Two Little Socialites

Yesterday the Seattle Rat Terrier Meetup group held a meet up at Robinswood Park in Bellevue. I'd been going back and forth the whole week about whether to bring both Salinas and Chima since I'd have to get both dogs on leash from the parking lot back to the off leash area and I didn't really know how Chima would react if we ran into another dog on leash - especially a large dog.

I decided to go for it, and I'm so glad that I did. We arrived 20 minutes early so that there would be minimal dogs around when we made our on leash trek down the trail to the dog area. Both girls were pretty apprehensive but did well other than lots of crazy crisscrossing on leash, weaving around me like I was a Maypole. Below is a video of the girls soon after they arrived at the park, getting their bearings while there were still just a few dogs and people there.

When we first arrived it was just Salinas, Chima and some fluffy dogs that the girls found quite interesting

I knew that Salinas would do well at an off leash park after last week's experience but I had no idea how Chima would fare. I definitely underestimated this girl because she was amazing! While she didn't want anyone petting her, she was fine with sniffing hands and enjoyed walking through the crowds, sniffing people and accepting the many treats that were offered to her. Her experience with humans at the park was 100% positive and that will go a long way in helping her realize that humans are not all scary. 

Bottom to top: former fosters Hobbs and Willow with Salinas and Chima. Check out  Chima just sticking her  head on  the lap of a person she's never met before! Of course, good treats always help. 

A sniff line. Top to bottom: K(just her rear end showing), Salinas, Nash, Willow, and Chima.  Willow is an adopted NR dog and the other 4 kiddos are current NR foster dogs.

The fact that this ended up being one of the biggest meetup crowds yet made it even more exciting that she did well. The off leash area has been divided in half with a fence so we were scrunched into half the area as well. There were lots of people milling around and close to 30 dogs in attendance. That is a LOT of socializing and the girls just took it in stride like they attended meetups with that many dogs and people all the time. Here's a video showing a panorama of the dogs and people attending:

Chima likes to ease up behind a person to sniff them carefully before meeting them. She later took treats from this very gentle girl. In the photo NR's foster boy Will is sitting nicely for a treat.

Salinas (L) and Chima (foreground) were completely fine with just  milling around the areas where people and dogs were  congregating. These girls weren't wallflowers at all but instead were right in the midst of things.

We were there for over 2 hours and by the time we headed home the girls were plenty tired but also plenty happy and relaxed. I can't wait to take them to another meetup. Good job girls!

The girls were tired and kicking back at the end of the event - full bellies and plenty of exercise.