how many poodles?

Within sight of our trailer: 10 dogs…  In the park I’ve counted 5 standard poodles and 5 german shepherds (and maybe 1 more of each). Lots of little dogs dotted around, 1 or more goldens, and at least one boxer add to the mix. It’s no wonder that Spike’s mind is being blown. He is Reactive (with a capital R), to other dogs, especially ones that are running around loose or lunging at the end of a chain. We’ve made progress on the ones that are sitting quietly and can pass a small dog on the road with a minor amount of excitement (and lots of treats). But this weekend a walk through the campground part of the park would ratchet up his excitement a notch with each dog passed. I’m glad the weekend is over and most of them are going home…

I should note that we rarely see another standard poodle, let alone 5 others in the same place!

Yesterday was cloudy but warm. We walked the dogs down at the end of the island then drove into Morrisburg to split a club sandwich. The rest of the day was a typical camping day: reading, short walks with one or the other dogs to practice distractions, cooking supper, more reading, a few extra short walks to get my 250 steps in, and on it went. I’d like to say it was a peaceful easy feeling day but it wasn’t. I had a few times of near panic attacks, not helped by all the dogs.

This afternoon we watched a line of campers take their turn through the dump station (that’s where you empty your tanks of all the yuckies), and then skirted the puddles on a walk to the first group camping area. We were happy to get off the mucky roads, although it was too late for mucky pooches. The wind threatened to blow the hair off my head. We were standing under some ancient and battered old trees enjoying the view over the water when out of the corner of my consciousness,  the squeaking of old wood against old wood altered us to the folly of our location so we beetled out of there. Of course our camper is nestled among some other huge trees and the wind is whipping off the lake…

By the time we got back to the villetta there were hardly any campers left and only a few scattered dogs. My anxiety levels eased and I felt myself returning to peaceful easy feeling.

A cup of tea (and wouldn’t a ginger nut go well) turned out to be a fine way to finish off the afternoon.

“There is something in the nature of tea that leads us into a world of quiet contemplation of life.”
~Lin Yutang