Not the Adventure I Had Planned

The other day Mama packed up some suitcases and put my bed and a bag for me in the car and I was all excited because I thought we were going on an adventure to Wisconsin like we did before, but no. We drove in the right direction for a little bit and then Mama got out and took my stuff with her. Then she came and got me and we went into a big building that was an awful lot like The Pound. I trusted her and followed her through a room full of kennels to a lean-to with bigger cages and Mama me and the pound lady went in to one. Then Mama and the pound lady left. I waited patiently by the door of the cage for Mama to come back, BUT SHE DIDN'T!!! The pound lady came back and told me it wasn't a pound, but a kennel and Mama would be back in a few days. Then she took me to a kennel. I waited patiently for Mama to come back until it was dinner time and Mama ALWAYS comes back for dinner time, but she didn't. That is when I decided I needed to bark. And bark. And BARK! But Mama didn't come back for FOREVER.  The pound, um, kennel ladies were very nice to me and I got food and treats and my run in the lean-to was next to a border collie and we had fun playing Run Along the Fence, but when I was supposed to be having naptime in the kennel I was barking instead. After forever and ever (or maybe two nights and three days) when I was in the middle of playing Run Along the Fence with the border collie the kennel lady came and got me and brought me out into the big room and THERE WAS MAMA!!!! I ran right to her and jumped on her so hard I almost knocked her down and then I ran to the exit door and stood there poking at it with my nose to let her know I was ready to leave. Mama said she had driven to somewhere called North Carolina for something called a "wedding" and that, if I had been the good kind of dog who could wait patiently in a hotel room for 6 hours, I'd have gotten to come along and we'd have taken a vacation and gone hiking someplace called "The Appalachian Trail", but instead we had to do separate vacations and neither of us got to go hiking.

First Day of Summer Hike

Mama has a tradition where if the first day of a season falls on a day off she takes an all day hike at the state park. This was supposed to be my first all day hike, but, because Mama made a wrong turn and accidentally skipped a 2 mile section of trail and I walk so fast (Mama says I hike like I have someplace to be and am on a tight schedule) our all day hike turned into a 3 hour hike, but it sure was fun!

Me hiking like I have someplace to be and am on a tight schedule.

 A heron

This frog was about the size of Mama's pinky nail and there were at least a dozen of them hopping across the trail. Mama told everyone who approached us in that area to watch their step!

We saw lots of other dogs and some joggers and bikes. I was very good with the joggers and only lost it totally with one bike and it was because she came up from behind us without warning. In the state parks the bikes are supposed to go only one way and we walked the opposite way so Mama could see the bikes coming and I wouldn't be surprised, but this woman thought she was more important than the rules. She almost lost a leg and Mama yelled, "Bike in wrong direction!" instead of saying, "Sorry." like she normally does. One lady who we saw twice at one loop commented that Mama and I were moving really really fast. Mama smiled and the woman said, "No seriously, you are going really fast." Mama thinks we hike at about 4 miles per hour, but we stop for lots of water breaks and I have to stop and sit every time I see a bike, for some joggers and some dogs too so that slows us down to about 2.5 miles an hour or so.

Another tradition Mama has is that, because the state park has so many parking lots she has let each dog have his own official lot and trailhead which she chooses as she hikes the first time with the new dog. This is the view from what will be my trailhead.

That lake in the distance is covered with waterlilies at the shore.

Me after I discovered that waterlilies, like duckweed, are not a solid surface.

Miles hiked: 7.5

Busy Me

Mama and I have been busy since I arrived. She says she is trying to "civilize" me, whatever that means. I think I'm perfect as I am. I don't understand why, if it doesn't bother me when I pull on the leash, it should bother Mama. Or why she doesn't want me to protect her from all the dangers in the world like bicycles, joggers, cats, and the neighbor across the street. Running full speed and jumping over and on things is okay in the backyard but not the living room? Why is that? Pull toys are only the ones made of thermal fleece and aren't leashes, Mama's belt, Mama's coat tails, the sheets, the afghan, or the pillow? Also, apparently throw pillows are not chew toys, even if you only chew one small hole in the back corner and despite the name they aren't meant to actually be thrown. When you want something Mama has and she doesn't share right away it seems that it isn't right to put your face as close to her face as you can and bark. Morning is when Mama wakes up not when I wake up and it doesn't help to paw Mama in the face or poke you nose into her eye to see if maybe she is awake. Breakfast isn't until 6 a.m. no matter how much earlier you wake up too.  Finally, when you see a dog at the park and you are on your longline you are not supposed to run to the very end of the line and then keep going so that Mama goes flying. Apparently if you do this you can break Mama by doing something called "dislocating her shoulder" and that means that you won't be getting any longline time for at least a month.

I think this being civilized stuff is for the birds (who you are not supposed to stalk and try to catch while on walks).