Almost from the day I adopted Gibbs, I have wanted to take him places. I want him to grow up to be a well-adjusted, well-socialized dog. It took forever before his immunizations were done, but then I started taking him to Doggie Do Rite, a day care center in Northbrook. By the second day, he was running with the big dogs. On the third, he was trying to make a labrador his girlfriend.

For various reasons - his surgery, illness in my house, my goofy schedule - I haven't made quite as much headway with the training as I would like. He has no leash manners, selective hearing when he is called, and he barks.

Oh, how he barks.  

The ladies at Doggie Do Rite are fairly sure the problem is simply that he doesn't know enough people yet.  How, I wondered, do I manage to socialize a dog that refuses to behave in public?

Community Bark West.

Glenview's Dog Park is run by the Park District.  It is large, clean, fenced in and has running water for the dogs to drink. It has walking paths and plenty of doggie waste bags and cans so as to clean up after your pet.

The rules are extensive, and one of them is that your dog has to be at least six months old. Gibbs cleared that on Saturday. We had a pass on Monday and went over tonight.

He was a bit barky at first, but as soon as the other dogs came over to greet him, Gibbs was all in the game. He ran and ran and ran. When I wanted to check out the walking paths, he followed me. He greeted other dogs as they came around.  When I called him, he came to me. Yeah, he jumped on people, but he barely barked again. 

And now, he is asleep. 

We love this place. How awesome is Glenview to have built this?

The Park District charges a fee of $50 per year for a pass ($100 for non-residents).  You can find the application here.

We hope to see you over there!