Sunday, March 15, 2015

Doris Leeper Park

On a recent outing to our most nearby (and old standby and probably our favorite) park (City Center), we met a couple with a blind dog. This dog was an 8 year old female black lab named Roxy. We could not immediately tell that Roxy was blind (which now that Henry is blind we have greater tendency to notice this more). Roxy was walking a quickish pace and seemed confident (traits that have diminished in Henry since his loss of vision). Since Roxy was trotting along we were surprised to learn that she was blind.

This story, however, is not as much about meeting Roxy as it is about a secret place we learned about from Roxy's parents. By the way, Roxy's mom works at the pay booth for our local dog beach and we are glad she told us this since we knew we had seen her a few times before but could not place where we knew her from. Anyway, Roxy's parents told us of a nice walking path where Roxy regained much of her walking confidence. It is a park called Doris Leeper Park. It is not too far from our home but in an area where we don't usually frequent. We have driven by the sign but never really investigated. Well, after hearing about it from Roxy's parents we decided to give it a shot. And boy aren't we glad we did?!

The park is on the small side and it really is just a loop (with a handle). So, what made THIS park so special, though? It was perfect for Henry, that's what! It was the perfect type of terrain, well shaded in most areas and not too long (although we accidentally did make it a little too long by not looking at the map first and choosing the wrong way at the fork in the road, ugh). The fact that this park was not paved and yet was still relatively smooth made all the difference in the world! Henry was able to bob and weave without falling off the sidewalk (and thus not getting discouraged). At this park Henry built up quite a little trot (much like Henry of old). We were able to unleash him which made him feel empowered and proud. No wonder Roxy's parents loved this park! It built confidence in their blind dog and now it was doing the same for ours! HOW WONDERFUL!

Like I said, we did not initially look at the map, so when it came time to pick a way, we picked the wrong way (and we walked that way for a good distance). When we realized it was the wrong way, we turned around and went back to the split and chose the correct way. It was shortly after that when Henry was in need of being carried the rest of the way. That was fine, though, we are happy to carry him when he gets too tired. But we know that next time we will choose the right way and he for sure will be able to make it the whole distance and that will be an even bigger confidence builder to him.

We were lucky to have met Roxy's parents and we are very appreciative to them for sharing their stories and insight. Henry & Roxy are very similar in their needs so to have an area where we can be meeting Henry's needs even better is a true gift for us. #HenryStrongAllDayLong