Sarah always gets a good laugh at me at the dog parks. When we go, she takes a book, sits on the bench and reads. Occasionally she’ll call for Sadie, but it’s rare. Then there’s me. I tend to follow Sadie around. At first, I think it was because she was new to dog parks, and I wanted to make sure nothing happened to her. There are some big dogs that go into the big dog park, and she just barely made the 35lb cut-off to be in the “big dog” park. She can outrun any dog there, but if they she stops or they are able to catch up, she becomes extremely submissive, lies on her back - it’s pretty funny but I guess it was making me nervous. And there were the other dog owners to talk with, so I just kind of followed her around.
There is a term being used today called helicopter parents. Wikipedia defines the term in the following way:
“A helicopter parent is a term for a person who pays extremely close attention to his or her child or children, particularly at educational institutions. They rush to prevent any harm from befalling them or letting them learn from their own mistakes, sometimes even contrary to the children’s wishes. They are so named because, like a helicopter, they hover closely overhead, rarely out of reach whether their children need them or not.” 1
So, I guess the question is, can one be a helicopter (dog) parent? And if I am - does that mean I’m well on my way to becoming a future helicopter parent? I sure hope not - because that’s not the type of parent I want to be. Anyone else take their dogs to dog parks? Have you had good or negative experiences? Is anyone else out there a helicopter parent or a helicopter dog owner?
UPDATE: I would like to say that after writing this post, Sarah, Sadie and I have been back to the dog park numerous times and I’ve been doing much better. So there is progress taking place, and I think there is hope for me yet…
Footnotes- Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_parent ↩
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
dude. you sound exactly like me. but i do it more so i don’t have to talk to weird dog people. plus if you follow them, it’s not so much like you want to protect them but rather being on the ground floor when something cool goes down.
LOL….take your feelings for your dog, and multiply them by about 100, and that’s what you’ll want to do with your kid. :-)
Jennifer - that was the wrong answer. :) I’m hoping that I don’t turn into a helicopter parent - but…unfortunately, I think I may be on my way to just that very fate.
Josh - amen(!) to the weird dog people. One of these days, I’m going to have to blog about “Uncle Frank.”
Adam,
Confession: you exactly described the way we handle our dog at the park. I’ve noticed she (Gracie) doesn’t socialize much with the other dogs… then I realized I don’t socialize with the other owners. Dogs have a tendency to follow our lead.
Adam,
No one who is a helicopter parent KNOWS it…or at least they dont admit it. So, admitting you have a problem is part of the soultion :-)
Of course you can be helicopter parent! I’m not convinced that is a bad thing when you are talking about dogs in a dog park. We never know what might happen in those settings.