Dog Days Giants Game

Every year, the San Francisco Giants hold one game where fans can bring their dogs.  We finally got ourselves organized enough to get to the game, along with three other Leo families (one couple with two Leos just happened to be there, without knowing ahead of time that we had organized a group to go). 

It turned out to be a beautiful day - sunny, but with a lovely breeze that kept it from getting too hot.  I took the girls and Zatarain up to the park on my own since our son had his first baseball game of the the fall season the same day.  He and Mike planned on meeting us at the game after his game finished.  We met up with the Leo people outside of the park and we all lined up to participate in the dog parade before the game.  The San Francisco SPCA had provided water bowls and wading pools to keep the dogs cool and there were people coming by as we waited to give out swag, keeping the kids happy, too.  One of the families has two girls who have become good friends with our girls over the last couple of years, so they were all excited to spend the day together.  It was a bit like herding cats trying to keep track of the four girls plus the dogs, in addition to answering the inevitable questions about the dogs, but we managed to keep from losing anyone or causing irreparable damage with tangled leashes.

When the line finally started to move, we all got to parade around the warning track with the dogs.  We had our moment of fame on the big screen as we passed by the cameras.  A couple of Arizona Diamondbacks players were warming up as we passed by and one of them handed our youngest a baseball; she was beside herself and refused to let anyone else carry it for her until we were done with the parade.  There were a few people in the stands who recognized the dogs as Leonbergers and were excited to see them walk past.  It was fun for all of us to get to be down on the field, although we got less air time than we thought we would.

We all headed to our seats and enjoyed the game.  We took turns taking the kids to the bathroom, watching them play on the slides, getting food, standing with the dogs in the shade, getting water for the dogs, and just generally trying to make order our of chaos.  Every time the crowd cheered, the dogs in the stands would bark and bounce around, adding to the excitement.  The kids ate tons of junk food and were thrilled about it.  Since our seats were right below the slides, the older girls were given the freedom to play on them on their own, as long as they checked in with us occasionally.  They loved that and were very good about stopping by every once in a while.  It definitely made the game more enjoyable for them since they didn't  have to sit in their seats being bored by the game.  That, in turn, made it much more pleasant for the adults as well!  The little girls went back and forth between the slides and the seats with one of us and made friends with all of the dogs and people around us.  The game was actually exciting and the Giants won, making it an even better day.

Mike and our son got to the stadium just as the game ended, so they got in line for the "Kids Run the Bases" and we met them there.  The moms took the 5 kids back onto the field while the two Mikes waited outside with the dogs.  Our son took off for a true run around the bases, the two older girls trotted around together, and the little girls walked behind them.  They all had a great time, although our son lamented the fact that he had to miss the game because of his (which they won 14-7, with him pitching the final inning, getting two strike-outs).

When we met back up with the guys, we said our good-byes and headed off to the cars.  It was a fun day and amazingly well-organized.  We found out later that there were about 800 dogs there - I never would have guessed there were that many!  I would definitely do it again next year, and our son said next year he's going no matter what else is happening that day.