Hi my name is Radar and I am a Jack Russell Terrier.
I have been asked to put paw to paper and tell the story of how Doggie Central came to be.
It was February 2005 and one of my owners (she likes to be called Mum) came home on one of those things I bark at in the sky (Mum and Dad call them planes).
It was tail freezing cold out! Anyway, in she comes and wants to take me out for a walk. Well I had enough of hopping around outside, scurrying along the sidewalk and then having her carry me home because I had frost bite on my nose from sniffing around slush and snow. That was it! I dug my paws in, sat Mum and Dad down and told them my idea.
There we were, I am on my blanket on the couch, Mum and Dad sitting on stools (I think that is why they added the training center). I explained to them that I was getting bored sitting around all day waiting for them to come home after work. I told them that I had been chewing around an idea for what seemed like seven years (they told me it had probably only been one).
Anyway here is the idea.
Me and my friends (Toby, Oreo, and Chazz) had been chasing each other around one day and I said “Why don’t we have my Mum and Dad build us our own indoor dog park.” Well, they all stood on their hind legs and started to yelp (well, all except Oreo who was busy in the garbage bin!). I said “Okay what do you dogs want?”
We spent seven hours (okay one) barking at each other (not all dogs see eye to eye all the time).
Well what we finally came up with was an indoor dog park big enough so all our friends would say “That’s where dogs will want to be!”
Toby suggested an agility area because he was getting a little bored playing with a plastic soda bottle at home alone. Then Oreo woofed, “How about some wash stations, I like to sneak out when mom opens the door to get the mail and roll around in the mud, if she could clean me up and not get the bathtub dirty she would probably be okay with it.”
We all agreed we were barking up the right tree.
We took a short break (it seemed like a week), I had some old biscuits and water to share. Toby was already full, so he asked if I had any new toys to chew on while he waited. I said “No but I’ll get Mum and Dad to put a store in the park and we will get them to find the coolest things for dogs from around the world.”
Next thing you know, little white Chazz looks up from his ice cube he had been chasing and says…. “As you know I go out everywhere with my parents, so I would like to have a groomer there so I could get cleaned up after playing with you guys in day care for a few hours. I am getting tired of sitting in a crate waiting for them to pick me up.” We all howled in agreement. Then Chazz says “Yeah, and I would like to have a rest area with houses and beds so I feel like I am at home.”
Then we all lay down, put our snouts on our paws and said “This is where dogs will want to be!”
So with my tail wagging back and forth I said to Mum and Dad, “So that is my idea; what do you think?”
