A walk in the park with Jack

So getting the harness and leash on him took major work.
He was pretty unimpressed until I parked at the park.
Then he perked right up.

 In preparation for Jack's upcoming education, I decided he needed a bit of polish. I'd hate for him to be the slowest kid in the class. He's getting better on a leash but he could use a bit of practice. I got up early Saturday so that we could make it to the park early in order to avoid incineration. It's hot. Jack is unbothered by that. And he did pretty well.

My only complaint was that he passed on the left and fell behind on the right so I was always twirling the leash over my head to keep from becoming a skinned-knee statistic.



I don't know what critter is here, but I think there must be one.

Darcy was all about progress in the park and her brisk pace reflected that. She took hills as a personal challenge. She didn't pull but she always led.

Jack is all about joy in the journey.

He sniffed and marked, mauled bugs, greeted pretty ladies, smiled at the friendly silver sneaker crowd, nosed and tailed a few new furry friends, investigated a turtle that I didn't even see until his nose was on top of it, and chased a squirrel after yanking the leash out of my distracted hands while I answered email.

I paid more attention after that. And he came back when I called him so maybe he's readier than I thought. It wasn't much of an aerobic workout and took about twice as long as I thought it would, but Jack did very well anyway.



And it took a lot out of the boy. This is on the ride home.
If you don't have a dog, look at what you're missing.
Seriously, he's dang cute. Right?