The Dog Park

This is the new normal. Masked people walking around everywhere in this huge city. Including me, trying to walk my big-ass puppy in the heat with a mask on. Many people were tempted to shed their masks outside due to the sticky summer weather. I kept mine on and let the breeze fluttering through the dog park trees cool me.

I had my poop bag at the ready and Bo, my giant pit mix, on a leash. He was basically walking me because he's a 90-pound monster. He dragged me along, snuffling and snorting, peeing on every living thing. He got interested in where another dog had just peed, picked up the scent, and followed.

The dog in question walked next to a tall man in long cargo shorts, Jordans, and a t-shirt, with a baseball cap, sunglasses, and mask. Bo raced up next to the dark brown animal and started trying to sniff him. The other dog turned, as did his master.

"Sorry," I said, voice muffled by the mask. "My apologies." I tried to pull Bo away, but he was quite a bit larger than I, and he was reluctant to leave.

I'm not a good dog parent, so Bo was not very well trained.

The tall man said, "No problem. Marvin. Sit." His dog sat. He then knelt and patted Bo. He looked up at me. "What's this big guy's name?"

My big crazy dog loved the attention and licked the man's hand.

"Bo," I said. "He's really friendly but not too smart. He hasn't learned commands. Or I'm not very good at teaching."

"He's a big dog. They can be hard to manage sometimes." The man rubbed Bo's ears and Bo responded with more licks.

"Yours is Marvin?"

"Yeah, that's Marvin. He's a Staffie Rottweiler mix."

"Bo is a Pit I-don't-know-what mix."

He huffed a low laugh under his mask and stood up. "Nice to meet you, Bo. And Bo's mom."

"Nice to meet you, Marvin and Dad." I smiled, though he couldn't see me.

<>

I saw Marvin and his dad walking again on another extra hot day. I just had to get Bo outside for a while, even though the temperature was close to 90 degrees. He was starting to click around my apartment, pacing like he needed to run. We had been out and about for a while, so I decided to perch on a cool stone bench for a few minutes. I carried a collapsible bowl and a couple of chilled water bottles, as usual. I poured some water for Bo and watched him lap it up.

I saw Marvin heading toward me walking sedately next to the tall man. I waved and he held up a large hand. "Hi," he called. "Bo and Bo's mom."

"Marvin's dad, how are you? Share some water?" I cracked open another bottle and poured it into the bowl. "Bo's okay with sharing."

Bo sniffed Marvin and Marvin returned the favor. "Leave it," Marvin's dad said in a low voice.

I nudged Bo's big hindquarters over toward me. The man sat with me while Marvin drank. He spoke to Bo and petted him.

"He is such a beautiful dog," he remarked. "He's taller than Marvin. Wonder what he's mixed with."

"No idea," I said. "I got him as a puppy. A friend of a friend found him in a field out of town and thought he was a rat."

The man laughed. "How old was he when he was found?" He looked at me through his sunglasses.

"Six weeks. Had a belly full of worms and a bunch of other stuff wrong with him. And now we have this." I patted Bo's square head.