I am fortunate to have a young neighbor who loves dogs and
who seemed eager to act as a sitter for Olive when I broached the subject with
her and her mom. Saturday was the annual sea music festival in Mystic, CT. I
considered bringing Olive along, as dogs are allowed on the seaport grounds,
but decided to leave her home as I might want to attend some performances at
indoor venues. As such I asked my neighbor to look in on Olive around early
afternoon. I had resolved to skip the evening concert and leave after the
daytime activities ended. I thought that Olive might not take well to someone
entering our unit without me, but my sitter reported that Olive greeted her
with a kiss and was a perfect lady. This means that I can use her again when I
need to leave Olive at home for more than a few hours.
On Sunday my friends Kathryn and Mark, who lives in the
Berkshire region of Massachusetts, suggested that I bring Olive up to play with
their two corgis. They also suggested that I consider going to a dog-friendly
contra dance near Albany. I packed a few things for Olive, including her canvas
water dish, and we drove up.
We did a light hike along a well maintained trail near the
ruins of some nineteenth century mills. I took Olive off leash for a time. She
was reasonably well behaved and came whenever I called her, but I got a bit
concerned that she was running off the trail frequently and jumping into a
stream that looked to have some significant currents. I put the leash back on
and resolved to work on a “with me” command or “heel” command for future such
activities, as well as routine walks. We did discover, however, that Olive loves the water! She seemed to
like the feel of it against her skin and didn’t mind sitting or even laying
down in the shallow water. Kathryn took some photos and a video, which I will
post on this blog (if I can) when Kathryn is able to send them to me.
After the hike we went to the dog-friendly contra dance at
the Buhrmaster Barn in the town of Colonie, New York. Olive seemed to be a hit
with many of the dancers, and reveled in the attention she got. I joked that I
had to pay admission but my “date” did not. I had no problem getting people to
stay with her while I did a few dances, always choosing a spot in a line where
Olive could see me. The music and all the activity did not seem to bother her.
We left about half way through the dance so that I could get home at a
reasonable time. I am sorry that there is not a similar dance closer to me so
that Olive and I could go more often. Again, I
will post photos that Kathryn took when I can.
We hit some construction traffic tie-ups on I-91 heading
back to Connecticut, so we didn’t get home until nearly eleven. Both of us were
exhausted. I was quite pleased with Olive’s behavior.
Today was a day of heavy rain. I tried out a rain hiking
outfit that I bought at LL Bean just for the purpose of taking Olive out in the
rain. It worked well, though my shoes got quite wet and I kicked myself for not
getting a rain hat to go along with the outfit. After each walk Olive and I
played with the foam rubber saucer in the rain. Olive seemed to love it. Each
time I had to call it when it looked as if she was getting tired. I think the
rain outfit was a good investment.
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