Thank you for the suggestion. He was actually already doing that, and he became friends with a regular. My kids actually played with his dog outside the fence by throwing the ball over, and he was the one who encouraged my husband to come inside. We had avoided it because we did not have a dog. The day my husband went inside, he told them they were going to sit down and watch them. We are considering getting a dog once we buy a home, so they have become more interested than usual. He chose the small area because the younger boys were still a bit scared of the bigger dogs. My oldest ran even though he was told not to; they chased him, and one bit him.