Growing List

Our walk this afternoon took us by the fire station. They had just finished cleaning the trucks and preparing to put them away. As we passed, the large engine made quite a noise backing into the garage. Monte found this unsettling and wanted to get as far away as possible as quick as possible. Reassuring him, we practiced SIT, DOWN, BACK and paced the sidewalk while the remaining truck loudly idled.

Observing our impromptu session, one of the fireman asked if we wanted to come inside as they backed the final truck into place. We readily accepted the invitation. Monte was a bit calmer as the engine roared again and settled down immediately after it was shut down. We approached the "monster" and let him sniff the tires and chrome. Definitely more exposure is required - just add this to our ever expanding list.

Since the weather was nice and it has been a couple weeks since Monte was let loose, we stopped at the fields to allow him to run free and physically burn some energy. It always makes me smile to watch a dog bounding through the tall grass, ears flapping, tail swaying for balance, and grinning uncontrollably. He runs for no other purpose than to run - a reminder of how simple life should be.

Back to reality: Monte found a mud puddle, so an unplanned trip to the stream was required to clean up before returning home. Not perfectly clean, but clean enough that Lisa allowed us back in the house. Poor Monte, he had to get a bath.