We introduced Charlotte the Schnauzer last week. This week Charlotte’s new mom wanted to tell about her first experiences with Charlotte at her first dog park.
Balboa Park From a Mini Schnauzer View
A Message from Charlotte’s parents:
Being new to doggie ownership at first we were apprehensive about taking our girl out in public, but realized that it’s the only way to get her socialized to the experiences we want her to have with us as a family.
While Charlotte starts off wild at the beginning of an adventure she soon settles in and is VERY quick to catch onto the command we call: ‘mind your manners’ (don’t bark, keep walking). We were fortunate enough to do a little research before heading out about locations you can take your dog, and found the only places that have restrictions are Mission Bay and the Beaches. Almost all the other parks in San Diego are dog friendly (as well as some of the beaches!) so long as the dog is leashed. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- San Diego rocks!!! And most parks have free un-timed parking!
This trip was actually prompted by our 3 year old who wanted a ‘new’ park… so we went exploring! Balboa Park is so large that we only covered a few small part of it in our 3 hour visit. Even on a busy Saturday morning in the summer it did feel as if it was only us enjoying the trail. We had the benefit of the woods with out the 45 minute drive! The entire experience was very dog friendly and all of the dogs were very well behaved. It was a wonderful experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone with a dog in San Diego, or anyone visiting San Diego!
So here was the day from Charlotte’s perspective:
On this particular day my pack and I parked near the kid’s playground over by Ruben H Fleet. After watching my little human swing and run around (while I happily watched and alerted everyone to the fun we were having) we decided to go and explore. Mom and Dad said something about wearing us all out so we would nap?!
On first glance you would only notice the buildings and the scores of people and cameras pointed at various sights. You have to be a little shocked that they weren’t looking at me. I thought they must be mistaken and tried to alert them that I was down here! But mom corrected me and told me they would notice if I walked nicely and minded my manners (she tells me this a lot).
We walked along the shaded paths and enjoyed all the people, and then we got to where the shops are and the most wonderful thing…water bowls placed just at my level! We started to notice a lot of dogs with their humans. It seemed everyone was out; it was a gorgeous day, very sunny, warm, but not hot. Everyone was very polite. I of course drew a lot of attention. I think it was my peppy personality and adorable eyebrows. Since getting my hair cut I’ve been very self assured! I also got an appreciative wink from a gentleman with a very familiar looking beard!
After a few mis-steps down some paths that lead to overlooks and dead ends we found ourselves down near the dog park! It’s a wonderful shady area with secure fencing and double ‘doors’ so just in case you were to get out, you’d still have to work hard to run after those tires!!! Mom said one day when I’m older I would be able to go and play there, but I have to learn ‘recall’? Ha, I think she means I need to come when she calls me? Doesn’t she know how good the smells are? How can I listen with my ears when my nose is all I can hear!!!
We crossed the street and went by the lawn bowling area. I wanted to run across that nicely manicured lawn, but Mom again with the ‘mind my manner’s'! You’d think I had messed on their lawn! I just wanted to roll on it! The bushes that ran along the walk way were wonderful to sniff! Then we came to a grove of trees, and more paths which were made of dirt! Something clicked inside me and I was on the hunt! I didn’t know for what, but I was on the trail and going to get it! Mom marveled at how intent I was and alert. After walking down an incline it was as if we were transported to the deep woods, but instead of finding a raging river it was the 163 Freeway! Thankfully there is a VERY nice chain link fence that kept those giant metal creatures from having to deal with me. I was going to protect my family!
The trails went on for what seemed miles, just exploring and enjoying nature. We saw other dogs and their people occasionally, but for the most part it felt like it was just us and the birds. Birds are interesting, but not very smart, well not as smart as us schnauzers! (You don’t see people blogging about them do you!) At one point I was so tired I sat in the middle of the trail until mom picked me up and put me in the storage compartment of the jogger. It was the perfect place to keep an eye on my people, while I rested my legs. But the second that my little human was out and running I realized that I couldn’t let him go off by himself. I had to help mom keep an eye on him! She always gets sappy when we play nicely together.
On our way back to the car we stopped and got some water bottles from one of the stands. It was really nice to have a cool drink and get some of the dirt out of my beard. Thankfully mom keeps baby wipes handy so I got a quick rub down!
When we got back to the car I was exhausted and looking forward to a good nap in my kennel on the way home! I can’t wait until our next trip to the park!
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Tags: Dog Park, Friends, Mini Schnauzer, San Diego
August 21st, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Sounds like a great place.
March 6th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
That really is a great park. It seems that most of the owners who take their dogs to Balboa Park really have a connection with their pets. I take my Mini Schnauzer Petey and my Wire-hair Terrier Mia to the Balboa Dog Park almost every day. I recomend that you stick to this park you will find many dog who “mind their own manners”.