Yesterday, Teddy and I went walking through the woods on a trail instead of in town on a sidewalk. It was nice. The air was clean, wet, and cool. The leaves still crunched under our feet. Teddy was intent on meeting every person on the trail. Some dogs love balls, some sticks. Some lunge after birds or squirrels. Teddy is intent on getting over to that next person. My husband keeps telling me that I should drop Teddy off at a doggie daycare when I have a busy day planned. It would give Teddy that time with other dogs that he really craves. It's a good idea. Really, it is and I'll do that soon, on a day when I'm busy all day, but yesterday was not that day, not just yet.
In the morning, I had an appointment to get my hair cut. My hair dresser, a dog-lover, asked me to bring Teddy in to see her when I was done. She and the next customer oohed and ahead over him. This little guy has been invited into so many places not usually frequented by dogs. After that, Teddy and I went for a walk in the woods by Lake Tradition. Lake Tradition is along I-90 at the High Point Way exit on the South side. There's a great network of trails there, but these days, you need a Discovery pass to park. The most notable trail for dog walkers who need altitude gains is the one called Poo Poo Point. I headed toward my favorite, the walk around Lake Tradition and the Swamp trail. Teddy bolted from person to person, but when we were finally on our own, it was all about how soon we were going to turn around and find our car. But Teddy would only handle twenty minutes of walking before he sat on my feet and begged me to turn around.
Today, all of us went on a familiar trail near home and happened to pass the home of one of Nick's friends, who was out in his backyard playing soccer. The nice thing is that they have a new dog too, a beautiful black lab mix, about a year old. Soon, we had an impromptu dog-walking party. This other dog was big, but he tolerated Teddy's puppy jumping and overall excitement. Suddenly, with their three people and a dog and our three people and Teddy, we were a proper pack. Teddy was prepared to go wherever this big-kid dog was going to take him. He happily walked more than twice as far as usual with none of his usual propensity to walking away with whatever group of people or dogs that come along. And he never once sat on my feet and begged for me to carry him home.
Thank you for listening, jb
In the morning, I had an appointment to get my hair cut. My hair dresser, a dog-lover, asked me to bring Teddy in to see her when I was done. She and the next customer oohed and ahead over him. This little guy has been invited into so many places not usually frequented by dogs. After that, Teddy and I went for a walk in the woods by Lake Tradition. Lake Tradition is along I-90 at the High Point Way exit on the South side. There's a great network of trails there, but these days, you need a Discovery pass to park. The most notable trail for dog walkers who need altitude gains is the one called Poo Poo Point. I headed toward my favorite, the walk around Lake Tradition and the Swamp trail. Teddy bolted from person to person, but when we were finally on our own, it was all about how soon we were going to turn around and find our car. But Teddy would only handle twenty minutes of walking before he sat on my feet and begged me to turn around.
Today, all of us went on a familiar trail near home and happened to pass the home of one of Nick's friends, who was out in his backyard playing soccer. The nice thing is that they have a new dog too, a beautiful black lab mix, about a year old. Soon, we had an impromptu dog-walking party. This other dog was big, but he tolerated Teddy's puppy jumping and overall excitement. Suddenly, with their three people and a dog and our three people and Teddy, we were a proper pack. Teddy was prepared to go wherever this big-kid dog was going to take him. He happily walked more than twice as far as usual with none of his usual propensity to walking away with whatever group of people or dogs that come along. And he never once sat on my feet and begged for me to carry him home.
Thank you for listening, jb
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