Remember how I mentioned how sweet my Zoe was as a little puppy? Well the other day I saw this picture on i has a hot dog (sister site to i can has cheeseburger) and was struck by a huge wave of puppy fever. Know how people get baby fever after they have a kid and swear they’ll never do it again, or not for a long time? Well my baby fever never goes away, but that’s what happens with me and puppy fever. I am suddenly weepy-eyed at the memory of a little fuzz-butt asleep on my lap, sweet, soft little puppy fur under my hands, tiny little muzzle on a tiny little head and a little round belly. Oh my god, puppies are the best thing ever. I mean, just look at that picture! The little nose, the sable fur, the little tiny white tip on the skinny little tail. And the paws! Oh my god, the paws. I could nibble on them they are so sweet. OhmygodIwantapuppy.

And then I start thinking about puppy accidents and how Zoe chewed through three different laptop cables and the enormous vet bills we already deal with (just for yearly check-ups!) and the fur… plus I’m working full time now (which I wasn’t, back when I got miss Zoe), and hell I fell guilty for ignoring our four as it is. And if we do get pregnant soon, and we have a new baby with a less than year old dog? Okay. So maybe getting a puppy isn’t in the cards right now. Besides, they never stay that small and sweet for very long.

We actually took our two dogs to the park today. To a picnic. Where there were other people. And food. I admit, we don’t frequently take them out of the house – it’s just a lot of work. Zeeke, our shepherd, gets sick in the car no matter where we go. Zoe gets anxiety attacks around strangers. That means before you even get to do anything you’re automatically dealing with two dogs with diarrhea. And then Zeeke has like way too much energy for his (admittedly large) body and he tends to do a lot of pacing, whining, barking, dragging, and trying to jump on people (which we do not allow, just so you know). Zoe, again with the panic attacks, slinks along behind your legs if you’re lucky. If you’re not lucky she will attempt to bolt, which is typically unsuccessful due to the whole attached-to-a-leash thing, so instead she ends up hitting the end and yanking your arm out of your socket. Maybe she will find some small crevice to crawl into. Like under a chair. Or behind a garbage can. Then you get the people walking up to her saying, “Oh what a GORGEOUS dog!” and all we can say in return is, “Please don’t touch her!” Not out of concern for them, but out of concern that she will soil herself. And she has long fur back there – just sayin’.

So keep all of that in mind when I say that we took them both to a picnic in a public, busy park. And then I’ll say: it went really, really well. They did both panic on the car ride there, but that’s unavoidable. We took them for a walk around the park to help Zeeke get some of that energy out. But then he got to meet some people. Kids always point and squeal at him, saying, “Doggy!” – and often, “BIG doggy!” The intelligent parents ask first if it’s alright if he is petted. I was really impressed with the kids today, though – no one ran up to us, and all of them – even the little toddlers – were really gentle. Zeeke gave some hand kisses and received pets. Den just held him still so he wouldn’t move quickly and knock the poor kids over. Most of them were pretty intimidated by him (he’s 95lbs and TALL). But they all walked away with a big grin, as if they’d just conquered a quest. And Zeeke just sat there, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. At one point when Zeeke saw his daddy coming back from the bathroom – Zeeke had his eyes fixed on Den, recognizing him from a very good distance away, and jumped to his feet in joy as Den got closer. A little toddler, walking with her parents, pointed and just shrieked with laughter. It was too funny! Then she came over to pet the doggy and was enthralled.

Zoe of course was quite thrilled that Zeeke got all the attention – I’m not sure everyone even noticed we had a second dog with us. She very very quietly would just slink behind Den’s legs when someone walked over, and then just sit still in hopes that she would be overlooked. With Zeeke as the frontrunner it’s easy enough to distract people from her. It made it easier for me, who typically has to run interference between rambunctious kids and my poor, terrified dog. Today people were really respectful and just appreciated her with their eyes, recognizing her need for personal space. And Zoe in turn did really quiet well, even approaching a couple of people to sniff pants before retreating behind our legs again. When we walked around the park her tail was up, trotting comfortably beside Zeeke. I was thrilled to see it. Maybe in the past three years she has made more progress than I thought.

We did have to eat standing up, because the last thing we wanted was to get Zeeke too close to all the people eating at the tables… we had visions of him jumping up to help himself and causing mass chaos. As it was he nearly swiped a hamburger from Den’s hand when his attention was elsewhere. Next time we’ll have to remember to bring some chairs so we can sit – it felt like we were being aloof by standing apart… but a necessity.

The ride home was uncharacteristically quiet. No whimpering or whining from the backseat. In fact, Zeeke layed down for most of the half-hour drive, an unprecedented move on his part. Den and I were quite drained as well, especially since I had worked this morning before the picnic, as is typical for my Saturday. When we got home all four of us passed out.

I’d say it was a very successful day. We’ll have to try it more often.