Baptism By Fire

Tess had a big adventure over the weekend at our friend's hobby farm up in the mountains.  Tess met 8 of her 9 dogs (one was too old), everything from Papillons to Great Pyrenees, and we all went on a short walk in the mountains along with an energetic 4 year old boy.  Plus there were pregnant goats, baby goats, lots of goats.  And a tall guy with a beard and baseball cap, the 'Taliban for dogs' as he referred to himself.  She met only 3 dogs at first and then one by one my friend let more dogs out until there were so many Tess didn't know which one to worry about.  When she first got out of the car she alarm barked at the 2 dogs that came over but they mostly ignored her and she calmed down enough to walk around and into the barn to meet the goats.  She did great on the walk, wouldn't take treats but she trotted along with all the dogs no problem.  She wasn't thrilled but she did it, no freezing and only a little minimal whining.  I was thrilled.

Getting braver.

I've also been getting her out and about to loud, noisy places with lots of people and kids and more trips in the car.  She was great on the drive up to the mountains, not a peep out of her and Ruby wasn't there for moral support.

Still not sure why the yard is such a buzzkill, especially first thing in the morning.  She tears around the house all crazypants and as soon as she gets outside she won't play at all.  She will play a bit in the afternoon.  Random junk is much more fun than dog toys.

Reminds me a bit of Strummy and his watering can.  Well not that crazy excited but still, it was more fun than all the dog toys.

I don't even know why I bother with dog toys.

Once my grass starts coming in I'll start back up with Ruby's agility training and then I think Tess will get jealous and turn on to the yard.  But for now my yard is a nuclear wasteland of brown.

Like watching grass grow

I've even started watering it, something I've never done in April but it's so dry and no sign of moisture on the horizon.  Jonny thinks I'm crazy but I swear there are little shoots of green coming up here and there that weren't there before I started watering.  I can live in hope.