Dog Park Visits

I normally take my dog Han Solo (a boxer male) to a dog park about 5 miles from our home. It is in a great location in Seattle called the Golden Gardens known for its lush foliage and beautiful views of the Puget Sound. Here the dogs run in a wide open but fenced in area that has both an incline and flat land that is dressed with a canopy trees around the perimeter. Obstacles such as horizontal tree trunks and a large pile of dirt to play on encourage these lovable beasts to interact with one another in friendly bouts. It could be considered a dog play ground with plenty of space for energetic dogs (such as my insane friend) to run free with little concern. Here Han wrestles with Great Danes and other four legged adversaries for dominance over each other and to have a all around good sniff 'fest. There is another dog park closer to my home in Magnolia,(more like a 2 miles away) but it an abomination to phrase "dog park". First: it is an embarrassing size, a size that is comparable to the small/ puppy part of the parks that are usually connected to the larger dog parks. For those of you who don't know anything about dog parks, there is usually a separated section of the park oriented towards smaller dogs or younger dogs so large meat headed dogs, such as mine, do not trample them while participating in the dog wrestling rituals/ or play. And B: it is 80-90% gravel which the last time I checked is ridiculously hard to run on and it just looks like a giant litter box for large cats. I don't know the last time you ran on gravel but the potential opportunity to injure oneself is great. Plus it hurts to run on tiny jagged rocks meant for tractions on roads out in the country where they do not have the sophistication of "paved" roads. To top it all off, the owners of the dogs who usually attend this park are not of the lesser income bracket or money deficient. Every time my dog goes to this park it is like he is the poor kid going to the rich neighborhoods play ground. Like when your mom is out running errands (and you grew up with a lack of money like my family did) and decides to let you play at a park in a nice part of town. You try to blend with the other kids but its pretty obvious when you're the only one wearing clothes with holes in them or shirts with characters on them the no one has ever heard of before. ( I had a reversible sweat shirt with a character named "fido" on it and it wasn't a dog. It was some boy like stick drawing that failed to take off to the youth so thats why I was wearing it.) You as the poorer/bad kid of the group plays too rough for the other kids and teaches them bad behaviors like cussing and shit like that. This is my dog at this park. He makes all of the other owners nervous when he jumps around and growls with playfulness to encourage games of chase. The owners get wide eyed and begin to call their dogs close "HEAR Anastasia!" to protect them from this peasant dog who would dare to sniff their unprecedented genitals. My dog is overbearing yes I know. He has a lot of energy and he likes to play roughly because he is about 70 lbs of muscle and has a deep well of of enthusiasm. Its not my fault that dragging a tire connected to a logging chain across the yard is his favorite game. But seriously, this park is below average and I've learned is not the right dog park for us. Heed my warnings people. If your dog is rambunctious, do NOT take he or she to the Magnolia dog park.

Chris was here.

and apparently has assholes for bike wheels

Creative ichy (looking for a cream to fix it)

Here is a gift I made for a friend whom recently treated me to the Portland Timbers Vs. Seattle Sounders match last Saturday (nov 2). Its the first of my comb series. I plan of making more and will do customized combs for people if you are interested. check out my other art/design and funs at http://joshrodenbergportfolio.tumblr.com/