My Mini Vacation

It's been a pretty quiet week, not counting the storms that kept Mom and me from playing outside very much. We took a nice walk one day and played out a little a couple other times, but it was too wet and miserable to do much of that on the other days. We're hoping to start walking every morning as soon as the weather lets us. That doesn't mean I haven't had any fun yet this summer. You saw the post Mom made about my new Li'l Devil, right? Well, one of the first things we got to do was go to the Pet Play Station. (By "we" I mean me and Li'l Devil. Mom didn't stay.)

Last year I went to Pet Play Station a few times. I made some friends and tried a bit of swimming. I had a great time! When I got there this time, I was so excited I couldn't stop barking and running around like an idiot. Then I realized I was probably making Mom feel bad that I wasn't absolutely despondent that I wasn't going home with her, so I kept acting like an idiot but tried to make it look like I wasn't happy to be staying and was desperate to leave. She said I was embarrassing her and hurting Jamie's feelings, but I couldn't help it - SO EXCITED!!!
Jamie is a lot like me - full of energy and a little hyper but cuddly just the same. I have to admit I was a little nervous about this stay. There were two loud dogs that kept everybody else (including me, at first) barking. They were only puppies. One was four months old and one was five months old. Usually PPS is pretty much a puppy-free zone. They need to be potty trained and able to take behavior commands before they get to stay at the resort.

 PPS has an agility area that looks like a lot of ...well, work, actually. I used to do agility training when I was a puppy but the family got too busy to keep it up and I'm not sure if my joints could take it these days.
That's OK, though. There's plenty to do all day. I made friends with the other dogs. Most of them were smaller than me, which is nice because I like smaller dogs. Mom says I like to "mother" smaller dogs. Whatever. They just make me comfortable to be around...usually.

They weren't all smaller dogs. I also got to meet a nice Mastiff.

Nice Mastiff I made friends with...btw, this isn't Jamie but she's nice and fun, too :)

We ran around together a bit over the weekend and had a lot of fun. I like to watch more than I like to get involved though. I take my glucosamine to keep my joints from aching, but sometimes being around a lot of other dogs can be overwhelming. Let's face it - I lead a pretty quiet life most of the time.
Jamie and I take walks through the woods, which is nice but I'm never sure if I should go there. Mom and Dad keep me out of the woods for some strange reason. They get really irritated with me and call me "bad dog" if I don't stop short of the woods when I'm protecting the yard from tree rats. (Note from Mom: Dad is very allergic to poison ivy, which abounds in the woods around our home...and "tree rats" are squirrels.) So whenever Jamie takes me walking I usually try to turn back right away. Well, I have to admit it's not just that I'm not sure if I should go in the woods. I also have a need to check on everyone and make sure they're all OK. Mom says that's part of the Shepherd in me. I'm sure she probably read that somewhere or saw it on Animal Planet.

I do have one particular activity I indulge in, though. Last year I met a cute GSD - I think his name was Beefcake *sigh* - and he taught me to swim.  I wasn't sure I'd remember how at first, but it came back pretty quickly. The water felt so good I just dived right in!

It's not like the hose at home - SO nice to be able to get all of me wet at the same time! I'm particularly fond of what Jamie calls "cannonballs." I don't know what she's talking about, though. I've jumped in over and over and never found any balls in there. Humans are so silly sometimes.
I hope I get to go back again sometime this summer. Maybe some of my old friends will be there next time. I made a few friends down at the campground over Memorial Weekend, but I never get to see those dogs again...well, except Rocky and Charger and Beckett, but they aren't new friends. They go with us every Memorial Weekend. Anyway, I was really hoping some of the dogs I met last year would be at PPS this time to go swimming with. OK, I was hoping one particular dog I met last year would be there to swim with. *sigh* Maybe next time...