Dogs Lower Barriers Between People
My wife and I are fairly new dog owners. Our rescue beagle/basset mix, Dude, joined our household only this past December. Today was Saint Paul, MN's "Paws on Grand" street event, where the popular stretch of Grand Avenue that is lined with restaurants, interesting shops and apartment buildings serving several nearby colleges, turns in to a dog-walking zone. Several thousand people and their dogs show up every year to walk on the sidewalks for about 12 city blocks.
This year, we went, with Dude on the leash. My wife's dentist is the partner of one of her many cousins in the Twin Cities, so we set up in front of his dental practice on Grand Avenue, an old house converted into his office. We brought dog treats, and a water bowl we could fill frequently.
An entire range of people who live in St. Paul passed by our location, as ethnically diverse as possible in a city that makes diversity part of it's basic structure. Most walkers had dogs, but not all. Young, old, children, ancient ones, and dogs of every size, shape, and breed, along with mixed breed dogs of uncertain heritage. I got to speak every language I'm even slightly capable in, both to local residents and to a few tourists who happened onto this canine extravaganza by accident. Our dog sniffed literally hundreds of dogs in passing.
Universally, the dogs were the introduction to the people. Usually, people saw the dogs first, and then their owners, and everyone had something in common for this one day. I heard no conflicts between dogs or people at all. Just friendly conversations and discussions of dogs and breeds and the common interests everyone had. It was a good event, and not just for the dogs. Old people talked to kids with blue spiked hair, and Hmong families met Somali families, all over the dogs they were walking.
Dogs. They're pretty much universally interested in other dogs and in getting to know each other. They have their dogly rituals for greeting strangers without suspicion, breedism, or rancor. There's a lesson there, and they were teaching that lesson today on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul, MN.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I wonder at those who look at taking their dog to the dog park as an "obligation" , rather than a joy.
Granted there are days when my pup's energy makes me look longingly at the couch and the tv, but she forces me to be a better (and more active) person! 
<everyone turns to look>
Oh, not you, I'm just calling my dog.. 
You should really post a picture of Dude, it's practically obligatory in these kinds of threads.
Here's my two.
