Sasha Otanez

Observation Paper
For this assignment I went to the part of Tanner Park that has a
small lake, kind of near the end of the trail. I sat on a rock a little
further from the lake, as its also a dog park, so I didnt want to be in
the way of owners and their dogs. I went around 8:00 pm in order to
escape the heat, and I did make it in time to be able to sit there while
it wasnt as hot, but also the sun was still out and I could see.
When I first got there, there were a few people and their dogs
playing in the water. Tanner Park is an off leash park so the dogs were
free to run around without being restricted. At this lake there is a big
circular tube opening in the middle of the dirt wall, and at the opening
begins the base of the small lake. At this part of the lake, the water is
not incredibly deep, but when owners would stand in the water it would
go up to their knees. For most of the dogs, the water would almost
consume their bodies, with just their heads and backs being above the
water as they walked or swam through the water. For the first 15-20
minutes I sat there, I saw owners play with the dogs in the deeper part
of the lake. Most owners would grab a ball or a big stick and, standing
on the shore, would throw it into the water where the dog would jump
in after it. The dogs, which participated in this usually, had a
companion dog and they would both run in the water and either grab
the stick or play fight in the water. At the end of the deeper lake, there

is a small wall, maybe 2 feet of rocks, which is used as a dam for the
water as it spills over to the rest of the water but isnt as deep. This
part of the lake, owners can stand in with the water barely covering
their ankles, and the dogs feet are barely covered as well. I noticed
that smaller dogs prefer to wade in this area, that way they can still
enjoy the water but also still be able to touch the ground. In this area,
the dogs stood in the water and wandered around and went back and
forth between dry land and the shallow water.
Dogs and their owners came and went throughout the hour,
some only staying for five minutes, others for half an hour. I noticed
the bigger, more active dogs, were the ones that stayed longer on
average. At around 8:15 a new event took place that I didnt expect. A
lot of people started gathering at the lake, but these people didnt
have dogs, and some had floating tubes. There were many small
groups of five or six people, all coming in every ten minutes or so.
Dogs and their owners were still coming as well. Some of the people
with the tubes left, but I couldnt see clearly where they went; however
through the tube at the opening of the lake I could hear shouting from
people. The shouting went on for maybe ten minutes, so I assumed the
tube went a lot farther up and I was just hearing the echo of their
shouts, but it did sound like at any moment something was going to
emerge from the tube opening. While this noise was coming from the
metal tube, the dogs continued to play in the water, and even ran

across the deeper part of the lake where the noise was coming from. I
remember this kept making me anxious because I felt at any moment
a group of adults was going to rush down the tube and run right into a
dog. It reminded me of community pool slides and how once you reach
the water; you are supposed to swim immediately to the side so the
next child doesnt drown you by landing on you. While the screaming
went on for what seemed like forever, a group of people did emerge,
all on tubes, that were either shared or singular, and the impact was
not as big as I had thought. The pressure of the water slowed them
down greatly, and they came to a stop. The water from the tubes
however, pushed over the edge; making the smaller section of the
lake, flood a small amount. Once this group of people landed, all of the
other people standing there would go up and talk to them and then
they would walk up to, presumably, the entrance of the tube.
Besides the main part of the lake, the tubing event, and the dog
watching, there were other things in the park I could observe from
where I was siting. Tanner Park is like a trail with dirt and small rocks
paving the way through the park. These trails do weave around trees
and bushes and run along fences. In these bushes at times, I was able
to see squirrels. The further up a bush is, the more likely a squirrel will
be there, and they dont make themselves seen that much. If they
arent surrounded by much noise, they will come out from the bushes
and make this squeaking noise, almost sounding like a squeak toy

would but much louder. There were also sounds of animals going
through the bushes. My first instinct was that the noise I was hearing
was a snake going through the bushes, but Ive come to the conclusion
they were most likely squirrels and birds, keeping hidden. The smell of
the park isnt too noticeable. With most dirt trails, it always seems like
you can smell the heat when youre there, with some parts feeling
hotter at random times except there isnt a breeze of wind to explain
why that is. Since I was by the water there were a lot of gnats and
bugs. The kind of bugs where you dont see them immediately but
sometimes if you correct your vision you see a whole swarm right in
front of your face. These bugs were everywhere and mildly annoying
but luckily for me stuck closer to the water than where I was.
In my hour spent at Tanner Park I observed how different types of
dogs play together, and in which parts of the lake they chose to play
in. I also had observed the activity of tubing something I had always
heard about, but had never seen happen. To be fair, I suppose I still
havent seen the whole activity as Im not sure where they started or
how long the tube is, but I did get to see the end result. I observed,
and noted, that this is an activity that takes place near the end of the
day in the summer, which is good to know if I ever want to go to
Tanner Park but dont want to be around a lot of people. I learned that
some squirrels make a very high pitched squeaking noise, something I
had really never heard or noticed before. It was a nice observational

experience and left me with feelings of contentment. It was very

enjoyable to sit and watch owners play with their dogs, and groups of
people have fun tubing in the lake. While I wasnt a part of these
interactions, I got to observe, and made me happy to see the simple
things of nature that can make others happy.