"There go the crazy guys"

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Yesterday was our monthly doodle romp and although it was toooo cold to stay long and only 4 doodles were present, they had fun running and romping and doing what doodles do.  Murphy gets very excited and barks at new dogs, he pecks at their necks to say "Let's play" and Bella just jumps with glee all over the park.

Murphy and Bella do the doodle chest bump in mid air with arms around eachother shoulders and then take off like rockets chasing eachother. Quite normal behavior in doodleland. However, it seems this must have all looked a little "Crazy" to a fellow dog park attendee, as when we were leaving he shouted several times " There go the crazy guys", There go the crazy guys"

I had to look around to see which dogs he was referring to as he couldn't mean my two??? Could he???We were the only ones leaving the gate that I could see.  Ouch! Hurt my feelings, and I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what. My first thoughts were:  You talkin to me?"  then that faded into: "Are you kidding me, they were playing nicely". then just a "REALLY?" 

 But had to think maybe doodle play is a little crazy looking if you own a beagle! So we just left quietly and took our two crazy doodles home. Would you have said anything? Gosh, do doodles look that different to other dog owners when they are just playing and happy? 

One disclaimer: I really don't give a hoot what anyone thinks as long as my two are safe and not hurting anyone else, but this kinda smarted and got me thinking about how they reflect our personalities. Maybe I'M the one who's CRAZY!!!!

 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

First I'm jealous that you have a monthly Doodle Romp...sounds like so much fun.  Maybe our guys do look a little crazy when they're running and playing....I think that's because they are full of life.  I personally think that exuberance reflects who they are....and I love it.  My trainer always laughs and says that Guinness is "dancing through life". 

[Becka]

We should all try to dance through life a little bit more. And the more I hear about your trainer, Jane, the more I want to figure out how to clone him!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

That's a nice way of putting it. Bella definitely is dancing, or maybe Bunny Hopping, through life. Murphy sort of prances with occassional leaps of joy. I know they always get a lot of attention at the park because of their exuberance. Or now their "Craziness"

[Carol and Banjo]

Ohhhhh....I SO wish Banjo had a Doodle buddy to play with!!!!!!

[Pat and Traveler]

Sue--this sounds like maybe it was a compliment--'crazy' being used as 'wild, playful, crazy and full of fun.'  But I guess you caught the tone of voice, and it sounded like an unfriendly comment.  So--the guy was a jerk.  Carry on, crazy doods!!!! 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

True, he might have meant it in a fun way, but the tone didn;t make it sound so. Oh, I will not loose any sleep over it. The only negative out of it would be those witnessing it thinking the same as me and labeling all of our doodles as crazy. We meet at this park for our monthly romps so most times there are at least a dozen or more CRAZY doodles running around,

Hopefully, it was meant in jest.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wouldn't let it bother me. Hard to tell if he meant it in a negative way. I don't think I would have said anything, and I am not known for my reticence, lol.

JD never gets the zoomies, so we haven't had this kind of experience, but I do have a neighbor who called him "crazy Jack" once as she passed our yard with her rotten Shih Tzu and didn't know I could hear her. What I would have liked to have said to her was "Yes, he barks like a maniac at your rotten vicious little dog because when he tried to make friends with her, she bit him! That's not really so crazy!"

But I kept my mouth shut. JD didn't know anyone insulted him, lol, and it wasn't worth it. You're not crazy, you just didn't bother to respond to a comment that wasn't worth acknowledging.

[F, Calla & Luca]

This sounds about right to me.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

it probably sounded more like this lady's tone when the guy said it. Thinking they were out of control dogs, barking and chasing and having fun. In no way showing dominance or rough housing. And they both tend to stick to dogs their own size when approaching them.

My two had no idea they were being talked about either. Kind of felt like someone calling your kids names on the school yard and you overhear it.

[Jess and Pippin]

We go to a doodle romp when we can, and we usually end up somewhere with water.  Imagine 20 doodles of all sizes and lots of water to play in.  Lots of different types of play, from running, chasing, wrestling.  These dogs just seem to love to play.  They are so social with each other and with the humans too. I think if you are not used to seeing all this love of life exuberance, perhaps it does seem a bit crazy.  Either that, or the owner who commented has a dog who doesn't know how to play this way.  I've had a couple of comments and I just say thanks, he just really knows how to get the most from life! and leave it at that.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Yes, Jess, a comment like that would have been good, if only I was that quick witted. I really couldn't believe he was talking about my two sweet puppies.lol

[Jess and Pippin]

No, I'm not usually that quick either!  There are so many folks out there who just have something to share and can be hurtful.  We were at the d.p. with Kylie (maltese rescue).  Kylie is 7, not socialized with other doggies, an absolute sweetie but just has to bark at everyone.  Once she has finished barking at each dog, she settles down.  This  particular day, she was actually playing with a couple of the other dogs (and barking of course).  The important fact is that she was playing!  Kylie rarely plays so this was a rare occasion and we were just so happy to see her having fun.  Another dog owner approached me and said, If I had a dog that barked like that, I'd put a shock collar on it.  I couldn't believe it.  I just had to walk away, shaking in anger, I might add.  Kylie has overcome so much in her year with us and a shock collar would just devastate her.  I just told myself that this was the reason she is in our home instead of his!  Sometimes you just have to walk away.