Two Dogs. a Park and One Long Lead

I took both dogs to the park tonight.  OMG Lilly was not happy on a short lead, and Tess was getting tangled in Lilly's lead because Lilly insisted on going everywhere.  Eventually I took Tess off her lead because, unlike Lilly, I knew Tess wouldn't do  a runner.  I added her lead to Lilly's to make it extra long. 

Well Lilly pranced around very happy then.  It was like she had all the freedom in the world.  The extra lead stopped her from choking herself to death (in a harness no less).  If a dog can choke itself to death in a harness it would be our Lilly. 

Lilly barked at anyone and everyone that dared to come close, (even when we were the ones closing the gap).  Amazingly enough she made friends with 3 other dogs.  The last time we took her walking she growled at the other dogs and really got her hackles up.  I must admit I was very impressed.

It appears though that once you have a dog at this park it means all other dog owners will talk to you.  This meant I was standing around for a fair bit having a good chat while the dogs got close and personal smelling each other.  Even my jittery Tess joined in. 

At one stage I thought I had lost Tess.  She will be 15 in December and is quite deaf and I am sure her eyesight is not what it used to be.  I turned to look back where we had come from and couldn't see her.  I looked down, and couldn't see her.  I turned in a circle scanning the park for her and still couldn't see her.  I had no idea where she was and was starting to freak out when I saw a dash of white.  Tess likes to stay either beside or behind you.  When I looked down she was behind me, so close in fact that I could not see her.  When I turned around, so did she.  It was like an unintentional game of hide and seek.  I should have guessed this is what she was doing as she does it at home as well.

Of course dogs being dogs, they have to sniff, find the best spot and pee.  My Tessa is a lady though, she rarely pees in public places.  Lilly on the other hand had to sniff every tree, chair and water fountain we passed.  Eventually she finally chose a concrete fixture for the lights that had obviously been peed on at least twice.  I stood and waited... and waited...and waited.  Eventually she decided to it was good enough for her precious smell so she cocked her let.  Unfortunately she only got a tiny squirt out.  She was standing on a small slope and lost her balance.  It was an interesting hop dance that ensued because the leg in the air was so close to the concrete, her belly was almost touching the concrete.  As she lost her balance she hopped sideways on her other hind leg so she could quickly drop the one in the air and then raise the one she'd been hopping on.  She still didn't have her balance and ended up flopping sideways.  It was like watching one of those old black and white comedy routines where the mad falls down and jumps straight up as if nothing happened.  This is exactly what Lilly did.  Jumped straight up and proceeded to walk away as if we had never stopped there.  The embarrassment was too much for her to stay and finish marking her territory.  It obviously wasn't that good anyway. 

Back home Lilly's new pj's had arrived.  I was really hoping they would fit her because it was hard to get the right measurements with her wriggling all the time.  Lets just say if she loses weight and then stretches it, it will fit nicely.  Here she is in her cute but tight pjs.

Lilly trying to get it off.  I took it straight off once I got some photos.