A Day at the Dog Park

A woman spends the day at a dog park with her dog. It’s a large dog park with a number of different trails. There are leashed and unleashed areas. It is located outside the city and is a popular destination for people to visit with their dogs. 

At the bottom of the park, there are trails that circle around the dog areas for small dogs and trails that circle around the dog areas for larger dogs. The park also has more rugged trails that span into the depths of the park providing a great place for pet owners and their dogs to explore. There are a number of flat areas with fewer visitors where the dogs can run around and the pet owners can enjoy the scenic view. 

The woman walks around the small pond that goes around the main area of the park. After they walk around the pond, she decides to take her dog up into the park and walk along one of the more scenic trails. She walks with her dog with his leash attached for the beginning of the trail, but then decides to take her dog’s leash off. He typically walks close to her, but he is also prone to playing a game of chase. After walking along with her for a little bit, he quickly darts away and runs into one of the open areas. When she finally catches up to him, just as she is about to approach him, he runs away.

He runs over to some of the other dogs in the park. She apologizes to the owners, explains that her dog likes to play chase with her, and tries to re-attach his leash. But, just as she tries to approach him, he runs away. Some of the other dog owners try to help catch him, but after sniffing and greeting the dogs, he runs away again.

She eventually loses sight of him, and walks around the park for nearly an hour trying to locate him. She eventually sees him, and again as she is about to approach, he darts away, but fortunately he stays relatively close to her. She eventually lunges and is able to grab hold of him and re-attach his leash.

It’s getting late and walks along the trail to return to the main entrance. She does not realize it at the time, but walks in the wrong direction towards the other end of the park. She stops and spends some time looking at the park map and realizes the mistake. It is now reaching dusk and getting darker. As she makes her way back to the other end of the park, she takes some of the wrong trails to get back to the main area of the park, and gets lost. She ends up walking in a big circle and doesn’t realize it until she reaches the park map she looked at previously.

She eventually finds her way out of the trail and is relieved when she sees that if she keeps walking she will reach a pathway along the side of the road. While she made it out of the trail, she is still on the opposite end of the park. By now, it is dark. She knows that she parked at the eastside entrance. She is not sure what direction to follow. She looks up into the sky and notices a constellation by some of its stars. She knows that the direction of the constellation in the sky points east and decides to follow the path that goes in its direction. She assumes that if she walks along the path in the east direction, she should eventually reach the main entrance.

She walks for nearly an hour. She has been able to feed and water her dog with the supply of treats and water she brings, but she is starting to get tired and hungry from the long day. As they walk along the path, she sees a sign for a nearby town and decides to walk towards it. She reaches the town and stops at a small store to buy some food and water. After making the stop, she feels more energized, and walks back to the park to continue the walk along the roadside path to the eastside entrance.

She continues walking along the path using the constellation as a guide. She reaches another park map that provides the distance to the next town. She realizes that she is once again walking in the wrong direction. She is walking farther and farther away from the city instead of walking towards it. She is not sure what to do, but she knows it is best to turn around and walk in the opposite direction. She eventually reaches the map with the name of the town where they stopped previously for food so she is relieved to know that she is moving in the right direction.

They continue walking and eventually reach another map. This time she recognizes the name of the city and knows that she is walking in the right direction. If she continues walking in this direction, she should eventually reach the parking entrance. It takes several hours, but she eventually reaches the eastside entrance and sees her car parked in the empty lot. They walk up to the car and make the forty-five minute drive home. 

The following day her dog sleeps most of the day, clearly tired out from his game of chase. The woman looks at her tired dog sleeping, and approaches to pet him. As he raises his head and looks at her with his tired eyes, she thinks, “Well, I now know what it takes to tire him out.” He is rewarded later in the day with one of his favorite treats, ice cold dog ice cream.

A few months later they return to the dog park, but they stick to walking along the pond that circles the area for the small and large dogs, and she decides it is better to keep his leash on to avoid another game of chase. 

The stars could not help her poor sense of direction. She has a tendency to walk in the wrong direction, and when she recognized one of the constellations, while she thought she should walk towards it, she should have walked in the opposite direction.  But, they did help her find her way home.