off the leash

In New York, almost every city park has a dog run - a fenced-off area where dogs can play off-leash. They're small, but they're very welcome, since for most urban dogs, it's the only opportunity for an unconstrained romp.

In the Toronto area, rather than dog runs within parks, whole parks are designated as leash-free zones. We just learned there's one in our area, and yesterday we took Cody there.

Going to the park is not quite the momentous occasion it used to be, since now Cody has her very own backyard, and can romp daily. (Yay!) On the other hand, she doesn't have a buddy to play with anymore, and it's great for her to socialize with other dogs.

The nearby leash-free park is huge, at least by our city dog-run standards. Dozens of dogs and their people can congregate in different areas and it would never seem crowded. It's securely fenced, with three separate parking areas. We were impressed.

In a park, Cody is shy, and easily intimidated by other dogs. She'll play a little, but mostly she watches the other dogs play, and toodles around on her own. Yet she seems to love it in her own way.

The only dog Cody ever played with with complete joy and abandon was Buster. And Buster, who couldn't come within 50 feet of any other dog, because he would have ripped them to shreds (and I'm not exaggerating), was always so sweet and gentle with Cody. She'd bark in Buster's face, bat at him with her paw, bite his ankles - anything to get him to play with her. And he indulged Cody as if she were a puppy, letting her do whatever she wanted, until he finally gave in and chased her around.

I hope Cody misses B less than I do.

* * * *

A writer's life is full of rejection, and that's something living in Canada can't change. A while back, I mentioned that Allan had submitted a book proposal, hoping to write a book in a music series. Allan doesn't often get interested and motivated enough to write a formal proposal. This was something he really, really wanted.

Yesterday he got the bad news. To make it that much more painful, the publisher is doing a book on the subject - but they chose another writer to do it. Bah.