Japan is very strict on pets in general. Small apartments, insane rules and regulations around owning a pet and of course the unmentioned hidden costs involved. Tokyo is a concrete jungle and it is a very unforgiving place to have a pet, let alone a dog. Dogs need space to run, space to socialize with other dogs and basically do their business when they feel like it without having to be prompted. The solution….. THE DOG RUN.

Tokyo is a pretty crowded place. For people, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a social kind of environment. People generally stay to themselves. I think in part because you are always around people here and the prized moments are when you can get away from people. Outside of that, people do generally congregate in packs. Not unlike dogs, they tend to huddle with others who have things in common with each other. Some form “Train Clubs” where they get together and memorize train stops from the hundreds of train lines across the country. Some get together and practice plays in the park. Basically packs of strange groups that really geek out on mindless topics. I had no interest in being involved in this type of activity whatsoever. That was, until we got Sammy.

When you get a dog, it is a very pleasant experience. You try to do the right things. You play with them, give them love and try to give them the best life possible here in the concrete jungle. So when we realized that the walls of our apartment were closing in on the Sammers, we went on the hunt for the elusive dog run. Magazines, that was the solution. This is the only country that manages to find a way to publish a magazine about any topic and you can bet your boots that there are at least 20 different magazines about dogs alone. In one specific magazine there was mention of a dog run not far from here in the large 1960’s Olympic park known as Komozawa Koen. We were on our way. The great thing about Sammy is that she loves to ride in the car. So we packed her up and took off.

The first thing that went wrong was that the park management had decided to scrap the dog run and relocate it. We walked, and walked, and walked before finally asking someone. They pointed us in the right direction and there it was. Brand spanking new. Double gate to allow you and your pet to enter, close the gate behind you before opening the internal gate to enter the run. It really wasn’t bad at all. Despite the brick on the ground and the “Potty Pits” which were basically over sized sand pits with dirt and bushes.

Back to the people who bring their dogs. In three words… Entirely too social. But generally down to earth people. That is until the weird stuff starts to happen. Generally there are the regulars. You know who they are because they are packed in a group socializing while their dogs are hanging out, running around an playing as dogs do. You see, they are the experienced dog owners. They like to whisper and make fun of the other people who show up with their dogs. But the only rule among everyone is that every dog is cute and it is not their fault that they have the owners they have. In this world, the dogs can do no wrong. The king dog of this group is a massive chocolate lab named in typical Japanese creative fashion… “Choco” He is massive and built like a barrel. He is however completely not interested in Sammy. He does however, have the hots for a specific black lab that shows up on occasion. For some reason her presence makes him realize that he needs to get his lovin’ on. It is funny to watch the owner chase him around and struggle to continuously pull him off of the black lab. So as you can imagine love is always in the air at the dog run. I thought quite nice to be around normal animals for a change. That is until the two chows….

You see, recently we were hanging out at the run and Sammy was doing her regular run and play with the various dogs that were either bigger or faster than her. When I realized that two chows appeared to be getting it on. However, the one on the bottom was simply standing there panting, while the other was trying to share its love… with the other dogs head! I didn’t know what was worse, the one on the top getting the wrong end and not realizing it, or the one on the bottom panting away just letting things go as they please. Now when these types of things happen the owners scramble to break things up. But after looking around, I realized that everyone was just standing there watching this freak show. Finally some women approached to break things up. An older guy then stopped her (one of the dogs was obviously his) and said “Its o.k., they are both male.” CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?!?!?! Not only were both of the dogs stupid and sexually challenged, but the show had an audience! This was far much more than I would have ever imagined happening in this place. FREAKS! ALL OF THEM! FREAKS! It was funny however. Gay dogs at the run.

Sammy is in a unique situation however. She is a Chocolate Lab, but is relatively small for her size. That puts her in the category of the big dogs, but smaller than them, but bigger than the little dogs that she can bully around. She is definitely not scared of anything and likes to try to throw her weight around. She is good however to make sure that she doesn’t hurt the little ones though. Here she is trying to de-shirt some little thing.

