PAWTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR
You only turn two years old once, which is why Pi — a grey french bulldog whose cuteness goes on endlessly in the same way the number she’s named after (3.14159…) goes on forever — celebrated with her pals at the City Dog Park on Aug. 21.
Her mother Vickie Stanley organized the party, which was more vibrant than some adult gatherings. Pi’s birthday celebration included a raffle, doggy paw prints, a musical playlist with songs that had the word dog in it, doggie ice cream, and cupcakes.
“Are these human cupcakes?” a party attendee asked. Indeed, they were, and for humans there were also tiny bundt cakes.
The City Dog Park opened this summer, and the dogs and parents attending Pi’s party were ecstatic about the venue.
“We thought driving by that it may be too small, but it’s deceptive,” said Helen Fey, who was watching Pip, a year old mastiff. “It’s clean park with bark, which keeps the dogs clean.”
The bark or wood chips also earned approval from “Clancy,” who decided to go by an alias because her landlord does not know of her five-month old boxer, Bailey. She agreed with Ms. Fey that the bark/chips feature keeps the dogs cleaner than a dirt field would.
For this clean and relatively big dog park, Clancy and Bailey drive south from Goleta.
“I would love a dog area at (Goleta’s) Girsch Park,” Clancy told the News-Press.
Clancy was not the only one with suggestions.
Diana Bull, the mother of Dolly, said that she would like to see more trees planted in the City Dog Park, especially to provide shade for the little dogs area.
The City Dog Park provides a gated area for all dogs, but smaller dogs who may be intimidated by bigger dogs can enter a separate, smaller portion that is also gated. This smaller portion, however, lacks the ample shade that the general area is privy to.
And under this ample shade, Kayla Villa was sitting, a workbook in one hand and a pencil in the other. Ms. Villa brought Xena, a two-year-old German shepherd who visited her mother every other minute. Ms. Villa was doing her nursing school homework while Xena was playing with the other canines.
Xena’s predecessor was with Ms. Villa for more than a decade before passing away.
“I thought we would take a break from dogs, but I only lasted for about three months without a dog,” chuckled Ms. Villa. “I was like ‘This house feels so empty.'”
And then came Xena.
Xena is not the only one adding color to her home. Jordan Loggin’s one-year-old pitbull, Otis, seems to add vibrance to the owner’s life. She told the News-Press how dogs facilitate their owners to chat amongst each other with ease. But that does not mean that they all know each other’s names.
“There’s a weird thing in dog culture where the owners will know other dogs’ names but not the owners’,” laughed Ms. Loggins.
But the evening of Pi’s party, the fact that people did not know each others’ names did not seem to matter. For a few minutes while their dogs played, the owners chatted amongst themselves with no expectations and no stress. They were all just coming together, sharing stories and jokes, before going on with their lives.
