July 24, 2016

White Dog jumped at the opportunity to go to the park AND be spokesdog at the Meeting in the Park AND use her acting skills. "Come on!" she chided us. "Let's GO!" "Sweetheart, the meeting is not until one, we have two more hours."

Of course, the rest of the White Dog Army, Zsofia in particular, wanted to join us but the temperature was in the upper nineties and the entire Army can sometimes intimidate new or smaller members of the group. Plus Zso wants to talk the entire time I am giving a presentation. "After dinner if it is cooler, Dad will play Frisbee with you in the yard, Zso. And the rest of you can go out with him and play "catch me" or fetch." That, and a round of treats appeased all but Zso who sadly sang of wanting Park time. "Next time," I promised.

White Dog had a bit of time to do zoomies across the grass at the Park before settling in the shade under the trees where chairs were set up. Out of the beating sun it was almost pleasant and a slight breeze was much appreciated.

At the meeting the discussion topic was better understanding the language of dogs..."quick" reads for of dogs around you in public...and a more thorough discussion of communicating with your own pup by understanding tail movements; head, ear and eye positions; vocalizations; and calming signals. White Dog was my model to demonstrate in real life the various positions and expressions described as the group followed the handout.

As expected White Dog was the Meryl Streep of acting the various moods and body language we discussed. Her portrayal was so spot on, that she opened a wonderful conversation about how other dogs express themselves and the individual quirks that color the general communication...like Rascal whose mom shared that he asked for special attention by jumping into her lap and placing his paws around her neck. White Dog paws our leg. It was a great exchange.

To reward her efforts Steve treated us to ice cream after . He and WD shared a vanilla waffle cone at the drive-in. Her happy expression and enjoyment of some alone time were easy to read.