Now you might be asking yourself why in the month of August someone would put a damn shirt on a dog? Allow me to explain. When anything in Japan becomes a fad, or popular it is called a “boom.” So there was the Tamagotchi boom of the early 90’s. The High School girls with the massive tube socks boom and now, we are in the throws of what some have labeled the “Doggy Boom.” It seems like the true dog lovers are being out numbered by the young who have found owning a pet to be the latest trend. As such, they treat their dogs as fashion accessories. Once you buy your dog the first thing you are required to do is to further accessorize it. NO JOKE!!!! There are TV personalities who are showing up on TV with their dogs sporting bows in their hair and painted up claws. Hell, we were even suckered into buying a rain coat. In our own defense, there is nothing worse than walking a dog in the rain then keeping them cooped up in an apartment all day long. But the most insane thing is that they are now selling toe nail polish branded as “Dog Friendly” so you can get your pedicure, while your dog gets its “PETicure”

And then there is the Doggy Cafe boom that is running in parallel. They are springing up everywhere. Not only can you take your dog and hang out sipping coffee, but when you are really in the mood to get personal with your dog, you can take them to dinner. Complete with a small doggy table and separate doggy menu. LIKE THE DAMN DOG CAN CHOOSE WHAT IT WANTS TO EAT! That is the current state of owning a dog in this country.

What this new “fashion” has done has made the inexperience people with their fashion accessories, believe they can come to our dog run and blend in. Here is a funny, but at the time, frightening story. I must add before hand that all ended well an no one or dog was hurt in the story that follows.

So the regular crowd was hanging out, Their dogs mingling as normal. Sammy was somewhere down at the end of the run with a few other dogs including a large black retriever. All was well at the run. At the far end where the sammers was playing, is another entrance to the run. At that entrance approached a woman with her pocket pet fashion accessory on the end of a nice new red leash. The woman herself couldn’t have weighed any more than about 80lbs. Now on the run it is standard practice for the dogs to great each other with the standard butt sniffing welcome. That was what was going to happen as the dogs began to circle around the entrance. The woman was full of smiles as she stepped into the run. That is when all hell broke loose.

Her pocket pet freaked…. probably never saw a dog before in its life let alone this many of all sizes, shapes and colors waiting to greet it. It began to squeal. Not bark, squeal! I though it was one of those damn play toys. Of course, the other dogs went in for the butt greeting. And it freaked more, squealing more. I guess the other dogs thought “Hey, this woman brought us a toy!” so they began to push it around and basically play with it. Of course it squealed more. At this point the woman froze and did the only thing that she thought normal; retrieve my dog. So she began to pull on the leash to retrieve her pet that was, at this point completely smothered by dogs. Of course sammers being the litter of the runt, couldn’t get into the mix. I decided to stroll down and get sammy out of the way. When the black retriever, figured “O.K., squeaky toy, leash with a person pulling it…… TUG OF WAR!!!!” So he decides to take the squeaky toy in its mouth and pull back. There you have it, head out one side, feet out the other and more squealing than you could possibly imagine.

The more the woman freaked and pulled the more the retriever pulled back. Finally the experienced crew had made their way down and started pulling dogs out of the pack. The lead woman got to the retriever and made it drop the pocket pet. Of course the retriever never bit down on the thing, it was just playing, but the horrified expression on the pocket pet owner’s face spoke volumes. Her pet was handed to her and she clutched away at it, turning her back to the other dogs who were panting away wanting to play more. The woman was escorted out of the gate with a couple of back rubs and sent on her way. She huddled outside of the gate for about 10 minutes before she had the legs to continue home.

What do you think happened next? The run committee gather to talk about the event and how stupid the woman with the pocket pet was and how her dog resembled a rubber fish after being retrieved by, well, the retriever. Aaaah life at the dog run, I can’t wait until we go back again. I know the Sammers can’t wait.