"Doggone" Seattle

Seattle has an awesome off-leash dog park with a trail and a lake at the end. We took our Israeli dog Stella there today. Boy was it a fabulous experience... actually it's quite a special story.

Stella, a black dog with tan markings and a squiggly tail, was born in Tzfat, a small town in the mountains of Northern Israel. Last year on this day, ketyusha rockets began to fall on Tzfat, marking the beginning of the war. The city was bombarded for a month straight, and people had to live in underground bunkers. Some people died. We weren't there- we lived in Rehovot, near Tel Aviv. But Stella was there. She was living with a different family at the time. No doubt that experience was terrifying. This year, Stella had the time of her life in her new home in Seattle.

The off-leash dog park is straight up (and down, and up and down) the [hilly Seattle] road in my neighbourhood. It's really quite close. The park has a trail which leads up to Lake Washington. It's so beautiful. Paradise for people- and dogs!

Here's the view at the top of the hill. I'm still in my car! Just below is the entrance to the park.

Here we are in the park. Stella's strutting around off leash. YES!!

A friendly message

And here we are at the lake! WHat an incredible thing, eh? Dogs fetching balls and frisbees- what great swimmers we have here! This is really a lot of fun. What do you think Stella? Never been in water before- and definitely never been around so many friendly dogs before, let alone swimming dogs!

Stella was kinda chicken, actually. I always thought she was "tough..." NAAA! That's okay. Lots of fun things to see... I know she really enjoyed this.
Look at that pug dog standing on that rock next to his owner. I love that Husky dog on the left side- that's Seattle's mascot dog. The college football team is called the Huskies.

We stayed for about an hour. Stella went in and out of the water several times but never too deep. I wonder what was going through her mind when she saw all the dogs swimming- all but her! Maybe next time she'll give it a try. Maybe I'll dress for the occasion and help her into the water!

PS...we did have another dog- Daisy. Daisy is a Collie, and she stayed in Israel. (It costs more to ship a dog one way than to fly a person round trip!!!!)

We gave her to a wonderful young couple who have a ranch with horses, goats and sheep. She's very happy there. Stella- well, what can I say. She's really our dog!