From Oklahoma City we traveled east through the beautiful eastern part of the state, and into Arkansas. Our destination was Toad Suck Ferry COE Park on the banks of the Arkansas river a few miles west of Little Rock. The location was a ferry crossing from the 1800s until 1970, when the bridge, locks and dam were built.
There weren't too many barges on the Arkansas while we were there, but they came by from time to time, signaled by air horn to enter or leave the locks. This one was headed downstream carrying scrap metal and coal.
Toad Suck consists only of the park and a convenience store, but you can get a good cup of coffee there, and of course a Toad Suck t-shirt.
As one story goes, Toad Suck got its name because people traveling up and down the river by boat and crossing on the ferry would stop at the local tavern where they would “suck on the bottle ’til they swell up like toads.”
The COE park is built on land that includes the site of the tavern.
It is spacious, with huge cottonwood trees and large, grassy areas that the dogs enjoyed immensely.
And speaking of dogs…on Sunday we met members of the local chapter of PSA (Protection Sports Association) K-9. They were using the park for their weekly practice session. The mission of the organization is “to promote a competitive outlet for obedience and protection training in a scenario-based program of dog sport.”
Three of the men working the dogs as well as being the “bad guy” in the padded suit, were members of a local police department. They explained that the dogs consider their “bite work” as a game. This one, at Canary Island Mastiff, looked very sinister. However, her greatest pleasure was playing with the padded sleeve after her bite work exercises.
It was interesting to watch the dogs work. While they were biting and shaking the bad guy, who was yelling and trying to distract them (part of the exercise), their tales were wagging at top speed.
And after they were told to release and lie down, they were happy to receive praise and pats from not only their handlers, but from the guys in the padded suits.
A couple of the dogs were just beginning their training, and could not be trusted to release and lie down on command. As a precaution, they did their exercise while tied.
This beautiful German shepherd was so enthusiastic it took several commands from his handler to make him release. The bad guy in his padded suit earned his kibble for sure.
One of the dogs being worked was a trained police dog. I would hate to be the real-life target of his bite work.
He just wasn't giving up. (By the way, the stick the bad guy is holding is a hollow tube with a rattle inside. It makes noise, but cannot hurt the dogs.) We enjoyed visiting with these folks and meeting their beautiful dogs. It was an unexpected pleasure.
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