I realized, as I was dumping my camera data to the NAS, that these photos remind me of when I was a kid at summer camp. The days were filled with swimming, nature classes, and sports. By the end of the day,you were hungry and tired … pretty much an ideal situation for the camp counselors <smart!>

BTW – don’t worry that all my blogging will be about the dog. It’s the end of summer and we are trying to get in an extra dose of playtime before the days cool and we hunker down for the winter – then I’ll blog about technology, photography, and cooking more.

The agility equipment is out on a regular basis these days. Zen still needs a few more “contacts” – specifically a dog walk and an “A” frame. These will likely wait for me to build them this winter or be close enough to a supplier that I can pick them up.

In the mean time, Zen and I are working on the basics and on putting some more distance between me (the handler) and her. I’ve been using the jumps and the tunnel since they afford me some options. For instance, I can approach the tunnel relatively centered between the two ends and practice sending Zen out to one end or the other. This helps as Zen has to pay close attention to my body and hand signals to recognize which end of the tunnel she is destined for. As our speed increases, Zen will recognize the cue earlier and head toward the designated end of the tunnel shortly after we have left the preceding obstacle.

This exercise also helps when Zen needs to discriminate between two potential obstacles, only one of which is correct.

When Zen was very young, I started socializing her – with other dogs, people, places – you name it ! Somewhere along the way, I got connected with a group of Pug owners who got together every few weeks on a Sunday to let them all play together for an hour or so. This did wonders for Zen’s socialization because she was learning not all dogs play at her level. It was fun to see her slow down and be gentle for the more shy Pugs and run around like crazy playing “tag” with the high energy dogs.

The thing I regretted was some long days at home while I was away at work. A number of the Pug group mentioned Paws 4 Play (or Paws4Play depending on how lazy you get typing <grin>). The point they made was the doggy daycare had a fixed number of slots to guarantee a safe dog to person ratio.

I visited the doggy daycare and they suggested Zen wait until she was at least six months old and then they recommended she come on a day I would be available. When they explained they preferred to have a “trial period” for new dogs, I was impressed. Their focus was on the well being of all of their clients – more so than getting one new dog. As it turned out, we had nothing to worry about, Zen took to other dogs with glee and she especially had fun with the bigger dogs.

She does daycare twice a week now and can’t wait to go play. Doug and Jen have kept the focus of their daycare center “on the dogs”. It’s great when you find a dog business that cares as much for your dog as you do.

when I move to the Eastern Shore I hope I am lucky enough to find another great place for Zen to play and stay when I need to be away. (Trust me, I did not intend that last bit to all rhyme !)

BTW: Doug and Jen also take Tae Kwon Do. At Halloween, they entered a scarecrow contest. Zen thought they had the best one <smile for the birdy> !

Addendum: I just found out someone (probably with a chip on their shoulder) has used the Internet to anonymously spread misinformation. This post is not meant to be any sort of “advertisement” for Paws 4 Play. However, it is something of a testimonial. Perhaps it will help push the awful lie further down on Google’s search list. I guess that is the downside to “once one the Internet, forever on the Internet” – the Internet can’t tell a lie from the truth.