I think it is pretty safe to say that Thursday, May 1st, was one of the most fun filled days of Petal’s life. Mine too.

It started with a nice drive to Ogden Utah. We swung by a local dog park there and scoped it out. The Ogden City Dog Park looked like a really nice place to hang out beneath the shady trees, to run and chase, or even practice some agility on the A-Frame or tunnels. There was also plenty of space to stroll around or walk along the stream outside of the dog park. We didn’t get out of the car just yet though, instead we went off to the grocery store to get some water.

We also went inside Petsmart just for fun while we waited for our friends and while we were in there we met some kitties that were up for adoption. We met a cat who looked remarkably like our cat, Pancake, and amusingly his name was Waffles! We thought that was pretty funny. We also visited with the fish, birds and guinea pigs.

After our fun at Petsmart we went back to the dog park (after getting a little bit lost) and you’ll never guess who we met there! We’ll give you a few hints:
They’re a team of three dogs.
They’re sweet and fun.
They’re from a rainy state.

 Yes! It was the Cascadian Nomads!

Left to right: Huxley, Brychwyn, Wilhelm and Petal.

When Bethany and I first started talking about and planning to meet up I was super excited but also really nervous about Petal and how she would do with meeting three dogs she’s never met before. Petal doesn’t always have an easy time with meeting new dogs as she either gets very over excited or nervous. However we have been working on this and she has gotten a lot better.
Even so, I was nervous up until I saw Bethany and her crew at the dog park, then the excitement took over. Seeing those three walking with her was so neat. It was almost like seeing them walk right out of one of their blog posts.

I jumped out of the car to meet them first and was given a great big collie hug by Huxley. I can’t even tell you how much I loved that! Wilhelm and Brychwyn were just as friendly but I think Huxley somehow knew about my huge soft spot for him. 😉
We got them into the dog park and then it was time to get Petal from the car. There was, of course, a chorus of barking but it all sounded like excited barking. As soon as Petal was unleashed into the dog park she took off like a bullet to go meet everyone, including three other dogs that happened to be at the park as well. She did very well!

Petal, Wilhelm and Brychwyn.

Everyone was greeted with the usual sniffing, of course, then it was time to explore the park and sniff everything there. We let them explore and get to know each other before we went to check out the stream. Petal surprised me by wading and splashing in it like a puppy (she does everything with puppy-like enthusiasm, so that part wasn’t surprising); she hasn’t played in water like that since Ella passed away, her water buddy. I recorded a bit of her splashing around and I’ll share it as soon as I figure out how to fix it (I messed it up while recording, whoops). She also tried to convince Huxley to wade in the water, but he wouldn’t do more than dip his paws in it. Classic collie way. 😉 Also in classic collie fashion, Petal had a few little (and loud) conversations with Huxley and Brychwyn joined in on a few of them as well. She sure did miss talking with dogs who enjoy talking back.

After playing in the stream for a bit we headed back into the dog park so they could play off leash again and test out the agility equipment. The Cascadian crew knew exactly what to do with the tunnels and A-Frame, but Petal didn’t trust it. Instead she barked at anyone who was crazy enough to walk up that dangerously high A-Frame! She did enjoy a game of chase with them though.

Watch how Petal takes a short cut to head everyone off. Classic Petal move! She’s got some pretty great instincts. Then you’ll see her barking at Huxley on the A-Frame. Huxley tried to teach Petal how to do it, but she wouldn’t go more than half way up. Guess she figured if he wasn’t willing to wade in the stream with her then she didn’t have to climb the scary frame with him, haha.

They all had a blast together and Petal was exhausted but very happy at the end of the day. We all had a great time with the Cascadian Nomads and we hope we get to see them again soon.

I have several more pictures to share, but they’re all on my Canon (the photos in this post were taken with an iPhone) and I don’t currently have the proper gadgets to get my Canon photos put directly onto my iPad (I am computerless at the moment). As soon as I get that worked out I’ll share those photos in a Part 2 post. You won’t want to miss that because I have photos of Petal meeting Leo plus some sweet photos of Petal and Huxley together. You can also find more pictures in their blog post here.

Hope you all are having a lovely weekend!