Early morning outing

We don't have a fully fenced yard.   Given new foster dogs have been on a long transport, we like to give them some freedom to be off leash where they can sniff around, run around and experience us off leash.  I like this approach as it gives the dog control of coming to us, moving always from us and getting out some of the jitter with all the new things in their world.  Now in doing this we don't just "go to the dog park". We have a plan in place as the plan helps up manage the environment for the foster dog. 

The plan always includes going to the dog park very early on Saturday morning, hoping to avoid running into other dogs.  We do this because we are trying to create a fairly stress free experience for the new foster.  It's rare that other dogs are in the dog areas since most people are sleeping in given it's a Saturday!  Usually we head over to the small dog park at Luther Burbank on Mercer Island but, we decided to head over to Robinswood - the location of the annual New Rattitude rattifest.

And one of the most important parts of the plan is to watch the dogs body language, how he/she is interacting and then the human being ready to leave if the pressure is too much for the dog.
 

Royal isn't so sure of all of this and he says "who are these two strange people"



As you can see by Royal's tail, ears and face that he's a bit unsure



Feeling a little more relaxed and thinking that perhaps that guy might be kinda fun...

and hey, the nice guy isn't so bad!

Now it time to run and let off some steam... 



When we first arrived - notice the tightness of his face and eyes and his ears are shifted back

This was after we'd been at the park for about 30 minutes - his face and eyes are softer and his. Ears are folded forward getting close to their normal position

 



Sweet boy is looking a little less stressed which was what we were hoping for.

 



Tail is looking good and check out those cute spots!