Oh Rachel], you are my kind of dog lover all right. I also go out of my way to meet up with dog owners and their pets. At times I am thoroughly ignored by the owner. It's usually on the sidewalk, as if they have a deadline and won't pause, just getting the walking job done. Others, with no word from me and at a great distance, will tell me to stay away, their dog being an alpha or just plain unfriendly. That happens a lot on the beach.

I have been driving home and see others in the park near my house with their dogs, but just about everytime I head down there, no one is there. One dog park I tried had nice people to visit with but no supervision, and after repeated trouble with one dog (and the owner ignoring the situation), I don't go there anymore. The one dog park I go to occasionally has great people, and pretty friendly dogs as a whole. I really enjoy it and talk dogs with friendly people, hearing lots of stories about their dogs. It's great. I usually take only one of my dogs at a time unless I talk one of my sons into going. Otherwise, I'm too busy keeping an eye on two and can't enjoy the conversation.

Keep being an obsessive dog lover, for you're in lots of company of the same right here.