Every morning on my way to work I pass the Shelby Farms Dog Park with its acres of open fields, three lakes, and trails through wooded areas. It’s a magical place where dogs can run off-leash, socialize and just be dogs. You can always tell which cars are headed to the dog park by the canine ears flapping in the wind from the window or sunroof. This morning it was a pooch psychotically turning circles and barking in the back of the SUV in front of me. I thought to myself, I know how they must feel.

Yes, routine is safe and secure with familiar smells, people you love, your favorite comfy spot and an ordered schedule. But at the dog park there are no leashes. There are new smells, new friends and new experiences. If you feel like chasing your tail you are free to run in circles until you can’t stand. You can express yourself with a woof, yelp or a deep long bay. Or maybe you’re the silent type and enjoy a swim or a relaxing roll in the grass. At the dog park you are free to express yourself and just be you.

What can we learn from our canine companions? Everyone has responsibilities and commitments. It’s just part of life. But we also all have something inside us churning to be said, danced, shared, drawn…a self-expression of our creativity. Sharing your inner self is essential to being your own individual and fully knowing yourself. We all need to lose the leash from time to time and indulgently express ourselves. Everyone may not understand or even “”, but if they care they will appreciate the real you. After all being a remarkable person begins with being different.

Don’t get me wrong, leashes are important but sometimes you just need to be off leash.

There are many fantabulous things in this world that have no explanation…the Nazca lines, crop circles, why when you put a pair of socks in the dryer only one comes back out. The kind of things that for the sane and logical mind, no matter how hard you try, have no rational explanation.

Well, I have one more to add to the list of the great mysteries of this world – the dog with the shrinking head! Now, I know what you are thinking…obviously this writer has had way to many malted milk balls and is functioning in some hallucinogenic state, induced by way too much chocolate. But here is the proof:

After a visit to the vet last month, River, (The Boykin Spaniel with the shrinking head) was observed to have a head that was…how to put this delicately…her head was no longer in proper proportion to her body! I mentioned this to the vet who became quite amused. She regaled me with the story of a similar patient, whose owner presented her at the vet with “ a shrinking head.”  She seemed quite amazed and in a state of wonder that her dog, while seemingly quite healthy, had a head that was getting smaller and smaller. Offering photos as evidence, she proudly showed her pictures in which her head was in correct proportion to her finely tuned frame.

As the vet giggled a little more, she explained to me that this was a common problem resulting from a Dancing With the Stars addiction (it’s one of River’s favorites), squirrel watching from the back of the couch and creating a worn spot in the ceramic tile in front of the treat cabinet. I assured the vet that there was no way that River was opening the cabinet and treating herself to yummy granola-crusted chew treats and Better Than Ears treats  – who knows what’s in those things, but at least they don’t have little hairs on them!

We agreed that we would not assign blame to River since we had no proof of her thievery and other interested parties all plead no contest to the accusations. Nevertheless, River has agreed to chase her Frisbee a little more, spend less time trying to coerce Jumbo milkbones from parties, which shall remain nameless, and give up Reality TV for Lent. We conceded that if there was a summer version of Dancing With The Stars that she could indulge if she promised to dance along with them.

So, short of a voodoo priestess showing up in a foggy mist, smelling of swampy bayou water and Spanish moss and sprinkling zombie dust on her head, the condition should reverse itself shortly.