So Calvin and I were out and about again. It’s so fun showing him the world, but also seeing everything new through his eyes.

I decided that I needed to see how he did in a car that was going faster, as in LONG road trip type speed. It didn’t go so well when we hit 40mph so I backed off and decided the Interstate was not in our future today.

Because he was a little nervous at 40mph, I decided to introduce him to a cool thing my Dad introduces all of our dogs too, THE BUSINESS LUNCH.

We drove up to Wendy’s, he was a bit baffled by the ‘box’ speaking back to me but hung in there, and then when a hamburger was magically passed to us through a window, he was speechless, and no longer nervous.

We parked, had our business lunch, and then drove to Cherry River fishing access to try a trail walk.

I love walking in this area for a lot of reasons, but one of them is the enormous sign, 3 x 4 feet of sign. I like to walk my senior dogs out there, and my clients dogs. Bird refuge, Gallatin River, trails, and all on leash. And if you live here you know it is kind of a joke because NO PERSON has their dog on leash out there most of the time.

HOWEVER, today the animal control officer, JD, pulled up right as we were getting out and getting ready to go for a walk. We had a fully escorted walk, and he made sure everyone was on leash, and just all around great conversation. He thought Calvin was just awesome and said he wished all ‘pits’ were this nice. WOOP! way to go Calvin, steeling hearts once again. The only reason I have this photo is because JD was kind enough to take it.

NOTE to everyone, if you want to know what it feels like to be escorted along a trail and have someone looking out for you and your dog, hook up with animal control and go for a trail walk together, it was awesome!

We passed four different people, two baby strollers, and one person with a dog, all with ease today, he never broke stride and just kept walking and checking things out.

I knew Calvin was thirsty, it was warm this afternoon, but I also know he has a real fear of water. So when I proposed we walk down the river bank to the water, he layed down, and was nothing short of an anvil, so I sat next to him and just waited. We listened to the ducks, people walking the trail behind us, and listening to water passing by. He needed this moment to decide what he was going to do. It is so important to allow all living beings a moment to think something through. It was also important, because of his real fear of water, for him to work through this moment with me just waiting neutrally.

When he was ready, he got up and walked down the bank and got himself a drink, and then walked in with his front two paws. I was so proud of him. He drank for some time, and then just stood there watching the river, it was a beautiful moment.

We did two full laps, maybe two miles. We bush whacked for a bit, trail for a bit, and then our drive home. And he was so relaxed, so satiated.

Calvin is definitely interested in prey animals so off leash is a no go for some time, still working on owner relationship and exposing him to ‘life as we know it!

ENTIRE SERIES

With Love and Peace ~ Nancy