Marlin's Baseball Bark in the Park Night

Abby went to her first baseball game last night, Marlins v. the Nationals. The Florida Marlins with the Humane Societies of Broward and Miami-Dade counties sponsored a "Bark in the Park" evening. I think the number I heard after the game was over 665 dogs were in attendance and I didn't hear or see of one incident. Yeah well-behaved dogs, and yeah for over $4,000 being raised for the local animal shelters. The dog tickets were $6 with all the proceeds going to the humane societies, and they were also collecting additional donations through t-shirt and water bowl sales. 

The Marlins play in Sun Life Stadium, formerly known as Joe Robbie, Pro Player, and Land Shark stadium (I think I got most of the former names). It is the home of the Dolphins and University of Miami Hurricanes football teams and it is definitely a football stadium, not a baseball park. The dog section was in the upper tier sections 400-410 or so. They has to open up additional sections to accommodate the dogs! It was general admission seating which was nice, all the dogs could have plenty of room to sit, stand or lie down.  Abby and I were up in section 403, what would be endzone seating in football, but along the left field line and above the visiting team's bullpen.

I have to say I was really proud of my Abby. She handled the walk up the stairs to the nose-bleed seats very well, and that was with me holding onto her leash, a hotdog and a drink. Once we settled on seats, she spent most of the evening either sitting or lying down. I had brought a lot of her treats and doled them out liberally whenever she did sit (or down) on her own accord. She really didn't take much notice of any of the other dogs near us. She was, however, very interested in the humans, and really wanted to sniff them up good. She spent quite a bit of time sitting with her head on my lap, which is somewhat unusual for Abby. Abby likes her space and isn't much into "displays of affection", public or otherwise.

The game was a snoozer, with the hometown Marlins losing 7-1. The Nats jumped out to a 2-0 lead, then tacked on 2 more in the third. The Marlins had a chance to tie it when the game was 5-1 and they had the bases loaded, but alas, the Nats centerfield made a really nice catch on a shallow blooper to the outfield.

I think the Marlins have another Bark in the Park scheduled in late September. The Florida weather in the summer time really isn't conducive to it, but I wish there were more "take you dog to the ball game" nights. Last night's attendance was listed as 20,856, and I would guess that about 3,000 people were there with dogs. There were plenty of empty seats, so it isn't like the Marlins are packing in the fans. It is so nice to have a dog that I can take out in public and it makes all the time (and money) that I have spent learning how to work with and understand her worth it. Yes, most people call it "training", but it has been more like learning how to work together as a team.