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| The dogs take over SMP Lake |
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| Joni & Wager |
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| Sam & Brett |
Today was about as good as a weekend day gets: I slept in 'til 8, got up and gathered all my kayaking gear, loaded up the dogs who were beside themselves with excitement, and drove to Shawnee Mission Lake to meet Joni and Brett. Plus their dogs. We paddled around the lake for hours (I used Joni's mini, telescoping "emergency" paddle, since I inexplicably forgot my own). We even docked at Dog Beach for a bit to let Aki, Taylor, Wager & Sam stretch their legs. Taylor was Wildman as usual, running past the "off leash boundary" sign defiantly, but he actually returned to me fairly quickly for a change.
There was but one mishap (besides my forgotten paddle): at one point, a chocolate lab and another large, black dog were splashing in the water, and chasing a tennis ball. Taylor found this irresistible and ran over to play, bounding into the water. As we watched first in puzzlement, then horror, the chocolate lab turned to face Taylor and moved toward him. The lab's owner, a slender woman in her 40s or 50s started shouting—then SCREAMING—"NO! NO!!! NO! LEAVE IT!!!" She was freaking out and at first we didn't know why.
Then we saw it: the chocolate lab—quickly and without warning—intentionally lunged on top of Taylor, trying to pin him under the water. He was trying to DROWN Taylor! The woman continued screaming as I began to head that way; she finally waded into the water and leashed her dog. Soon after that, she left the park, ashamed. Taylor, fortunately, was having too much fun to realize the danger. It was a huge relief to see that he was blissfully unaware.
It was obvious that this dog had attacked before—the woman began screaming before the lab actually attacked. It's scary as hell that people are dumb enough to bring aggressive dogs to public parks. Joni's dog, Asher, was attacked and almost drowned by a different dog only a couple of weeks ago. I'll tell you what: if the attack had continued, I would have done anything to save my boy: up to and including grabbing the lab and giving him a taste of his own medicine.
There was but one mishap (besides my forgotten paddle): at one point, a chocolate lab and another large, black dog were splashing in the water, and chasing a tennis ball. Taylor found this irresistible and ran over to play, bounding into the water. As we watched first in puzzlement, then horror, the chocolate lab turned to face Taylor and moved toward him. The lab's owner, a slender woman in her 40s or 50s started shouting—then SCREAMING—"NO! NO!!! NO! LEAVE IT!!!" She was freaking out and at first we didn't know why.
Then we saw it: the chocolate lab—quickly and without warning—intentionally lunged on top of Taylor, trying to pin him under the water. He was trying to DROWN Taylor! The woman continued screaming as I began to head that way; she finally waded into the water and leashed her dog. Soon after that, she left the park, ashamed. Taylor, fortunately, was having too much fun to realize the danger. It was a huge relief to see that he was blissfully unaware.
It was obvious that this dog had attacked before—the woman began screaming before the lab actually attacked. It's scary as hell that people are dumb enough to bring aggressive dogs to public parks. Joni's dog, Asher, was attacked and almost drowned by a different dog only a couple of weeks ago. I'll tell you what: if the attack had continued, I would have done anything to save my boy: up to and including grabbing the lab and giving him a taste of his own medicine.
We finished our joyride without incident. After that, I ran home, unloaded the car & the kayak, bathed the dogs, played with them, and took a shower. I rested until it was time to leave to meet Maureen at Radiant Yoga for a guided meditation class. All that meditating made us hungry, so we enjoyed a huge sushi dinner next door at Izumi. Note to self: next time, 1 glass of Chardonnay + 4 rolls is TOO MUCH. Seriously.
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