especially no good! Surprisingly Gary took these pictures, and wasn't screaming like a girl the entire time. And I held my composure as I tried not to run down to the other end of the park like someone was chasing me with a chain saw. Coincidentally as we were leaving I saw a park maintenance person and informed him, in a high pitched, squealy voice, that there was a snake in the pond to the left. And then I ran away.

*So it wasn't a boa constrictor that ruined the day. It was some sort of non-venomous water snake. But whatever. Tomato, tomatho. They're all the same when they're terrorizing the dog park.